The sale lets DP&L focus on what it called its “core businesses of electricity generation, transmission, and distribution,” the company said.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
As part of the deal, DPL Inc. and IGS Energy will “work to help provide a smooth transition of the business,” the former company said in a statement. “There will be no interruption of service to customers.”
“IGS Energy shares the DPL Inc. philosophy of offering superior, customer-focused service and IGS Energy has extensive retail operating experience in competitive electricity markets,” Tom Raga, president and CEO of DP&L, said in a statement.
What does this mean for DP&L customers?
“It really shouldn’t mean much,” said Matt Schilling, a spokesman for the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.
If you’re not an DPL Energy customer, you should see no change on your bill, said Mary Ann Kabel, a spokeswoman for DP&L. If you are, you will see IGS Energy eventually identified as your electricity supplier, she said.
How much customers currently pay will not change, Kabel said.
“Contracts will be honored,” she said.
In Ohio, consumers are able to pick who provides the electricity (or natural gas) supply or generation part of their bills. This was made possible when statewide energy “deregulation” went into effect in 2001.
The idea was to save money. “Competitive retail electric services” are expected to monitor the wholesale market to buy electricity at the lowest prices, offering consumers the savings.
When consumers enroll with a new competitive supplier, they still get power from their local utility.
On a consumer’s bill, charges from the local utility and the competitive provider are shown separately. The local utility will bill for distribution while the competitive provider will charge for electricity supply, Schilling said.
The system has had critics. Even Gov. John Kasich has wondered — in spontaneous remarks — whether deregulation has worked for consumers.
Matt Brakey, president of Brakey Energy in Cleveland, which helps businesses control energy costs, said DP&L isn’t selling any generation assets, just its retail arm that sells direct to customers, Brakey said.
“So I think DPL has decided that it only wants to do wholesale market transactions instead of doing one-off deals with commercial, industrial, and residential customers,” he said. “In other words, they just want to manufacture the electrons and sell it wholesale rather than market directly to end users.”
Brakey said he believes electric “choice” has worked for consumers in Ohio.
“Customers have seen a tremendous amount of downward pressure on their electric generation bills,” Brakey said. He said that can be attributed almost completely to deregulation.
Schilling said all competitive retail suppliers are governed by PUCO.
DP&L serves 515,000 customers across 24 counties and 6,000 square miles from Champaign County to Warren County. IGS, with more than 1 million customers in 16 states, describes itself as the largest independent energy supplier in the country.
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