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Pennsylvania PUC Proposes Requiring That All Customer Assistance Program (CAP) Customers, At All EDCs, Be Prohibited From Shopping Except Where Retail Supplier Rate Is At Or Below Price To Compare For ENTIRE Term Of Contract

December 20, 2018

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Copyright 2010-17 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com

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Note: This story was exclusively first published the morning of Dec. 20 with an alert to our email subscribers

The Pennsylvania PUC today voted to issue a proposed policy statement, offered by Commissioner David Sweet, that would require all electric distribution companies to adopt a program limiting the ability for Customer Assistance Program (CAP) customers to shop, with CAP customers only allowed to shop in a program where the retail supplier's rate is at or below the Price to Compare during all times of the customer's contract

Under Sweet's proposed policy statement, utilities in their next default service plan would be required to include CAP shopping programs that meet the following terms:

• CAP customers may only shop under a retail electric supplier plan that has a price at or below the Price to Compare during all times of the customer's contract

• Retail supplier plans for CAP customers may not include early termination fees

• At the end of a retail supplier contract, the CAP customer may re-enroll with its current supplier, subject to the terms above, select another supplier, subject to the terms above, or return to default service

The specific mechanics of implementing the above CAP shopping plan and policy would be addressed in the respective default service proceedings

As previously reported, similar CAP shopping programs have been adopted at PPL and the FirstEnergy EDCs; however, the pricing under the CAP plans differs at the utilities. At the FirstEnergy EDCs, the CAP shopping rate may not exceed the PTC at any time. At PPL, the CAP shopping rate must be 7% below the PTC at the time of contracting, with such supplier rate fixed for 12 months (with no requirement to always beat the PTC)

Sweet noted that PECO currently has a pending default service proceeding before the PUC, and suggested that PECO incorporate the program described above into such current proceeding

Sweet said that such CAP program is required because in the PPL and FirstEnergy EDCs cases, evidence showed that a majority of CAP customers who shopped paid rates in excess of the PTC

Sweet noted that such rates result in a faster exhaustion of CAP credits, and higher costs which must be recovered from non-CAP customers

Sweet noted that under the proposal, any customer otherwise eligible for CAP may still shop for a retail supplier whose plan does not meet the CAP program terms above, but to do so the customer would no longer be eligible for CAP credits

Under the proposed policy statement, stakeholders may propose a "reasonable" alternative to the CAP program outlined above if such program is shown to not harm CAP customers and is shown to not harm non-CAP customers

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