Draft Order Would Allocate EDC Billing Costs To Retail Suppliers, Set Amount For Each Supplier

The Connecticut PURA has issued a proposed decision to allocate to retail electric suppliers the utilities' costs to update their billing systems to include Next Cycle Rate information and related obligations

The proposed decision finds that the utilities' filed costs are prudent, and would allocate the aggregate of $2.3 million to retail suppliers

Cost allocation to retail suppliers would be based on two metrics

One portion would be a fixed fee allocated to all third-party electric suppliers who currently have a license to serve residential customers

The second portion would be allocated to third-party electric suppliers based upon each electric supplier’s average residential customer count for the three calendar years following the issuance of the Implementation Decision, specifically 2019, 2020, and 2021

The specific amounts proposed to be allocated to each supplier is below:

The proposed decision notes that PURA considered whether, if a supplier fails to pay, the EDC could withhold receivables from the supplier

The proposed decision would conclude that such withholding of supplier receivables is not permissible

"The Authority investigated whether the EDCs could withhold a portion of a third-party electric suppliers receivables if an electric supplier failed to timely pay its Final Project Cost allocation. See Interrogatory EOE-1. It determined, however, that the EDCs are prohibited from withholding a portion of the receivables owed to third-party electric suppliers, other than the purchase of receivables percentage established in the October 10, 2007 Decision in Docket No. 05-08-05RE02, DPUC Investigation Into The Process By Which Customers Can Choose An Electric Supplier When Initiating Electric Service – Amended Referral Program. See Conn. Gen. Stat. § 16-244c(j) ('Each [EDC] shall offer to bill customers on behalf of participating electric suppliers and to pay such suppliers in a timely manner the amounts due such suppliers from customers for generation services, less a percentage of such amounts that reflects uncollectible bills and overdue payments as approved by the [Authority].')," the proposed decision states

Docket 14-07-19RE07