Energy Professionals of Ohio

The COMPETE Coalition, a group of 787 electricity stakeholders who support well-structured competitive electricity markets, released a report this month showing how competitive states have fared better than monopoly states regarding electricity prices.  In the report entitled “Evolution of the Revolution: The Sustained Success of Retail Electricity Competition” the study’s authors detail several findings based on imperial data.  They include:

• From 1997 through 2014, prices in customer choice jurisdictions increased 4.5% less than inflation while prices in monopoly states increased 8.4% more than inflation.
• From 2003-2013, accounts served by competitive suppliers increased 524% for commercial and industrial (C&I) customers and 636% for residential customers.
• Generation investments in customer choice jurisdictions as a whole outperformed monopoly jurisdictions producing billions of dollars of new, more efficient generation with higher capacity factors than in monopoly states.

The full report can be found here.

Ohio’s investor owned electric distribution utilities (EDUs) have filed requests before the PUCO asking for cost-based regulation of their affiliate owned generating plants. These proposals all carry a non-bypassable rider that forces customers to subsidize the EDU’s power plants. AEP’s case is now done and awaiting a decision from the PUCO. The EPO participated in that case arguing against the proposal noting “[I]f AEP Ohio truly believes that customers can benefit from Rider PPA, the Commission should ask itself why a publicly traded company, with a fiduciary responsibility to its shareholders, giving away such a valuable asset? The only logical conclusion is that Rider PPA is not likely to benefit customers in any meaningful way and should be rejected.”

Duke Energy Ohio and FirstEnergy both have proposals before the PUCO asking for similar guarantees on its power plants. The EPO will continue to participate in these cases in an effort to protect freedom of choice for customers.

You can read EPO’s brief by clicking here.