Mandate helps customers save

By Rachel CArta (Staff Writer rachel_c@newsitem.com)
Published: November 20, 2009

Article Tools
Font size: [A] [A] [A]
Our Social Networks
Facebook
Facebook
Sign Up newsletter

Last in a series

Legislation aimed at reducing energy consumption and demand should provide a vehicle for consumers to save on the impending increase that will result from PPL's rate cap expiration on Jan. 1.

Act 129 directed that, by July 1, all electric distribution companies with at least 100,000 customers are to develop and file an energy efficiency and conservation plan (EE&C) with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission for approval.

Ray Murphy, manager of major accounts at PPL Electric Utilities, told a crowd of people at a recent Energizing Our Region seminar sponsored by SEDA Council of Governments, that PPL's EE&C Plan was accepted by the PUC and would be implemented in stages.

He also wants the public to understand the differences in the five subsidiary companies of PPL Corp., and why his part of the company is encouraging the public to shop around for an electricity generation supplier.

PPL Electric Utilities will be the default supplier, or provider of last resort, whose rates are set to increase 30 percent. While the rate caps will come off on Jan. 1, customers can sign up with a generation supplier at any time, he added.

PPL Electric Utilities will implement the EE&C Plan.

Murphy said PPL Electric Utilities doesn't care who consumers choose to have their generation supplied. He explained that Electric Utilities is a delivery service, like the U.S. Postal Service.

PPL Corp., meanwhile, is a global energy company based in Allentown that delivers electricity to more than 1.4 million customers in Pennsylvania; sells energy in key U.S. markets; provides energy services for businesses in the mid-Atlantic and northeastern United States; generates electricity at power plants in Pennsylvania, Montana, Connecticut, Illinois, New York and Maine; and delivers electricity to about 2.6 million customers in the United Kingdom. PPL's four principal business subsidiaries are PPL Generation LLC, PPL EnergyPlus LLC, PPL Global LLC and PPL Electric Utilities Corp.

The company was forced to break up into five distinct companies in the 1990s when generation was deregulated.

A condition of this deregulation was the cap on the rates. Competition was eventually eliminated because the market prices were rising and retail suppliers would not offer electricity below the capped rates.

Though consumers are not shopping for a generation supplier, PPL Electric Utilities will still continue to delivery the energy. The company does not see a profit from the generation portion of the electric bill, or the portion of the bill that will now be open for competition, Murphy said. The company is a regulated utility that transmits and distributes electricity, and provides default supply.

In contrast, is PPL EnergyPlus. This company is the marketing arm of the corporation and is offering competitive prices for energy supply to commercial properties. A commercial customer may be receiving offers of competitive pricing from PPL EnergyPlus. The company markets and trades wholesale and retail electricity. It supplies energy and energy services in deregulated markets.

PPL Generation owns and operates generation facilities.

PPL Elergy Services develops, builds and operates renewable energy facilities and deals with mechanical contracting and energy management.

PPL Global primarily owns and operates business in the U.K. that is focused on the regulated distribution of electricity.

The EE&C Plan must provide a way to reduce customers' electric consumption by at least one percent by May 31, 2011. By May 2013, customers' peak demand is to be reduced by a minimum of four and a half percent.

The EE&C Plan includes a broad portfolio of energy efficiency, conservation practices and peak load reductions and energy education incentives.

Murphy reminded customer's that they are paying for the plan, so they might as well take advantage of the savings that could be realized through the plan, which will be released incrementally over four years.

The following 14 programs will be coming in the next several years: Efficient Equipment Incentive Program, Residential Energy Assessment and Weatherization, Compact Fluorescent Lighting Campaign, Appliance Recycling, ENERGY STAR New Homes, Renewable Energy, Direct Load Control, Time of Use Rates, Energy-efficiency Behavior and Education, Low-income WRAP, Low-income E-Power Wise, Commercial and Industrial Custom Incentive, HVAC Tune-Up and Load Curtailment Program.

The complete EE&C Plan can be viewed at http://puc.state.pa.us.

Ads by Yahoo!






Type in the characters you see in the picture below. If you have trouble reading the characters in the picture, click it to see a new one.



Be the first to comment on this article!