PUC Rejects Proposed Rule Change Which Would Have Supported The Unbundling Of Utility Rates

In adopting final rules relating to standard filing requirements for rate cases for electric and natural gas utilities, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio declined to adopt certain proposed language from Staff concerning the filing by utilities of information related to the utilities' provision of competitive services, which the Retail Energy Supply Association had said would have supported unbundling Standard Service Offer costs

Specifically, Staff had proposed that large utilities include the following information in their rate case filings:

For those utilities who are providing both competitive and non-competitive services, provide a narrative description of the provisioning of each competitive service of the applicant utility which includes, but is not limited to the following:

(e) Brief description of the nature of the competitive service, including the nature of the revenues and expenses involved.

(f) Date when utility began providing the competitive service.

(g) Brief description of procedures used to separate revenues, expenses, plant in service, and other balance sheet items between non-competitive and competitive services. If specific allocation factors are used, provide the allocation factors and the related computation.

(h) A listing of the accounts and their location on the income statement and balance sheet, if separate accounts are maintained.

While RESA supported the language proposing that such information shall be required to be filed by utilities in rate cases, RESA said that the rule should further provide that, "To the extent that revenues, expenses, or plant in service are identified, there is no provision to adjust plant accounts, revenues and expenses, or the cost of service study to remove them from the calculation of base distribution rates."

However, PUCO found that Staff's newly proposed language quoted above is unnecessary and, therefore, "we have eliminated the relevant language."

"To the extent additional information is required during Staff’s review of the [rate increase] application, it can be requested through the discovery process, to the extent necessary. Along those same lines, we find RESA’s recommendations to be more appropriate to raise in the actual rate case proceedings, rather than this general rulemaking," PUCO said

Case 19-2103-AU-ORD