PPL Electric Utilities Calls For Restrictions On Introductory, Promotional & Teaser Rates From Retail Suppliers

Greg Dudkin, president of PPL Electric Utilities (PPL), had an op-ed published in the Allentown Morning Call in which he said, "We need restrictions around introductory, promotion and teaser rates," from competitive retail electric suppliers

"We’ve found many of our residential and small business customers are paying more for electricity through their supplier than they would have on the default rate. For customers paying more than the default rate, over a one-year period, our residential customers paid about $97 million more and small business customers paid $34 million more," Dudkin said

"Suppliers are intentionally vague in hopes you won’t understand the long-term cost increase or aren’t monitoring your electric bill closely. There are over 26,000 PPL customers paying double the price of default energy," Dudkin said

"Even if we assume that all customers paying above the default rate are purchasing renewable energy, we still find over 205,000 PPL residential shopping customers are paying approximately $93 million more based on our estimate of a market-based renewable rate of 1 cent per kilowatt-hour above the default energy rate," Dudkin said

"I believe we must critically evaluate the electricity retail market and put customer protections in place. We need restrictions around introductory, promotion and teaser rates. Suppliers need to be held accountable and be transparent," Dudkin said

Dudkin further said, "We should also reject any proposals that allow suppliers to aggregate and send a consolidated electric bill to customers directly. Giving suppliers full control over bill communication puts customers at a disadvantage and makes it more difficult for the utility companies such as PPL to protect customers."

See Dudkin's full op-ed in the Allentown Morning Call here