Jesse A. Rodriquez
Pennsylvania Utility Law Project
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

“WITHOUT HESITATION”

As I walked down Second Street on a hot summer day with my boss Harry Geller, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Utility Law Project (PULP), I wondered if he had ever considered working for a utility company.  I thought, with decades of utility experience under his belt he could surely demand top dollar.  And, he could probably acquire all of those nice perks that the energy guys get; walking into the hearing room at the PUC wearing a thousand dollar suit and shaking hands with all of the other guys wearing thousand dollar suits, or occupying a large office that screams “Success!”  Admittedly, and I do not believe that I’m alone, those are all of the things that I want.  I know this because I went to the PUC this summer for the first time and encountered a room almost entirely composed of energy company employees.  I glanced around dizzily immersed in the muddled whispers of those who knew, and looked like they knew.  I caught myself wondering what they were whispering about.  And after glancing at their shoes, then my own, their suits, then my own, I became really curious.     

I returned to my office at 118 Locust Street and ran into a different sort of people.  These people have the ability to command a large corner office, but instead choose to occupy an office where the size rivals a walk-in closet.  People who choose to shoulder the mammoth responsibility of protecting the defenseless from the harshness of the free market.  In other words, these are the people who choose to make the public’s problems their own.  I am grateful for my MLK internship because it allowed me to meet these kinds of people.  It also allowed me to obtain a first hand view of the battles being waged. 

In the utility law field, the field I worked in this summer, the main battle is over deregulation’s likely effects on all Pennsylvanians, but particularly, its effect on the poorest of the poor.  The energy companies say that the effects of the removal of price caps is good for all ratepayers, because market forces will keep prices down, possibly even below current rates.  Others say, and I agree, that Pennsylvania ratepayers are in for a rude awakening in a few years when electricity rates are permitted to be set by energy executives without any limits except market forces. 

When I began my internship, Harry had already been fighting for some time for a bigger net to catch all of the people who can’t afford the likely fifty percent increases in their energy bill, and will likely face shut-offs during the hot summer months as a result.  Fortunately, for those people, Harry is also fighting to increase federal funding to assist the poor with their summer electric bills.  And I know that long after I leave, Harry will still be arguing, letter writing, testifying and doing everything he can to make sure that our elderly people do not have to choose between paying their energy bills or medication. 

And this is my conflict.  In whose footsteps should I follow?  Do I dedicate my life to finding out exactly what those energy suits were whispering?  Or, do I dedicate my life to speaking for those who can’t speak for themselves?  Honestly, at this point, I don’t know how I will respond.  But I know this much, Harry has truly made my future career choice a little easier. 

As Harry and I walked down Second Street, passing all of the people he has anonymously helped, I asked him the question I was wondering about.  Had Harry ever considered working for the other side?  Hoping to sense a bit of the confusion that I am currently experiencing, Harry responded in a way that I know I can’t duplicate when facing the same question.  Without hesitation, he answered, “Not for a second.”  I absolutely believe him.