Pa. PUC to Release Intermediate OCMO Recommendations for Interaction of New Default Service Plans, Retail Market Investigation

The Pennsylvania PUC will issue for comment intermediate recommendations from the PUC's Office of Competitive Markets Oversight (OCMO) that are intended to serve as guidance to the electric distribution companies (EDCs) in developing the format and structure of their upcoming default service plans.

Most current default service plans expire on May 31, 2013. As previously reported, the PUC is investigating a number of retail market design issues, including the structure of default service. This investigation will not be completed before the new default service plans must be designed, due to the lead time required to allow for a contested case and any proposed forward procurements.

The OCMO recommendations, which were voted on to be issued for comment this morning, were not available as of press time.

"The proposed intermediate recommendations are intended to provide EDCs with the flexibility to craft default service plan filings in a manner in which they seem [sic] appropriate," a PUC news release said.

According to the PUC, these recommendations are also designed to:

- Ensure that the upcoming default service plans do not hinder the ability of the Commission to implement changes that will be addressed within the investigation;

- Advise EDCs and other parties that they will be expected to amend proposed default service plans when possible to incorporate changes which may arise out of the PUC's investigation of Pennsylvania's retail electricity market; and

- Provide guidance on default service plan components that the Commission believes can improve the competitive marketplace.

The proposed OCMO recommendations address:

- Default service plan time periods;

- Energy contract durations;

- Retail opt-in auctions;

- Referral programs;

- Time-of-use rates;

- Default service rate adjustment structure (residential and small commercial); and

- Hourly-priced default service (medium commercial and industrial).

The proceeding is I-2011-2237952.