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PUC Approves Changes To Prior Default Service Procurement Design As A Result Of Electric Security Plan Withdrawal
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The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio has approved continuing the current default service procurement design and portfolio at the FirstEnergy Ohio utilities, even as the EDCs revert to their prior electric security plan (ESP IV) which differed from ESP V with regards to default service procurements in certain respects
Specifically, as previously reported, the FirstEnergy Ohio utilities have withdrawn from ESP V and are reverting to ESP IV, with PUCO approving the withdrawal today
See more background on the ESP withdrawal here
ESP V, adopted earlier this year, had made certain changes to the default service procurement process and portfolio, and PUCO has approved the FirstEnergy Ohio utilities' proposal to maintain such SSO changes despite the reversion to ESP IV
In particular, ESP V had eliminated the use of 36-month contracts for default service supply, and, with PUCO's approval today, the FirstEnergy Ohio EDCs will continue this provision, and will rely solely on 12-month and 24-month SSO contracts, in otherwise reverting to ESP IV
Furthermore, ESP V had included the use of a capacity proxy price for default service auctions in which a PJM base residual auction capacity price is not known, and the FirstEnergy Ohio EDCs will, under PUCO's order, maintain this use of the capacity proxy price
The FirstEnergy Ohio utilities will also use, for SSO auctions, the bidding documents and bidder collateral requirements adopted under ESP V
With regards to the default service portfolio differing from the design originally used under ESP IV due to the approvals described above, PUCO noted that, in addition to precedent concerning such matters, the Commission specifically under ESP IV and other ESPs, "has maintained continuing jurisdiction to modify
the [SSO] procurement process set forth in the ESP in consultation with the EDU, the auction
manager, and the Commission’s consultant."
As part of reverting to ESP IV, PUCO addressed the previously adopted expansion of the Rider NMB Pilot Program under ESP V.
Under ESP V, the EDCs were to have made available, for new customers under the Rider NMB pilot, an additional 100 MW of space, on a first-come, first-served basis, with each individual new customer capped at 20 MW. The Rider NMB pilot allows a capped number of large customers to avoid paying a nonbypassable Rider NMB charge for certain non-market-based PJM charges, with responsibility for such charges instead assigned to the customer's retail supplier and not the utility
PUCO found that, under statute, it is not authorized to continue the expansion of the Rider NMB pilot under a reversion to a prior ESP. The FirstEnergy EDCs had proposed maintaining the expansion from ESP V
However, for customers who sought to enroll into Rider NMB in the interim between the approval of the pilot expansion and the FirstEnergy EDCs' reversion to ESP IV, PUCO will allow such customers to be placed in the Rider NMB pilot provided that the customer enters into a contract with a retail supplier, which facilitates the customer's inclusion in the pilot, and provided that the customer provides written notice to their EDC of such, prior to the effective date of the reversion to ESP IV
As previously reported, ESP V had included $2 million in funding for a smart thermostat rebate program open to retail suppliers. This program as established under ESP V may no longer be offered due to the EDCs reverting to ESP IV. Today, PUCO approved a similar, but separate, smart thermostat rebate program open to retail suppliers as part of a FirstEnergy Ohio grid modernization proceeding, but the grid mod smart thermostat rebate program will be limited to amount established in the grid mod proceeding, and shall not include any of the funding envisioned under the ESP V program (see related story from Dec. 18)
Case 14-1297-EL-SSO
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December 18, 2024
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Copyright 2024 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
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