Dominion East Ohio to Fully Exit Merchant Function for Certain Classes

Dominion East Ohio and the Ohio Gas Marketers Group have filed a joint stipulation to provide for a full exit of Dominion East Ohio from the merchant function for several customer classes, effective April 1, 2013.

The stipulation requires PUCO approval.

Specifically, the joint stipulation filed with PUCO would provide that, beginning in April 2013, the availability of Standard Choice Offer (SCO) service to Choice-eligible General Sales Service-Non-Residential, Large Volume General Sales Service, Energy Choice Transportation Service-Non-Residential and Large Volume Energy Choice Transportation Service customers would be discontinued.

In lieu of the SCO, a non-residential customer not making an affirmative election would be assigned to the next available competitive supplier on a rotating list of competitive suppliers registered to provide default service maintained by Dominion East Ohio, to be served at that supplier's Monthly Variable Rate, subject to the current limitations on the Monthly Variable Rate contained in Dominion East Ohio's tariff. Most notably, a supplier's Monthly Variable Rate charged to customers assigned to a supplier from Dominion East Ohio shall not exceed any of the supplier's monthly variable rates posted on PUCO's Apples to Apples chart.

A customer randomly assigned to a supplier would always maintain the option of switching to a different supplier, entering into a different rate plan with the assigned supplier, or participating in an opt-out governmental aggregation program.

New non-residential customers establishing service at Dominion East Ohio for the first time, relocating within Dominion East Ohio's service territory and whose energy choice or governmental aggregation agreement is not portable, or restoring service more than ten days after being disconnected for nonpayment, will be placed on the Standard Service Offer (SSO) for at least one billing cycle. After that time, they may elect a competitive supplier or participate in an opt-out governmental aggregation program.

Such customers may be served under the SSO for up to two billing cycles, but afterwards, absent an affirmative election, would be assigned to next competitive supplier on the Dominion East Ohio rotating list, to be served at the supplier's monthly variable rate.

SSO service would also remain available for non-residential customers not eligible for choice service (PIPP customers, etc.).

The SCO would remain available to residential customers, and stipulating parties agree not to seek a full exit of Dominion East Ohio from the merchant function for residential customers until at least April 2015.

Dominion East Ohio also agrees that in the event it subsequently files a request for a full exit from the residential merchant function, it shall propose a transition that includes an additional one-year SSO/SCO auction that gives residential customers the option to receive SCO service for the year over which the auction results are approved.

The information gleaned from a full exit for non-residential customers, "will provide valuable insight into whether it would be appropriate to fully exit the merchant function for residential customers, should DEO or another LDC eventually seek to do so," stipulating parties said.

"Because over 80% of Choice-eligible Non-Residential customers have migrated to CRNG [competitive] suppliers, comparatively few such customers continue to receive SCO service," stipulating parties said.

"It has become clear that as long as SCO service remains an option, some customers -- for any number of reasons -- will not exercise their ability to choose a CRNG [competitive] supplier," stipulating parties said.

"The continued existence of default SCO service for Non-Residential customers prevents a fully-competitive market from developing. The consequences of a fully-competitive market need to be understood before there is any further movement toward a fully-competitive residential market," stipulating parties said.

The stipulation was also signed by the Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel; however, the legal position set forth in an accompanying memorandum in support of the stipulation was solely that of Dominion East Ohio and the Ohio Gas Marketers Group.