Attorney Examiner Suspends Automatic Approval Of Utility's Filing To List Amount Of Shadow-Billed Default Service Cost On Shopping Customers' Bill (Prominently On First Page), Says Further Investigation Needed

An attorney examiner at the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio has suspended the automatic application of Ohio Power Company (the 'Company' or 'AEP Ohio') for approval of a modified bill format that would provide the shadow-billed total supply cost that a shopping customer would have paid, had the customer been on the Standard Service Offer, on the first page on a utility consolidated bill for residential customers

The attorney examiner found that further investigation is warranted, and set a procedural schedule

AEP Ohio's proposal to add shadow-billed default service costs prominently on residential utility consolidated bills had been exclusively first reported by EnergyChoiceMatters.com in August

Specifically, AEP Ohio's proposed language would state, "The supply portion of your bill using AEP Ohio's Standard Service Offer rate (also known as the Price-to-Compare) of $0.0xx per kWh would have been $xx.xx. Compare with your current supplier charges listed below on this bill for potential savings."

The information would appear near the top right of a customer's bill, under the heading "Notes from AEP Ohio". See a sample bill with the change here (page 4)

The attorney examiner found that, "additional information and investigation is necessary to thoroughly review AEP Ohio’s application to revise its bill format."

"Therefore, good cause exists to suspend the 45-day automatic approval process in order for the Commission and its Staff to further investigate this matter," the attorney examiner said

The attorney examiner adopted a schedule for motions to intervene and comments

Case 20-1408-EL-UNC