Electricity Deregulation Blog

Power bills cast shadow on February

After a frigid December, at least some PPL customers were surprised by bigger-than-usual energy bills.

What happens in February, when the full impact of Pennsylvania energy deregulation shows up on your statement?

Switch suppliers to lessen the shock, those in the industry urge.

Apparently, a lot of consumers have been doing just that.

Calls from the public began surging last fall when competitors started shopping around offers, said PPL Electric Utilities spokesman Ryan Hill.

Recently, the company has been extending call center hours on some weekdays and Saturdays, when the center wouldn’t normally be open.

But very few people are phoning to complain, according to Hill, who said the additional hours are not set and are based on call volumes on any given day. Most callers are seeking information about energy choice.

“We got a lot of folks wanting to know ‘Are these offers legitimate?’ “

They are.

Some 27,000 customers in PPL’s area had selected alternative electricity suppliers by early December, according to Hill.

About 223,000 people had switched as of last week.

Spokeswoman Jennifer Kocher reported a “definite increase” in calls to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission — 445 in November versus 2,350 in December — though no gripes about rates.

PPL rate caps were lifted Jan. 1. Energy costs will rise as much as 30 percent for the utility’s residential customers. Those who switch energy suppliers will see a smaller spike.

Your energy bill is calculated monthly based on remote readings. Billing periods vary depending where you live.

Bills sent out in early January reflect a mix of old and new electricity rates, Hill said.

However, the full effect of the changes will materialize in most people’s statements in February, said Dan Donovan, spokesman for Dominion Energy Solutions, the first supplier to compete in PPL territory.

“You haven’t seen them yet,” Donovan said. Dominion’s competitive pricing structure started Jan. 1; the company says it’s charging 10 percent less than PPL for the electricity it generates.

Virtually everybody will be paying more for electricity, leading to no small measure of apprehension.

Mused Dave Buckwalter, a Realtor in Lititz: “I haven’t really seen a big spike in my rate as of the last bill. I don’t know what to expect for the next one.”

A PPL call center operator said two weeks ago that many people had phoned in this month to ask about surprisingly high electric bills.

Hill said some people might have gotten larger bills in December because the weather was frostier than usual and more electricity was used.

According to the Millersville University Weather Information Center, the average temperature last month was almost 2½ degrees lower than it was in December 2008.

“We’re running colder than the past 10-year average” in PPL’s 29-county coverage area, Hill said.

Holiday season bills also could have been higher because people were entertaining or powering up Christmas decorations, Hill added.

In 2010, he said, bills will continue to originate with PPL. The utility will continue to own the lines that transmit electricity from the power plant to your home.

Residential customers can expect to see some changes on their statements, Hill noted.

The generation portion will be pricier, thanks to rate cap expiration and the return to market-based energy costs.

The generation charge will now be a flat rate expressed in cents per kilowatt/hour. The charge previously was tiered, based on the amount of electricity consumed.

The transition charge, which allowed PPL to recover part of the cost of its power plant investments during the regulated era, will disappear.

Consumers also will be billed a couple of dollars or so a month to help support a state-mandated PPL energy-efficiency program. The utility will give rebates to qualifying customers who purchase certain Energy Star appliances, among other measures.

That doesn’t make William A. Wentling, an electrical underwriter in Lititz, particularly happy. Giving rebates “makes them look good” while the customers themselves help pay for the program, he said.

Kocher said Act 129, the 2008 law that requires utilities to try to cut demand on the grid, allows them to recover some of the costs of the efficiency measures.

Most people won’t see that charge on their power bills until next month, she said.

In the meantime, Kocher said, PUC officials are pleased that the energy choice program appears to be taking off.

The commission has been working to dispel rumors that there’s a deadline to change companies, said Kocher, who encouraged people with questions to call the PUC toll free at 800-692-7380.

“So far, we’ve had some good reports on the companies” and feedback from people saying it’s been easy to switch, Kocher added.

Donovan said he expects the pace to pick up.

“We usually see the most people switch when they get that first bill,” he said. “They’re saying, ‘I’ve gotta do something about that.’ “

 

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By JON RUTTER, Staff Writer.  Jon Rutter is a staff writer for the Sunday News. His e-mail address is jrutter@lnpnews.com.

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