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Report: Nearly 40% Of Customers Remaining With Retail Supplier After End Of Standard Offer Program Paid 50-100% More Than Applicable Price To Compare
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Nearly 40% of residential customers in the standard offer customer referral program (SOP) at Duquesne Light who remained with their assigned retail supplier after the conclusion of the SOP term paid an EGS rate 50-100% higher than the applicable price to compare (PTC), according to a new report from Duquesne Light
All data in this story relates to the residential SOP unless otherwise noted. Additionally, in the discussion of customers who remain with their initially assigned SOP supplier after the end of the SOP, customers who re-enroll into the SOP and are randomly assigned to the same supplier are excluded from this data.
Duquesne Light's latest report on the SOP examines rates paid by SOP participants after the conclusion of the SOP price term, covering the period January 1, 2018, through July 17, 2024. Customers are only included in the report if the customer completed a full 12-month SOP term
Duquesne Light reported that, of those residential SOP customers who continued with their randomly assigned SOP supplier after the SOP pricing term ended, about 89% of such customers were, within the first month of non-SOP service, charged a price greater than Duquesne Light's applicable price to compare (about 5,000 customers)
More specifically, Duquesne Light reported that 38% of customers who remained with their initially assigned EGS paid, for the first month, a supplier price that was 50-100% more than the utility's applicable PTC (about 2,200 customers), and 18% paid a supplier price that was over 100% more than the PTC (about 1,000 customers).
Per the report, 84% of former SOP customers who did not make an affirmative choice paid at least 10% over the applicable PTC in the first month of non-SOP service (about 4,800 customers)
Duquesne Light further reported that a significant number of former SOP customers who remained with their initially assigned EGS continued to pay prices greater than the applicable PTC in the following months
After four months, Duquesne Light reported that 36% of such EGS customers paid 50-100% more than the PTC (about 1,500 customers), and 19% paid more than 100% over the PTC (about 800 customers)
For the period January 2018 through an SOP term end of July 2024, Duquesne Light said that, in aggregate, former SOP customers who remained with their initially assigned EGS for four months paid $566,000 more than default service during this four-month period
While Duquesne Light did not provide data limited to only the most recent 12 months, the aggregate charges in excess of the PTC in the most recent report are higher than those in the year-ago report, while the aggregate percentages of customers paying more than the PTC (including within certain bands) are generally in line with the 2023 report, indicating that the most recent 12 months did not mark an appreciable change in the underlying EGS charges to former SOP customers that is being masked by the inclusion of older data
Specifically, for the period January 2018 through an SOP term end of July 2023, Duquesne Light said that, in aggregate, former SOP customers who remained with their initially assigned EGS for four months paid $486,000 more than default service during this 4-month period (as noted, this amount has grown to $566,000 as of July 2024)
At the end of an SOP term, about 80% of residential SOP customers remained with their initially assigned retail supplier for the first month after the SOP term ended.
Duquesne Light reported that 60% of residential SOP customers remained with their initially assigned EGS through the first four months after the end of the SOP term (approximately 4,200 customers).
As previously reported, Duquesne Light's SOP program will terminate on May 31, 2025, with previously enrolled customers allowed to continue their full SOP term
While Duquesne Light offered a small commercial SOP, Duquesne Light said that only 9 small C&I customers enrolled in the SOP during the studied period, and thus a review was not performed for these customers
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Nearly 20% Of Customers Paid Over 100% More Than PTC
Nearly 90% Of Former SOP Customers Paid Rate Greater Than PTC
January 1, 2025
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Copyright 2024 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
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