NOPEC Seeks Inclusion Of Municipal Aggregation Info On Ohio Apples To Apples Website

The Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council (NOPEC) said in comments to PUCO, in a rulemaking on natural gas utility bills, that, "[g]overnmental aggregators, like NOPEC, should have access to the Commission’s energy choice website."

NOPEC said that, "Governmental aggregation programs and their rates are not included on the Commission’s energy choice website. The NOPEC natural gas aggregation program alone serves nearly 400,000 customers in Ohio, and is active in the most populous regions of the state. By failing to mention governmental aggregation programs on the Commission’s energy choice website, customers moving to, or within, aggregated communities will be denied information on an important alternative to meet their natural gas supply needs if they look solely at the PUCO’s apples-to-apples website. Omitting governmental aggregation programs discriminates against governmental aggregations and the competitive providers that supply them by failing to give customers effective choices in selecting their supplier. R.C. 4929.20(A)(3)."

"Governmental aggregators, like NOPEC, should have access to the Commission’s energy choice website. Specifically, NOPEC proposes that the governmental aggregator website be listed on the Commission's energy choice website that displays the apples-to-apples comparison chart. Access to governmental aggregation websites will provide a customer with information to compare its governmental aggregator’s pricing, terms and conditions of service if the customer is located in an aggregated community," NOPEC said

NOPEC proposes that a rule concerning the provision of the Apples to Apples site information on utility bills be revised to state that a customer's bill shall include: "A prominently displayed notice of the commission’s energy choice website to view the gas or natural gas company’s standard choice offer (SCO) rate or gas cost recovery (GCR) rate and other CRNGS rate offers, including a listing of governmental aggregators’ websites, if the company has a choice program."

Case No. 19-1429-GA-ORD