New distribution charges may push AES Ohio electric rates up $6.50 higher monthly

According to transcripts of a PUCO hearing on AES Ohio’s application for a new electric security plan (ESP), Schroder testified that implementing the company’s ESP settlement would result in a $1.49 monthly decrease — but coupled with implementing new distribution rates of approximately $8, the result would be a net increase of $6 to $6.50 per month for a resident using 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity.

“If we include the distribution rate, those are approximately an $8 increase, and so this decrease of $1.50 would offset that, so the increase would be in the neighborhood of $6 or 6.50,” Schroder said in testimony transcripts that the PUCO made public on its web site Monday.

A representative of AES Ohio confirmed that calculation.

“Under the proposed settlement, new ESP rates coupled with distribution rates that were previously approved by the PUCO could raise a customer’s bill by approximately $6.50,” AES Ohio spokeswoman Mary Ann Kabel said in an email.

The next steps are up to the PUCO, which will decide what to do with the electric utility’s application for a new ESP.

“The distribution increase has already been approved; it just can’t be implemented until a new ESP is in effect,” PUCO spokesman Matt Schilling said Monday.

Recall that in December, members of the PUCO agreed to freeze what AES Ohio charges to cover distribution of electricity until a new electric security plan for the utility is approved this year.

The upshot at the time for Dayton-area AES Ohio electric customers: What they pay for electricity distribution was expected to go up. But a spokeswoman for the PUCO could not say back in December how much that increase would be or when it would go into effect.

That is now clarified by the settlement on a new ESP — basically an operating plan — between AES Ohio, the former Dayton Power & Light, and interested parties, such as big employers and the city of Dayton.

Briefs and reply briefs are still ahead in the regulatory process toward a new ESP for Dayton’s electric utility.

After that it’s up to the PUCO to issue a ruling. Members can accept, reject, or modify the settlement based on the case record before it, Schilling said.