|
|
|
|
|
Pa. Court Issues Stay Delaying Ability of PECO CAP Customers to Shop During Appeal
The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania has issued a stay of the PUC's order granting electric Customer Assistance Program (CAP) customers at PECO the eligibility to shop for a competitive electric supplier, which means that such customers shall not be able to choose a supplier pending the Court's substantive ruling on an appeal brought by several consumer groups.
The consumer groups are appealing the PUC's order granting PECO Cap customers the eligibility to shop due to the lack of any price controls on supplier rates. PECO had originally proposed that EGSs serving CAP customers would be prohibited from charging the customer in excess of the Price to Compare, but the PUC rejected this limitation on both policy and statutory grounds.
The Court ruled that the consumer groups had, "made a persuasive showing that at least a subset of CAP customers will suffer irreparable harm if the stay is denied," and the consumer groups ultimately prevail on their appeal.
"As Petitioners point out, these customers are exceedingly low income, economically vulnerable persons. If they are encouraged to shop for generation suppliers in the open market, some of these customers may, by failing to read or perhaps to understand the 'fine print,' select plans with low introductory rates which escalate dramatically after a fixed period, causing them to incur bills which they simply cannot afford. Although their power could not be cut off in the winter months, it can be discontinued in the summer and early fall, and even in the winter, the debt from the unpaid portion of their bills would continue to mount ... those who end up with significantly increased rates could face disastrous economic consequences which could not likely be undone, even if Petitioners were to ultimately prevail on the merits," the Court said.
Petitioners include the Coalition for Affordable Utility Services and Energy Efficiency in Pennsylvania; the Tenant Union Representative Network, and Action Alliance of Senior Citizens of Greater Philadelphia
ADVERTISEMENT Search for more retail energy careers: Copyright 2010-
March 31, 2014
Email This Story
Copyright 2010-13 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Karen Abbott • kabbott@energychoicematters.com
NEW Jobs on RetailEnergyJobs.com:
• NEW! -- Analyst, Trading and Supply Operations -- Retail Supplier -- Houston
• NEW! -- Analyst - Energy & Operations -- Retail Supplier -- New York
• NEW! -- Vice President Risk Management -- Retail Supplier -- New York
• NEW! -- Business Development Manager, Broker Sales -- Retail Provider -- Houston
• NEW! -- Manager, Channel Sales -- Retail Provider
• Regional Sales Manager, Texas -- Retail Supplier -- Houston
• Regional Sales Manager -- Retail Provider -- PA, NY, IL, Various
• Operations Specialist – Market Transactions -- Houston
RetailEnergyJobs.com
|
|
|
|