“Regrettably, DP&L has already collected more than a quarter-billion dollars from consumers for a charge that the Ohio Supreme Court has now found to be unlawful,” Dan Doron, a spokesman for the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel, said in an email Tuesday.
“Time is of the essence to stop DP&L’s charges, especially because DP&L will not likely be required to refund the money to consumers,” he added.
Matt Schilling, a spokesman for PUCO, said the commission will take action “sooner rather than later.”
“No movement yet,” he said. “The PUCO will have to take some action, I expect sooner rather than later, but I hesitate to give any sort of timeframe.”
The counsel’s office wants to stop the charge, which costs the average DP&L customer about $5 a month.
The rider was designed to collect $110 million annually from Jan. 1, 2014 through Dec. 31, 2016. The rider was meant to help protect DP&L as customers switched to new power providers in a more competitive market.
A message was sent to DP&L seeking comment.
In a follow-up filing before PUCO June 21 — a day after the Supreme Court ruling — the counsel’s office wrote, “Without Commission (PUCO) action, customers will continue to pay (at approximately $10 million per month, and over a quarter billion dollars thus far) … until the Commission orders otherwise.”
Last month, Ohio Consumers’ Counsel Bruce Weston hailed the Supreme Court’s reversal, saying the decision “gives Ohioans a benefit of competitive markets for the future.”
“The decision should spare consumers from paying up to $80 million to DP&L,” Weston said at the time. “But it is unfortunate that consumers, with a poverty level of 35 percent in Dayton, already paid a quarter billion dollars to DP&L that they likely will not get back.”
Industrial Energy Users of Ohio is a trade group that says it represents companies that spend $3 billion per year on electricity and natural gas and employ more than 250,000 people in Ohio.
About the Author
