Energy Choice
                            

Matters

Compare & Contrast: New York Moves Away From Providing Low-Income Customers Access to Competitive Markets While Ohio, Pennsylvania Expand Access For Low-Income Customers

July 15, 2016

Email This Story
Copyright 2010-16 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com

As first reported by EnergyChoiceMatters.com yesterday (click here), the New York PSC has adopted a moratorium on low-income customer participation in the retail electric and natural gas markets, in an action that PSC Staff said they believe (though not familiar with every state) to be the first of its kind in the country.

A moratorium on low-income customer participation in choice where customers were previously eligible for choice is unprecedented, we believe; however, there have been states whose retail choice programs were designed to exclude certain low-income customers (or customers that are in arrears) from choice eligibility from the start of the market -- most notably Ohio, which precludes Percentage of Income Payment Plan (PIPP) customers from participating in both electric and gas choice. Additionally, certain Pennsylvania electric utilities prevent customers in utility Customer Assistance Programs (CAP) from shopping

And it's interesting to note that Ohio and Pennsylvania are moving in the opposite direction of New York regarding low-income customer participation in competitive markets

For example, Ohio recently expanded PIPP customers' access to the benefits of retail electric competition (click here for story)

While PIPP electric customers still cannot shop individually, Ohio essentially conducted a retail aggregation of PIPP customers (or slice of PIPP customer load depending on the specific utility's current default service contract portfolio), as Ohio issued RFPs for a retail supplier to serve PIPP customers, rather than having these customers remain on the utility's Standard Service Offer. Notably, the RFP was for a certificated retail (not wholesale) supplier, with the price required to be below the Standard Service Offer rate.

A single retail supplier per EDC service area was awarded a contract to serve PIPP customers (or slice of load) at the FirstEnergy EDCs, Duke Energy Ohio, and AEP Ohio (click here for identities of winning retail suppliers)

An aggregation process for New York's low-income customers had been proposed by ESCOs during a collaborative, yet, despite the state's embrace of opt-out municipal aggregation, and although New York continues to study the issue of low-income customers and choice service, the low-income aggregation does not appear to be a mechanism favored by the PSC.

In Pennsylvania, the PUC has directed electric utilities to make Customer Assistance Program (CAP) benefits portable, so that customers may shop for a retail supplier while retaining the CAP benefits

Notably, the Pennsylvania PUC has in recent years issued orders requiring PECO and Duquesne Light to make CAP benefits portable and allow CAP customers to shop (CAP customers may already shop at PPL and the FirstEnergy EDCs). While Pennsylvania is still debating the best design for the CAP program in an era of choice, including pricing or other limits (such as no termination fees) on CAP offers from retail suppliers, there has been no question that CAP customers should retain the ability to shop, although perhaps subject to certain collars

ADVERTISEMENT
NEW Jobs on RetailEnergyJobs.com:
• NEW! -- Director of C&I Sales -- Retail Provider -- Texas
• NEW! -- Channel Relations Manager -- Retail Provider
• NEW! -- Pricing Analyst -- Retail Provider -- Houston
• NEW! -- Director of Pricing -- Retail Provider -- Houston
• NEW! -- Business Development Manager -- Retail Provider
• NEW! -- Operations Manager - Retail Energy Supplier
• NEW! -- Assistant Controller/Bookkeeper -- Retail Provider -- DFW
• NEW! -- Client Services Lead
• NEW! -- Billing Analyst -- Retail Supplier
• NEW! -- Pricing and Commercial Analyst -- Retail Supplier