Pa. Utility: Complaints About Shopping Fall 90% Versus Last Winter

Complaints about electricity shopping have fallen by 90% versus the winter of 2013-14, the FirstEnergy Pennsylvania utilities told the PUC.

The FirstEnergy utilities made note of the statistic in an update to their implementation of Phase II of the accelerated switching mechanism, which would allow multiple off-cycle accelerated switches to be completed per billing cycle.

Currently, the FirstEnergy utilities allow one accelerated switch (completed within 3 days) per billing cycle, and are working to implement Phase II by June 15, 2015. However, the utilities reported several "challenges" must be overcome as they work to meet the June 15 deadline, "including several broad system changes that must be made by the software developer itself. Furthermore, as referenced in the Companies' Petitions, an SAP freeze is taking place between the end of February and the end of May as the result of a technical maintenance release."

"Despite the significant volume of work remaining, the progress that the Companies have made in implementing the new switching process to this point has yielded positive impacts to customers. Data indicates that the bulk of the Companies' customers have been able to accomplish switching requests without delay, even without the ability to make multiple off-cycle switches. For instance, two or more switches within the same thirty day period were requested for only 0.3% of meters on the Companies' systems in aggregate during the first quarter of 2015," the utilities said.

"Meanwhile, the Companies' informal and formal Commission complaints related to shopping are a mere 10% of the level they were during the winter of2013-2014 over the same timeframe for the winter of2014-2015, none of which have been related to the new process itself. Call volume related to issues surrounding switching is similarly very low," the utilities said.