May 23--When electric rates spike for PPL customers next year, it could force some companies out of business or encourage them to move to states where power is cheaper, a group of large power users told state lawmakers Friday.

If lawmakers don't act to curb the rate hikes expected in January, more Pennsylvanians will lose their jobs at a time when unemployment is at its highest rate in more than 20 years, the group contends.

The cost increase is estimated to be 20 percent to 40 percent for small to midsize businesses. The increase for large industrial electric users, which includes most manufacturing operations, is not yet known. But some industrial users expect their electric bills could double.

"The price we pay for electricity is a jobs issue," said Terry Bennett, who manages Lafarge North

America's cement plant in Cementon that employs about 100 people. "It's that simple."

Representatives of Lehigh Valley manufacturers were among about 100 people who attended the event at the Four Points Sheraton in Hanover Township, Lehigh County. State lawmakers attending included Sens. Lisa Boscola, D-Northampton; Robert Wonderling, R-Montgomery; and Pat Browne, R-Lehigh; and Reps. Steve Samuelson, D-Northampton; Karen Beyer, R-Lehigh; and Julie Harhart, R-Lehigh.

Deregulation critics, including businesses, have had trouble gaining support in Harrisburg for curbing the coming rate hikes. Friday's meeting shows they are trying to attach the rate hikes to climbing joblessness, a hot issue in the minds of the public, to gain traction in Harrisburg.

The Lehigh Valley's unemployment rate hit a 23-year-high of 8.3 percent in March, and some economists predict it will hit 10 percent this year.

Wonderling said getting the Legislature to take action on higher electric prices would be a challenge. A budget crisis is the dominant issue in Harrisburg now, he said. "This issue is not perceived to be red-hot in the eyes of the General Assembly," he said. "In our world right now, it's not in the top three."

Boscola, a critic of deregulation who thus far has been unable to thwart the looming rate hikes, encouraged the business owners to call their lawmakers and press the issue. Any legislative attempt to soften the blow would have to pass in the fall to have a chance to take effect in time to head off higher rates coming in January, she said.

She has a bill in the Senate that would allow any rate hike of more than 10 percent to be phased in over three to five years, without letting electric companies charge interest.