|
|
|
|
|
Regulator Denies Continuation Of Choice Utility's Green Supply Add-On Program
The following story is brought free of charge to readers by VertexOne, the exclusive EDI provider of EnergyChoiceMatters.com
In a recent rate case order, the Illinois Commerce Commission denied Nicor Gas Company's request to continue a pilot program allowing customers to purchase carbon offsets from the utility to offset 100% of the customer's natural gas usage
Nicor's TotalGreen program (Rider 40) offers customers two choices to green their gas supply -- an option with 99%+ carbon offsets and less than 1% from renewable natural
gas credits, and a premium option that includes 80-95% carbon offsets and 5-20% renewable natural
gas credits
TotalGreen is a pilot with a previously set expiration date of June 30, 2027.
Nicor had sought to make TotalGreen permanent, and to add a new price option under which the offsets would be a fixed fee per month, rather than the cost varying with usage
In joint submissions, the Environmental Law & Policy Center, and the Environmental Defense Fund &
the Illinois State Public Interest Research Group, Inc. (ELPC/PIO), had said during the rate case that, at one point, Nicor had spent $2,429 per customer in administrative costs under TotalGreen, with most of such costs deferred
ELPC/PIO said that TotalGreen enrollment three years into the pilot stood at 238 customers, or 0.01% of Nicor's total customers
ELPC/PIO also said that about one-third of TotalGreen participants from the initial year of the program ceased TotalGreen service.
ELPC/PIO argued that the TotalGreen pilot generated limited environmental
benefits
The Illinois Competitive Energy Association (ICEA) and the Retail Energy
Supply Association (RESA) also opposed continuation of TotalGreen, alleging that Nicor's stated low administrative costs of the program are a "mirage" due to deferrals
The ICC in its rate case order agreed that, "it is clear there is little customer interest
in the [TotalGreen] program."
The ICC thus declined to allow continuation of TotalGreen beyond its current expiration date
The ICC added that, "The Commission notes deferred costs for a program represented without a revenue
requirement impact are not recoverable through rates."
The ICC said that it is "eager" to consider programs that will benefit
ratepayers while generating environmental benefits. However, the Commission
said that such an undertaking is more appropriately addressed as part of the separate Future of Gas (FoG) proceedings
"The Commission encourages all to continue to innovate programming that benefits ratepayers
and creates environmental benefits, and to utilize the FoG workshops as an avenue to
further explore and develop such programs," the ICC said
The rate case also addressed several other retail market issues, with the ICC granting relief sought by retail suppliers in some instances, but declining suppliers' sought relief on other matters
The ICC declined to adopt most of ICEA/RESA’s proposed reforms to Nicor’s storage-related operations, and rejected suppliers' proposals for (1) same-day trading, (2) daily imbalance trading (retroactive
trading), and (3) monthly imbalance trading.
However, the ICC did agree that retail suppliers should not be subject to penalties from Nicor for instances in which tariff noncompliance is "directly attributable" to the lack of timely and necessary data from Nicor
ICEA/RESA had alleged that Nicor has been imposing cash-out
penalties in instances in which Nicor allegedly failed to timely provide data needed for
a supplier to reallocate nominations between their own pools. ICEA/RESA alleged that such practice by Nicor is contrary to tariff
Specifically, the ICC adopted ICEA/RESA’s proposal that Nicor shall forgo penalties
or issue refunds in instances where data is not made available prior to the close of the
reallocation window.
With regards to other storage issues raised by suppliers, the ICC expressed concern that retroactive nominations could, "compromise operational reliability and increase gas supply
costs."
However, while not adopting the reforms at this time, the ICC did require Nicor to further study ICEA/RESA’s proposal to allow retroactive daily and
monthly imbalance trading, and to analyze any impact on Nicor's storage operations. Nicor shall report on the estimated costs to implement any changes
During the case, Nicor and ICEA/RESA agreed that the Gas Supplier Operations Portal (GSOP) would be revised to include information indicating whether a meter reading is an
actual meter reading, or an understated meter read.
Beyond this agreement between the parties, the ICC declined to adopt additional transportation-related proposals from ICEA/RESA, citing implementation costs
Notably, ICEA/RESA had sought a streamlined process for a supplier to access historical customer usage
Currently, to access historical usage, if the supplier does not provide a letter of agency, the supplier must provide the exact dollar amount of the customer’s last bill.
ICEA/RESA had suggested a more automated process, or alternatively, the adoption of the process in place at Ameren, which only requires the account number and an online verification that a supplier is permitted
by the customer to access the information.
The ICC said that the historical usage issue is better addressed in Nicor's retail supplier forum (Supplier Connection)
The ICC approved an increase in the Group Charge in Rider 13 (Supplier Transportation Service) to $205, more than double the current charge of $95
Among other things, ICEA/RESA had proposed basing a supplier's individual Group Charge on the supplier's number of customers (the suppliers proposed that a per-customer fee would be determined, and then applied to each supplier based on its number of customers)
The ICC rejected such a Group Charge mechanism at this time, but said that it is willing to re-examine the issue in the future
The ICC approved Nicor's increase in the Group Change Fee to $35 from the current $25
ICEA/RESA had in the case proposed that Nicor rely on EDI to automate adds and drops from transportation pools, similar to the mass market, and that the fee should not be increased
The ICC rejected ICEA/RESA's automation proposal, citing concerns about a $750,000 implementation cost as stated by Nicor
The ICC also declined at this time to increase the pool
cap from 600 accounts to an unlimited number
The ICC observed that the pool cap was only recently increased to 600, and said that, "Despite the raised cap, the interest in utilizing it was minimal as only two of fifteen
suppliers utilize a group size over 500 customer accounts."
Docket 25-0055
ADVERTISEMENT Copyright 2025 EnergyChoiceMatters.com. Unauthorized copying, retransmission, or republication
prohibited. You are not permitted to copy any work or text of EnergyChoiceMatters.com without the separate and express written consent of EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Regulator Approves Higher Fees Charged To Retail Suppliers, Grants Some Relief On Penalties
December 2, 2025
Email This Story
Copyright 2025 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
NEW Jobs on RetailEnergyJobs.com:
• NEW -- Account Executive (Commercial Retail Energy)
|
|
|
|
|