Report: Legacy Variable Rate Customers (Less Than 10% Of Market) Account For Nearly Half Of Aggregate Cost Above Default Service Paid by Retail Supplier Customers

March 5, 2020

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Copyright 2010-20 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com

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The Connecticut Office of Consumer Counsel published an analysis of retail electricity supplier customers who remain on legacy variable rates, stating that variable rate customers, who represent less than 10% of customers on competitive supply at Connecticut Light & Power, account for nearly 50% of the total cost that retail supplier customers pay in excess of default service

As previously reported, enrollment onto new variable rate contracts was prohibited in Connecticut in 2015, but legacy variable rate contracts may continue

EnergyChoiceMatters.com had exclusively first reported in January that, as of the date used for the data responses filed by the utilities, there were just under 25,000 residential customers still served under a variable rate in Connecticut

In its new analysis, OCC reported that, for the CL&P (Eversource) service area in January 2020, the retail supplier market as a whole had 250,525 residential customers

OCC said that 18,878 of those customers, or 7.54%, were still on a variable rate

OCC said that the total overpayments above the standard service rate for supplier customers for the month of January 2020 was a net overpayment of $1,359,805

OCC said that $600,882 of the overpayments came from variable rate customers

"This means that 7.54% of supplier customers in Eversource territory are paying about 44.19% of all supplier overpayments," OCC said

OCC said that gross savings for January equaled only $8,963, while gross overpayments for January equaled $609,845

OCC said that 19 out of 20 variable rate customers had a rate above the standard service rate, while only 1 of those 20 variable rate customers had a rate lower than the Eversource standard service rate.

OCC also presented analysis for the United Illuminating territory, for December 2019

OCC said that UI territory has 86,557 residential customers on competitive supply in December 2019.

OCC said that 5,805 of those customers, or 6.71%, were still on a variable rate

OCC said that the total overpayments above the standard service rate for supplier customers for the month of December 2019 at UI was a net overpayment of $1,591,656

OCC said that $259,986 of the overpayments came from variable rate customers

"This means that 6.71% of supplier customers in UI territory are paying 16.33% of all supplier overpayments," OCC said

OCC said that gross Savings for December equaled only $527, while gross overpayments for December equaled $206,512

OCC said that, at UI, "99 out of 100 variable rate customers had a rate above the standard service rate, while only 1 of those 100 variable rate customers had a rate lower than the UI standard service rate."

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