00:01 - Stephen de Frank, chair of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.

00:06 - What does the PUC do for consumers?

00:11 - Well, thank you for the question.

00:12 - We regulate things that folks may not realize.

00:17 - We regulate over 8400 entities

00:20 - providing electricity, natural gas, water,

00:24 - wastewater, telecommunications and transportation for higher services.

00:30 - We also regulate and oversee rail crossings.

00:34 - Whenever, anytime a rail crosses a road above it,

00:38 - below it, or at grade, we regulate those as well.

00:42 - In general, how does the PUC spend

00:44 - its state appropriation?

00:47 - Well, we spend our money to make sure that our services

00:50 - are safe and reliable for our residents.

00:54 - Our appropriation this year, we're requesting

00:56 - $104.78 million of that.

01:01 - A little over 505.38 million is made up of federal funds.

01:06 - And that's to support our, rail safety program,

01:10 - our transportation safety program, as well as our pipeline safety program.

01:15 - The remainder of that, figure, a little over

01:17 - 98 million, is comprised, here at the state.

01:21 - And, important, point to note, Larry,

01:24 - is that our funding does not come from the general fund.

01:28 - We are paid through assessments of the regulated entities in which we regulate.

01:33 - Well, how does this year's proposed funding compare to that of last year?

01:39 - It's a slight increase.

01:41 - It's about 2.1% increase over last year's, budget request.

01:46 - That's mostly driven,

01:48 - by contractual obligations with salaries and benefits of our employees,

01:53 - as well as maintaining our current program schedule.

01:56 - Now, if the PUC manages to get its raise, Mr.

01:59 - Chairman, how specifically would you like to spend

02:03 - that extra money again in the event you get it?

02:06 - Well, again, we're always trying to put more boots on the ground

02:09 - in our safety programs.

02:10 - That's pipeline safety.

02:12 - That's rail railroad inspectors.

02:14 - And that's transportation inspectors, again, putting more boots

02:18 - on the ground out in the field, I think, is the best way to ensure.

02:22 - Pennsylvanians are kept safe and the services, remains reliable.

02:27 - Chair, we only have about 30s left.

02:30 - What are what's one of the more, outstanding issues

02:34 - you expect to hear about from lawmakers makers today?

02:37 - I expect you you have to do preparation for a hearing like this.

02:40 - Sure.

02:41 - I think data centers, we're probably going to get a lot of questions

02:44 - about data centers and resource adequacy in general.

02:47 - Do we have enough power, to to power our grid?

02:51 - We're hearing all these entities coming in.

02:54 - They're huge consumers of power and a lot of uncertainty.

02:58 - A lot of questions, are out there on that.

03:01 - Will we have enough power to meet our needs for tomorrow?

03:04 - Stephen Frank, chair of the Pennsylvania Public.

03:07 - Utility Commission, thank you very much.

03:10 - Thank you.