PECO Sets Date For Allowing CAP Customers To Shop, With Product Restriction

PECO has filed an updated electric Customer Assistance Program (CAP) shopping implementation plan, which includes a proposed effective date for allowing CAP customers to shop

PECO specifically proposed that CAP customers be eligible to shop effective April 14, 2017.

Per a court order, retail suppliers will not be permitted to charge early termination fees to CAP customers.

Additionally, EGSs that offer special pricing and/or programs for CAP customers shall honor the terms of CAP shopping contracts until those contracts expire regardless of whether the customer remains on CAP for the duration of the contract.

An EGS that serves CAP customers and then opts to cease serving them:

(1) Must give the Commission, PECO Energy Company and its customers at least thirty days' notice before terminating its participation in the CAP shopping program;

(2) Shall return its CAP customers to PECO's default service;

(3) Must wait at least ninety days before reentering the CAP Program; and

(4) Is prohibited from reenrolling previous CAP customers without obtaining the customer's affirmative consent to another contract before re-enrolling them.

Regarding the chosen implementation date, PECO explained in a PUC filing that it was separately implementing other changes to the CAP program, moving to a Fixed Credit Option, in October 2016. "PECO respectfully submits that the two programs will be easier to implement if there is some 'gap' between the two implementation dates," PECO said in the PUC filing

"Although PECO included coding for CAP shopping in its Information Technology ('IT') implementation of the FCO program, PECO anticipates that the actual 'go live' of its CAP Shopping Program must be coordinated with a PECO IT 'push,' during which all systems are tested overnight to ensure that the new program language does not cause any unforeseen interactions with other programs. PECO has an IT push scheduled for Friday, April 14, 2017. The proposed EGS tariff thus has an effective date of April 14, 2017, and when PECO files the revisions to its Electric Service Tariff, it will use that same effective date," PECO said in the PUC filing