Ohio Commission Directs Staff to Review Load Caps in Default Service Auctions

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio has decided to retain Duke Energy Ohio's current schedule and structure for its default service competitive bidding process, but directed Staff to monitor the experience with load caps in the auction.

PUCO had sought comment on whether the twice annual procurements under Duke Energy Ohio's procurement plan should be consolidated into a single procurement event annually to reduce administrative costs and increase bidder participation.

After receiving comments, PUCO said that, at this time, "we are not persuaded that it is in the best interest of customers to shift to a single day procurement process, given the inherent market risk of a single procurement, or that we should move away from the CBP [competitive bidding process]."

Although PUCO's original review of the Duke Energy Ohio procurement process did not seek comments on the load cap specifically, several parties suggested removing the load caps.

PUCO said that, "we believe that the load cap should remain in place at this time."

"However, the Commission is mindful of the support for removing the load caps and, although it is premature to make changes at this time, we direct staff to monitor upcoming auctions and continue to review the issue to determine if load caps serve to promote competition," PUCO said.