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PECO Reaches Non-Unanimous Settlement Includes Customer Referral Program Where Absent Affirmative Consent Customers Would Be Dropped To Default Service At End Of Contract & Settlement Also Proposes Placing New Shadow Billing Chart On 1st Page of Shopping Customer Bills

Dockets: P-2024-3046008
Category: Uncategorized

“PECO Energy Company (“PECO”), the Office of Consumer Advocate (“OCA”), the Office of Small Business Advocate (“OSBA”), the Tenant Union Representative Network and Coalition for Affordable Utility Services and Energy Efficiency in Pennsylvania (together, “TURN/CAUSE-PA”), and the Energy Justice Advocates (“EJA”)1 (collectively, the “Joint Petitioners”), by their respective counsel, submit this Joint Petition For Non-Unanimous Settlement (“Settlement”) in the above-captioned proceeding and request that the Administrative Law Judges approve the Settlement without modification.”

A non-unanimous settlement in PECO’s default electricity service proceeding would include a new comparison of retail supplier costs and shadow billed default service costs on shopping customer utility consolidated bills and would also drop customers in the Standard Offer Customer Referral Program (SOP) back to default service if the SOP customer does not make an affirmative choice at the end of the initial SOP term.

The non-unanimous stipulation would govern PECO’s default service program for the period June 1, 2025, through May 31, 2029 (DSP VI).

The non-unanimous stipulation would adopt a modified form of a monthly bill chart, to appear on the first page of utility consolidated bills, comparing the costs to shopping customers under their retail supplier versus the amount the customer would have paid under PECO’s price to compare.

The settlement would modify PECO’s originally proposed comparison chart to remove the column listing the dollar amount saved (or negative savings) with the retail supplier, and would only present two columns, one showing the total that the customer paid under their retail supplier’s service, and the second showing the shadow billed cost that the customer would have paid under PECO’s Price to Compare.

See an example of the settlement’s proposed shadow billing comparison chart below.

Standard Offer Customer Referral Program (SOP)

Highlights from the proposed settlement include the following:

  • SOP contracts executed after June 1, 2025, modify the SOP such that, for SOP customers who do not make an affirmative selection at the end of the SOP term, the retail supplier must automatically transfer SOP customers to default service
  • PECO will revise its SOP scripts to inform customers who enroll after June 1, 2025, that enrollment in the SOP program will operate as consent to return to default service absent an affirmative decision to remain with the SOP supplier at the end of the term.
  • All residential retail supplier contracts executed after June 1, 2025, retail suppliers will not be permitted to charge early cancellation, termination, or other fees to any shopping customer that is transitioning into PECO’s Customer Assistance Program (CAP). CAP customers may not be served by a retail supplier. PECO shall, “assist the CAP applicant with removal of the generation supplier in order to return to default service[.]”
  • Settling parties agree that, in the next default service proceeding, PECO shall propose that, for a shopping customer who submits an application to participate in CAP, the submission of the CAP application shall serve as authorization by the customer for PECO to return the CAP applicant to default service
  • PECO is to convene a stakeholder process to discuss modifications to its CAP application reflecting this authorization for PECO to automatically move CAP applicants to default service upon CAP enrollment
  • Residential and small commercial default service rates will only change every 6 months (June 1 and December 1), rather than every 3 months as is current practice
  • In terms of default service supply procurement, the non-unanimous settlement in large part would adopt PECO’s filed proposal and current practice, with the following exceptions.
  • PECO under the settlement is withdrawing its reserve price proposal, which would have applied to residential customer fixed price full requirements (FPFR) supply procurements.
  • The reserve price would have served as a recommendation for the PUC to reject bids above the reserve price.

Joint Petition for Non-Unanimous Settlement  (07/10/2024)
Docket P-2024-3046008
Petition of PECO Energy Company for Approval of Its Default Service Program for the Period from June 1, 2025, through May 31, 2029