PECO Selects Retail Supplier to Serve Time of Use Pilot Customers

PECO has selected an electric generation supplier for its Time of Use (TOU) pilot.

PECO originally intended to serve the TOU customers as part of its default service; however, it elected to seek bids from retail suppliers after the PUC encouraged such action.

Specifically, PECO selected Reliant Energy Northeast LLC as the supply vendor for the TOU program. PECO received three bids from retail suppliers to serve as the program's supplier.

Under the program, customers electing the TOU rate option will be served by Reliant, under a structure determined via the competitive bidding process. The program will no longer offer a critical peak pricing design, as PECO said that TOU was simpler. "PECO made this selection because TOU: (1) has a simple structure that is understandable to customers; and (2) has a lower price risk (i.e., high bill risk) for customers than CPP," PECO said.

Upon PUC approval, the pilot will launch in the first quarter of 2013 and will run for a one-year period (instead of approximately two years as originally proposed), and will involve one solicitation of up to 140,000 default service customers (instead of multiple solicitations involving around 200,000 customers).

As under the original plan, the pilot will be open to all customer classes except the large commercial and industrial class.

Reliant will be required to communicate to the enrolled customers beginning approximately 90 days prior to the end of the pilot regarding the customers' options following the pilot. The customer will be presented with options that include: staying with Reliant on a rate plan that Reliant chooses to offer, switching to another retail supplier (providing them the PA Power Switch web site address), or returning to PECO on the applicable default rate.

If the customer takes no action, they will automatically revert to PECO default service beginning with the relative month immediately following the pilot close.