Potomac Edison Sees Decreased Bidding for Type I SOS Supply

Potomac Edison saw a significant decrease in participation in the RFP for Type I SOS supplies, Maryland's bid consultant reported.

The January 9, 2012 RFP solicited Type II supplies at Maryland's four investor-owned utilities, as well as Type I and residential supply at Potomac Edison.

For the Type I product at Potomac Edison, there were 3.0 MW bid for every MW needed. Compared to the last time Potomac Edison procured Type I supply in January 2010, "participation is down significantly from 6.0 MW bids for every MW needed, but [it] is still in an acceptable range for the product," Boston Pacific said.

Notably, there is only one block of Potomac Edison Type I supply available, and it is smaller than the standard 50 MW size. In the 2012 RFP, the Type I block was 23 MW; in 2012, it was 17.5 MW.

As suggested by the ratio of MW bid to MW needed, the 2012 RFP saw only three suppliers bid for Potomac Edison Type I load (of nine qualified bidders), versus six active bidders in the 2010 RFP.

Across all products and utilities, there were a total of eight bidders who submitted bids for one or more of the seven products available. This is the same number of bidders that participated in the bid days both in January and June of 2011, the most recent RFPs with comparable products.

For the entire RFP there were approximately 4.9 MW bid for every MW needed. This represents a slight decrease from last June's bid, which saw 5.5 MW bid for every block needed overall.

For the Potomac Edison residential products alone the ratio was 4.5 to 1, a slight increase compared to June, where the ratio was 4.0 to 1.

Overall, there were five winning bidders, one less than in last June's procurement in which there were six winners.

All winning prices came in below the Price Anomaly Threshold.

Updated SOS rates for Pepco and Delmarva have already been filed, available below.

Delmarva SOS Rates

Pepco SOS Rates

Rates for Baltimore Gas & Electric and Potomac Edison will be filed shortly. In a news release the PSC said that Type II BGE customers are expected to see double-digit cost reductions for the period beginning in March through May 2012, compared with the same period in 2011.

"Small commercial customers served by PE [Potomac Edison] are expected to realize a rate decrease of about 15% annually, subject to similar results from an additional round of bidding in April 2012. Residential customers served by PE are also expected to realize an annual rate decrease over last year’s same period, which could result in average savings of $94.00," the PSC said.