PSC guidelines on charge hike discount and web metering requests in Mon Energy/Potomac Edison case

MORGANTOWN – The state Public Service Fee has issued an order in a Mon Energy/Potomac Edison rate-hike case that included requests from different events to strike almost all the proposed hike and to simplify a web metering proposal break up throughout two separate charge circumstances.

The PSC issued its order Friday within the FirstEnergy sisters’ ENEC – expended web power value – submitting.

They’re asking for $167,465,330, which they challenge would add $9.19 to the common month-to-month residential invoice, elevating it from $120.20 to $129.39 – a 7.8% hike. ENEC circumstances are designed to permit utilities to cowl their prices of manufacturing energy.

On the primary matter, Longview Energy requested the PSC to dismiss $144,805,585, saying the FirstEnergy corporations haven’t prudently managed their prices or complied with PSC directives. They requested the PSC to dismiss these prices with prejudice, that means the businesses may by no means once more search to recoup them.

That would go away the businesses a hike of simply $22,659,745 on this case.

Longview mentioned the portion they need dismissed – the almost $145 million – is under-recovery for the interval of July 1, 2021, by June 30, 2022. The interval in query – Fiscal Yr 2002 – was a interval of rising power costs and the businesses ought to have been working their energy crops at excessive capability and promoting the ability into the PJM regional power grid, which might have diminished their ENEC prices and saved ratepayers cash.

The sister corporations supply a number of the reason why the PSC ought to deny Longview’s movement to dismiss the $145 million. One, Longview was a celebration in final 12 months’s ENEC case and primarily agreed the prices had been prudent and cheap by agreeing to a settlement in that case.

Two, the PSC and all of the events from that case, together with Longview and the West Virginia Power Customers Group – which supported Longview’s proposal in a submitting earlier this week – have all the proof from that case to assessment the prices and retain the proper to lift points about these prices on this continuing.

Three, the businesses haven’t ignored or disregarded any PSC orders: the PSC didn’t organize them to re-file final 12 months’s proof on this 12 months’s case, or submit additional proof about that case.

In its Friday order, the PSC denied Longview’s movement to dismiss, saying it intends to assessment the prudency of the prices within the current ENEC by administrative discover of all testimony within the earlier case in addition to any testimony filed within the current case.

Internet metering

Within the web metering matter, Mon Energy and Potomac Edison have proposed to vary the way in which they credit score dwelling solar energy prospects who contract for web metering.

Internet-metering prospects generate all or a portion of their very own energy, sometimes by photo voltaic, and obtain credit on their invoice for any energy they generate in extra of what they use.

At the moment, the businesses present a full 1-to-1 credit score, that means power given to the utility is price the identical as power purchased from the utility. The present residential base charge is about 11.4 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh), and will go as much as about 13 cents as the businesses’ a number of charge circumstances attain their respective conclusions.

The businesses suggest to vary that to base the credit on the wholesale charge for electrical energy, which the filings calculate at 6.6 cents per kWh – roughly half of the 13 cents per kWh.

The proposal has garnered vital public opposition – 744 letters to this point.

It has additionally generated some confusion as a result of the proposal is included in two separate charge circumstances: this ENEC case and a basic charge case that features buyer costs for infrastructure and for his or her power help program.

West Virginia Citizen Motion Group, Photo voltaic United Neighbors and Power Environment friendly West Virginia filed a movement with the PSC to strike the net-metering dialogue from the ENEC, which they are saying is the unsuitable venue to contemplate the proposal.

The businesses created the issue, they are saying, by initiating the dialogue of shifting to a wholesale-based credit score within the basic charge case however then defining that charge on this ENEC case.

The PSC on Friday agreed with the three teams, saying putting the net-metering language kind this case will pose no undue burden on the businesses. It additionally famous that its net-metering guidelines require {that a} net-metering credit score that’s completely different from the power charge in a base charge case should be thought of in a base charge case. So, the net-metering dialogue might be performed within the base charge case, which might elevate the associated fee for the common residential buyer by $18.07 monthly.

Procedural schedule

Lastly, the PSC additionally established a procedural schedule. Among the many gadgets, directed testimony by all events aside from the businesses might be obtained on Nov. 13; discovery should be accomplished by Nov. 21; all rebuttal testimony might be obtained on Nov. 22; an evidentiary listening to might be Nov. 30.

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