“Rarely has the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio been presented with a stipulation with such breadth of support,” PUCO staff said in a filing Friday.
RELATED: DP&L distribution settlement may mean rate increase
The settlement or “stipulation” cut a requested revenue increase for DP&L of $65.7 million to a stipulated increase of $29.7 million, staff said in the filing.
It reflects last year’s federal corporate tax cuts. And it says DP&L must develop “innovative electric vehicle charging infrastructure and a non-wires pilot program.”
The Ohio Consumers’ Counsel, Kroger, Walmart, Sam’s Club, the Ohio Hospital Association, the Natural Resources Defense Council and other environmental groups all agreed to the rate settlement, the filing said.
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The settlement establishes a $7 monthly customer charge for DP&L’s residential customers, which is lower than both the $13.73 customer charge sought in DP&L’s application and the $7.88 customer charge recommended in the staff’s own report.
“These benefits are extensive and unique,” PUCO staff wrote. “The revenue requirement goes down, the tax adjustment problem is fixed to the extent possible currently, the rate of return is reduced (and) the customer charge decreases.”
In June, DP&L said it had filed a stipulation in its distribution rate case with the PUCO, which was signed by 15 parties and PUCO staff.
If the new settlement for DP&L’s distribution charges is ultimately approved by the commission, bills for consumers who use 1,000 kilowatt-hours of power a month will go up $2.64 a month.
In a statement, DP&L said the settlement positions it to becoming the energy company “of the future.”
The next steps involve reply briefs and then a Commission vote, which could be a few weeks or months away.
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