PUCO Orders Credits for Columbus Southern Power Excessive Earnings

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio ruled yesterday that Columbus Southern Power generated $42.6 million in significantly excessive earnings in 2009, which will be refunded to customers through bill credits and the elimination of deferrals.

Columbus Southern Power shall first apply the $42.6 million in significantly excessive earnings to eliminate fuel adjustment clause deferrals estimated at $16 million that would otherwise have been recovered from Columbus Southern customers in 2011. These fuel adjustment clause deferrals are believed to have been only accrued since the introduction of the electric security plan, and the application of the excessive earnings to the deferrals will reduce costs that otherwise may have been placed into bypassable rates (depending on how the deferrals were treated in the future).

The remaining $26.6 million to be returned to customers is to be "credited to CSPs customers on a per kilowatt hour basis beginning with the first billing cycle in February 2011 and coinciding with the end of the current ESP period," according to PUCO's written order which was posted this morning. It is not clear whether this credit will be paid to all distribution customers (given the blended nature of generation and distribution under the electric security plan), or paid only to Standard Service Offer customers.