All-electric home customers, who two years ago saw their winter heating bills skyrocket, have another option for their electricity.
Citizens for Keeping the All-Electric Promise (CKAP), a group of 3,000 who had advocated for keeping the long-standing discounts offered by FirstEnergy companies including Ohio Edison, has partnered with Duke Energy Retail to provide a discount to a limited number of customers.
Duke Energy Retail is a subsidiary of Duke Energy Corporate and is an affiliate of Duke Energy Ohio, a utility that mostly serves the Cincinnati area. Duke Energy Retail will be offering the first 10,000 customers who sign up special fixed rates that CKAP spokeswoman Sue Steigerwald says will save $197 per year for the average all-electric homeowner consuming 26,000 kilowatt hours. Higher usage homeowners could save $282 a year, the group said. The savings are in addition to discounts given by FirstEnergy.
About 300,000 customers in FirstEnergy’s territories served by the Illuminating Co., Ohio Edison and Toledo Edison have all-electric homes.
Steigerwald said her group sought out ways to help customers save after the Public Utililties Commission of Ohio made a decision in May, which eventually phases out the largest discounts customers claimed they had been promised for life.
“The generation discount offered by Duke will make up for a substantial part of the discount that will be phased out over eight years as a result of the PUCO decision. Because many all-electric homeowners cannot afford to convert to gas or have no access to gas, Duke’s discount is a critical part of making ownership of an all-electric home affordable in the future,” she said.
Duke Energy Retail’s Vice President for Marketing Matt Walz said the company was pleased to work with CKAP to provide a new choice in electric suppliers.
Diane Francis, a spokeswoman for FirstEnergy Solutions (FES), a subsidiary of FirstEnergy, said that many of the all-electric customers already save money in governmental aggregations with FirstEnergy Solutions. FES’ rate is a percentage off the bill while Duke’s is a fixed price per kilowatt hour.
Those customers will be seeing an average of $40 savings with the Duke contract, not $197, she said. Francis said she believes CKAP and Duke’s numbers are comparing the savings to customers who receive no discount from FirstEnergy Solutions.
Government aggregation contracts typically have cancellation fees of $25. Duke’s offer has a $50 cancellation fee.
Asked if FES would counter with a similar offer, Francis said as of Thursday, there was none but there could be one as early as today. “These customers have been our customers for the last couple of years,” she said. “We’d love to keep them.
“Ultimately, it’s the customers’ decision whether or not they’re interested in switching. That’s the nature of competition,” Francis said.
Steigerwald said while Duke is limiting the offer to 10,000 customers, it will consider expanding the offer if the demand is high.
Jerry Forgus of Rootstown Township, who owns an all-electric home, said he was going to look at last year’s bills with the Duke rate versus what he’s being charged by FES to see whether it’s worth switching.
All-electric winter heating bills shot up two years ago after the utility eliminated long-standing discounts. Then came changes allowing eight years for customers to prepare to lose the largest portion of their discount.
In May, the Public Utilities Commission approved extending a current freeze on rates through March 31, 2013, and taking the largest of the discounts and phasing it out over six years.
FirstEnergy eliminated long-standing discounts for new all-electric customers after January 2007. In the winter of 2009, those homeowners saw dramatic increases in heating bills after the PUCO approved the elimination of discounts for grandfathered customers. Some residents reported their bills doubled. In early 2010, after complaints from residents and politicians, the PUCO ordered that some all-electric discounts be restored and expanded temporarily through the winter.
Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com.
