Dive Brief:
- The Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has introduced new regulations that would cut the time it takes for customers to switch electricity suppliers from between 11 to 40 days to just three days. The new regulations also seek to make information on the variability of rates clearer in customer contracts.
- The changes came in response to a reported 15,000 calls made to the PUC this year complaining about high utility bills over winter. Most callers were variable rate contract customers, who complained that companies had left them in the dark over the terms of their contracts.
- Electricity suppliers are being given six months to meet the new requirements, and there are provisions to compensate companies for any costs that they incur as a result of bringing in the changes.
Dive Insight:
One aim of the reforms is to restore faith in the competitive electricity market.
In the last month, competitive electricity suppliers lost 10,000 customers to default state suppliers Duquesne Light and West Penn Power. Retail provider FirstEnergy Solutions recently added a $5-$15 surcharge to many of its fixed-rate customers due to costs incurred by the polar vortex. Pennsylvania PUC Chairman Robert Powelson was not happy.
A single day in January was the cause of the price hike that upset customers. Grid operator PJM suffered a number of mechanical failures and transmission outages due to the cold weather on January 7, losing 40,000 megawatts of electricity capacity.
Terry Fitzpatrick, CEO of the Energy Association of Pennsylvania, which represents the default utilities, said utilities might lack the infrastructure to make all the required changes within six months. Fitzpatrick pointed out that the new regulations would do little to serve customers who were charged more for their utilities this winter.