Citing Precedent At PPL, Low-Income Advocates Seek Limitation On Electric Choice For Low-Income Customers At FirstEnergy Pa. EDCs

The Coalition for Affordable Utility Service and Energy Efficiency in Pennsylvania (CAUSE-PA) said that they will seek a limitation on the ability of customer assistance program (CAP) customers to take competitive electric supply at the FirstEnergy Pennsylvania utilities, as part of the PUC's review of a newly filed default service plan for the FirstEnergy Pa. EDCs

Currently, CAP customers at the FirstEnergy EDCs may shop for an electric generation supply (EGS) with no limitation

CAUSE-PA said that data provided by the utilities during stakeholder collaboratives, "showed that the net effect of CAP customers shopping for EGS-supplied service across all Companies, over a 51 month period for which information was provided, demonstrated clear and pervasive harm to CAP customers and other residential customers who pay for the CAP program as a result of unrestricted CAP shopping."

"Specifically, over that period, CAP customers and other ratepayers who pay for CAP paid in excess of $16 million more than they would have paid had all CAP customers been served at prices that were equal to the default service price to compare," CAUSE-PA said

"There is clear and unrefuted evidence available which demonstrates that CAP customers and other ratepayers who pay for CAP are substantially and materially harmed by First Energy’s current policy of permitting CAP customers to shop without restriction. As such, CAUSE-PA intends to propose restrictions in this proceeding for the types of EGS-provided service that CAP customers can accept and remain on CAP," CAUSE-PA said

"CAUSE-PA’s position that CAP shopping restrictions are needed is consistent with the Commission’s recent decision in PPL Electric Utilities default service plan proceeding. In that case, the Commission found that, where EGS-supplied service caused millions of dollars of harm to CAP customers and other ratepayers as a result of unrestricted CAP shopping, the Commission had an obligation to impose rules on the types of EGS-supplied service that CAP customers who wish to receive the benefits of CAP could accept," CAUSE-PA said

CAUSE-PA said that in adopting CAP shopping restrictions at PPL, the PUC, "was following the Commonwealth Court’s decision in Coalition for Affordable Util. Servs. & Energy Efficiency in Pa. v. Pa. PUC." CAUSE-PA noted that the Commonwealth Court stated in such decision that, "So long as it 'provides substantial reasons why there is no reasonable alternative so competition needs to bend' to ensure adequately-funded, cost-effective, and affordable programs to assist customers who are of low income to afford electric service, the [Commission] may impose CAP rules that would limit the terms of any offer from an EGS that a customer could accept and remain eligible for CAP benefits – e.g., an EGS rate ceiling, a prohibition against early termination/cancellation fees, etc."

"Based on the information available to CAUSE-PA, it reasonably believes that the evidence of harm to the Companies’ CAP customers and other ratepayers who pay for CAP is more pervasive and more severe in the First Energy service territory than the evidence of harm available to the Commission when it reached a decision in PPL’s default service proceeding. CAUSE-PA intends to fully explore these issues in this proceeding through discovery, testimony, and hearings," CAUSE-PA said

At PPL, CAP customers are only permitted to shop through a new standard offer program specific to CAP customers (CAP-SOP), under which retail suppliers must serve CAP customers at a 7% discount off the Price to Compare at the time of enrollment. This price remains fixed for the 12-month CAP-SOP contract unless terminated earlier by the customer.

CAUSE-PA also opposed a proposed $0.00144 per kWh adder to residential default service rates that has been proposed by the FirstEnergy EDCs as a retail market enhancement rider to spur competition (see story here)