What Type of Variable Rate History Will Pa. Electric Suppliers Be Required to Disclose Under New PUC Order?

The Pennsylvania PUC, while requiring the disclosure of certain variable electric rate history by suppliers for residential and small business customers, has not yet determined how exactly such rate history shall be compiled and presented.

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In a final rulemaking order regarding customer disclosures, the PUC ordered that the disclosure statement required for residential and small commercial customers shall include, "a telephone number and internet address at which a customer may obtain the previous 24 months' average monthly billed prices for that customer's rate class and EDC service territory."

If an EGS has not been providing generation service in a rate class and EDC service territory for 24 months, the EGS shall provide the average monthly billed prices for the months available to date.

This is essentially the language in an earlier PUC proposal (except now extended to 24 months). However, the PUC's final order does not expand on how, "the previous 24 months' average monthly billed prices," shall be determined.

Indeed, the PUC leaves this question to a subsequent process conducted by the Office of Competitive Market Oversight.

"The Commission ... recognizes that there are various types of retail electric price offerings throughout the Commonwealth, as well as a variety of offers from each EGS. Due to the variety of price offerings, a one-size-fits-all approach to calculating the average monthly billed price is neither practical nor useful. In addition, as the retail electric market offerings change and evolve, it is impractical to propose a calculation method that is applicable to all current and future rate designs. We agree with the various commenters that further information is needed regarding ways to provide such information in a consumer-friendly and useful format while maintaining competitive sensitivities. However, we do not believe it appropriate to include such details as to the interpretation and application of this requirement in regulations. As such, we will refer this issue to OCMO to review and provide recommendations to the Commission as to the best manner for providing historical pricing information to customers."

It was unclear how quickly this OCMO process would be conducted. The PUC is requiring suppliers to, "implement these regulatory changes within 30 days of the publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin."

The final rules remain subject to approval from the Independent Regulatory Review Commission

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