Mayor Hastings urges residents to act on AEP increases
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Reiterating pleas made by public and private officials on Friday, Hillsboro Mayor Drew Hastings today again urged residents affected by AEP's rate increase to contact the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) seeking immediate intervention in the case.
"It is vital that PUCO hear immediately from anyone struggling with the lopsided rate and service fee increases," Hastings said. "This is the most important action that each of us can take right now," he said.
Hastings said PUCO has re-opened the AEP rate case, with a file number of 11-346-EL-SSO, and said it was important that the case number be cited in all correspondence with the state's utility regulator.
As a convenience to city and county residents, the Highland County Commission is using its office at the Highland County Administration Building as a drop-off point for residents' letters.
Residents may also file a complaint via the commission's website, http://www.puco.ohio.gov/puco/.
In the city's letter to PUCO, Hastings wrote that the regulator's mandate is to provide adequate, safe and reliable utility services at a fair price.
"At least two of those mandates are now being tested in the case before you and the commission," Hastings wrote.
"Was PUCO' s decision allowing AEP to recover 10 years of deferred debt approved without a plan by the utility to do so reasonably and gradually? How reliable is our system of regulating electric rates from the standpoint of the consumer, when without any tangible public notice, utilities may be permitted to present customers with bills so large and unexpected? It begs the question of what the utilities and PUCO define as reliable service at a fair price," Hastings wrote.
The commission's December decision, and subsequent rate increase, also comes in the absence of any macroeconomic shock, such as a spike in the demand for generating capacity, Hasting wrote in the letter. "Allowing this rate increase, and witnessing the destructive manner in which it was introduced by AEP, is already diminishing the investment outlook by businesses and local governments in 2012," Hastings said.
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PUCO response
In a recent response to one complaint filed by a Hillsboro business, Darita Patterson, a customer service investigator in the Service Monitoring and Enforcement Department, responded as follows:
The PUCO is responsible for ensuring that utilities across the state provide safe and reliable services. The PUCO takes great care to review the company's financial records to ensure that the rates set by the PUCO do not result in over-collection of revenue. This is a responsibility we take seriously.
On December 14, 2011, the PUCO approved agreements in AEP's electric security plan (ESP) and distribution rate case. The ESP establishes a path for customers to receive their electricity from fully competitive markets. To that end, beginning in June 2015, electric supply for AEP's customers will be procured through a PUCO-approved competitive auction. Similar auctions for other Ohio utilities have resulted in savings for their customers.
The plans include new charges, effective January 1, 2012, to recover millions of dollars worth of previously-approved distribution and fuel costs that have been deferred over previous years, as well as costs to transition to the market-based model. Separately, two credits customers received expired at the end of 2011.
The degree of an individual bill increase is also dependent upon the customer's energy usage. Although Ohio has had a mild winter, increased usage due to colder weather is a significant factor. Customers can reduce their usage by making energy efficiency upgrades. AEP offers the Express Program for small businesses to save energy and money. Small businesses with annual energy consumption of 200,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) or less, based on the last 12 months of billing history, can participate. For more information on the Express Program, call KEMA, AEP Ohio's program implementer for this program, at 877-607-0739 or visit .
Small business customers may also achieve savings on the generation portion of their bill by shopping for an alternative energy supplier. In the AEP electric security plan case, the PUCO expanded a credit offered to small business customers that choose for an alternate supplier. More information about how to shop is available on the PUCO website at www.PUCO.ohio.gov.[[In-content Ad]]
"It is vital that PUCO hear immediately from anyone struggling with the lopsided rate and service fee increases," Hastings said. "This is the most important action that each of us can take right now," he said.
Hastings said PUCO has re-opened the AEP rate case, with a file number of 11-346-EL-SSO, and said it was important that the case number be cited in all correspondence with the state's utility regulator.
As a convenience to city and county residents, the Highland County Commission is using its office at the Highland County Administration Building as a drop-off point for residents' letters.
Residents may also file a complaint via the commission's website, http://www.puco.ohio.gov/puco/.
In the city's letter to PUCO, Hastings wrote that the regulator's mandate is to provide adequate, safe and reliable utility services at a fair price.
"At least two of those mandates are now being tested in the case before you and the commission," Hastings wrote.
"Was PUCO' s decision allowing AEP to recover 10 years of deferred debt approved without a plan by the utility to do so reasonably and gradually? How reliable is our system of regulating electric rates from the standpoint of the consumer, when without any tangible public notice, utilities may be permitted to present customers with bills so large and unexpected? It begs the question of what the utilities and PUCO define as reliable service at a fair price," Hastings wrote.
The commission's December decision, and subsequent rate increase, also comes in the absence of any macroeconomic shock, such as a spike in the demand for generating capacity, Hasting wrote in the letter. "Allowing this rate increase, and witnessing the destructive manner in which it was introduced by AEP, is already diminishing the investment outlook by businesses and local governments in 2012," Hastings said.
* * *
PUCO response
In a recent response to one complaint filed by a Hillsboro business, Darita Patterson, a customer service investigator in the Service Monitoring and Enforcement Department, responded as follows:
The PUCO is responsible for ensuring that utilities across the state provide safe and reliable services. The PUCO takes great care to review the company's financial records to ensure that the rates set by the PUCO do not result in over-collection of revenue. This is a responsibility we take seriously.
On December 14, 2011, the PUCO approved agreements in AEP's electric security plan (ESP) and distribution rate case. The ESP establishes a path for customers to receive their electricity from fully competitive markets. To that end, beginning in June 2015, electric supply for AEP's customers will be procured through a PUCO-approved competitive auction. Similar auctions for other Ohio utilities have resulted in savings for their customers.
The plans include new charges, effective January 1, 2012, to recover millions of dollars worth of previously-approved distribution and fuel costs that have been deferred over previous years, as well as costs to transition to the market-based model. Separately, two credits customers received expired at the end of 2011.
The degree of an individual bill increase is also dependent upon the customer's energy usage. Although Ohio has had a mild winter, increased usage due to colder weather is a significant factor. Customers can reduce their usage by making energy efficiency upgrades. AEP offers the Express Program for small businesses to save energy and money. Small businesses with annual energy consumption of 200,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) or less, based on the last 12 months of billing history, can participate. For more information on the Express Program, call KEMA, AEP Ohio's program implementer for this program, at 877-607-0739 or visit .
Small business customers may also achieve savings on the generation portion of their bill by shopping for an alternative energy supplier. In the AEP electric security plan case, the PUCO expanded a credit offered to small business customers that choose for an alternate supplier. More information about how to shop is available on the PUCO website at www.PUCO.ohio.gov.[[In-content Ad]]