PUC Adopts Minimum Stay Rules, Makes Changes From Proposals

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio adopted, at each of the four electric utilities with choice programs, default service minimum stay rules that are to apply when a governmental aggregator returns a threshold level of customers to default service prior to the previously established end date of the aggregation term.

PUCO ordered that the minimum stay applies only to the re-enrollment of customers into the government aggregation

The minimum stay does not apply to customers with respect to customers' ability to individually select a competitive retail electric supplier. Customers will not be prevented from shopping due to the minimum stay applicable to municipal aggregators

The FirstEnergy EDCs, Duke, and Dayton Power & Light had already proposed tariff language to such effect, which PUCO accepted

PUCO directed AEP Ohio to include language similar to the following: "This section [minimum stay] does not limit customers who were returned to SSO by the Governmental Aggregator from shopping with a Competitive Retail Electric Supplier during the stay."

PUCO said that the SSO minimum stay shall apply in cases when a municipal aggregation returns more than 5,000 customers to the SSO during the middle of an aggregation term. All of the EDCs except the FirstEnergy utilities had proposed this customer threshold (FirstEnergy had proposed 25,000 customers)

PUCO also rejected FirstEnergy's proposal to establish a separate "either/or" threshold based also on the amount of load returned. The minimum stay will only be triggered by more than 5,000 customers, and will not be triggered by the size of the returning load.

The minimum stay on SSO for such municipal aggregations shall be exactly 12 months, unless otherwise ordered by PUCO

Utilities had proposed that the minimum stay be 12 months plus the additional time it would take for any aggregation resumption to coincide with the start of the PJM delivery year (e.g. June 1).

"[U]nless ordered otherwise in the future, the Commission finds that only a 12-month stay without any additional time suffices to accomplish our noted objective of implementing a minimum stay tariff to prevent governmental aggregators from prematurely returning customers to default service and then, within an unreasonably short time, reenrolling such customers in a new aggregation program. Therefore, we direct the EDUs to revise their proposed tariffs such that the minimum stay period for governmental aggregators be only 12 months upon the premature return of customers to default service, unless ordered otherwise by the Commission," PUCO said

The minimum stay will not apply in cases where the municipal aggregation's supplier defaults, and customers are returned to the SSO due to such aggregation supplier default

PUCO also made clear that the minimum stay only applies to a return of customers to the SSO prior to the previously established end of the aggregation's current term, and does not apply to customers dropped to SSO at the established end date of an aggregation term

PUCO also said that the minimum stay tariffs, "will be prospective in nature and will take effect after the final tariffs are filed with the Commission."

PUCO said that proposals from certain wholesale suppliers for new restrictions on customer switching are outside the scope of the proceeding. PUCO rejected such proposals

Case 22-1127-EL-ATA et al.