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Utility To Cease Website Description Of Non-basic Service From Partnered Third Party Vendor As "Affordable", Under Settlement
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A natural gas rate case settlement at the Pennsylvania PUC among UGI Utilities, Inc. – Gas Division ("UGI Gas" or the "Company"), the Bureau of
Investigation and Enforcement ("I&E") of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission
("Commission"), the Office of Consumer Advocate ("OCA"), the Office of Small Business
Advocate ("OSBA"), the Coalition for Affordable Utility Services and Energy Efficiency in
Pennsylvania ("CAUSE-PA"), Commission on Economic Opportunity ("CEO"), and the Retail Energy
Supply Association ("RESA") and Shipley Choice, LLC d/b/a Shipley Energy would address several retail market issues
Under the natural gas rate case settlement, UGI will move the Price to Compare ("PTC") from the back of
the bill to the front of the bill.
This update will be implemented on or before
April 1, 2026.
Additionally, under the settlement, UGI Gas will disclose on its website, prior to redirecting customers to links
for HomeServe products, that such products are optional -- meaning that
failing to pay for such products will not result in termination of utility
services and that other providers offer the same non-basic services - and
that UGI Gas does not endorse HomeServe’s products over those of
HomeServe’s competitors.
UGI Gas will also update its hosted "ugi.com" website pages to remove the term
"affordable" where HomeServe’s repair plans are referenced.
In the case, RESA/Shipley had raised various issues concerning: (1) Penalties; (2) UGI’s
notice practices; (3) UGI’s nominations process; (4) UGI’s compliance with the settlement in the
most recent prior rate case; (5) UGI’s affiliates and its interaction with its affiliates; and (6) the
Weighted Average Cost of Delivered Ga
Among other things, RESA/Shipley had alleged that while UGI
presently does notify suppliers of cuts or supply-nomination mismatches on weekdays, UGI does not
do so on weekends and holidays. Similarly, the suppliers alleged that while UGI does notify customers that customers will be interrupted,
UGI does not presently notify suppliers, "who have a need to know as the fact of interruptions can
modify supply needs."
RESA/Shipley also alleged that UGI failed to provide updates of balancing fees
that UGI charges to suppliers under Rate AG until after the fees are charged.
RESA/Shipley said that the Settlement resolves the bulk of these issues, including Weighted Average Cost of
Delivered Gas ("WACOD"); notice requirements from UGI to suppliers if supply their customers
is interrupted; earlier notification of balancing fees; and notice provided by UGI to suppliers, over
weekends or holidays, if interstate pipeline’s cut deliveries or a supplier enters a nomination that
is incorrect.
Specifically, the settlement includes the following terms:
WACOD. Pursuant to the details outlined in UGI Gas Statement No. 13-RJ [rejoinder testimony], UGI Gas will begin publishing an "Acceptance WACOD"
whereby upon acceptance of filed rates or determined rates (via settlement or final determination)
in any Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") Section 4 pipeline proceeding the
Acceptance WACOD shall be updated. This WACOD shall reflect a 12 month forward impact.
Interruption Notification. UGI Gas will provide direct notification of interruptions
to customers and their licensed natural gas suppliers ("NGSs") in parallel, inclusive of notice of
permitted volumes, if any. UGI Gas will use commercially reasonable efforts to provide direct
notification to customers and NGSs as close together as circumstances allow, recognizing
emergency situations may impact this notice unpredictably.
Balancing Fee Updates. The annual update of the Choice Supplier Balancing Fee
under Rate AG shall be posted no later than April 15 each year.
Weekend/Holiday Cuts/Mismatches. Within 6 months of the issuance of a final
order in this proceeding, UGI Gas will implement a "manual or non-permanent" solution to notify
NGSs when UGI Gas identifies nomination cuts/mismatches over weekends and holidays via
posting to the Energy Management Website, which will trigger email distribution to all NGSs for
the NAESB cycles of Timely, Evening, Intra-Day 1 and Intra-Day 2. This email distribution will
identify the contracts affected by the subject nomination cuts/mismatches. The Company will
utilize commercially reasonable efforts to maintain this manual process for the specified times.
UGI Gas will continue to review and evaluate permanent or automated solutions for such notifications and will continue to operate under this manual process until a permanent solution is
implemented.
R-2024-3052716
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Settlement Addresses Various Operational Issues Raised By Retail Suppliers
Price To Compare Location Moving On Bill
July 11, 2025
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Copyright 2025 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
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