10/03 clarification to story: The new FES contract has a $100 cancellation fee.
Another option is being made available to all-electric home customers, who two years ago saw their winter heating bills skyrocket.
The competition began on Thursday, when 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, said it had joined with Duke Energy Retail to provide a discount to a limited number of customers.
The discount, which was 5.85 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) from November through March; 6.57 cents in September, October, April and May; and 6.99 cents from June through August, would save the average customer $197, said CKAP spokeswoman Sue Steigerwald.
However, Diane Francis, spokeswoman for FirstEnergy Solutions, said the subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. believed the savings would be more like $40, since most customers are already on governmental aggregation contracts with First Energy Solutions.
Steigerwald disagreed and said Duke stood by its numbers.
On Friday, FirstEnergy Solutions came out with a counter-offer, saying customers could save up to $40 below Duke. The FirstEnergy Solutions offer is 5.75 cents/kWh for October through March and 6.3 cents for April through September. The contract would be for 31 months; Duke’s is two years.
Francis said the largest savings would be seen in First-Energy’s Illuminating Co. territory while savings would be smaller in Ohio Edison territory because rates are not as high. The average Ohio Edison customer on FirstEnergy Solution’s aggregation program who switches to the company’s new rates would save $42, Francis said.
The cancellation fee would be $25, but would be waived if customers stay with First- Energy Solutions, she said. The new FES contract has a $100 cancellation fee. Duke’s cancellation is $50.
Francis said that while customers could save money in 31 months with the new First- Energy Solutions contract, long term they might be able to save by staying on the governmental aggregation plan with FirstEnergy Solutions, since that is for nine years.
When told of the new offer, Steigerwald said she believed FirstEnergy Solutions was trying to thwart competition.
“Why are they waiting so long? Why weren’t they willing to help us before?” she asked “My initial reaction is it’s too late. My advice to CKAP members is to go with Duke’s offer. Even if Duke’s offer didn’t save us as much as we thought, I would still recommend going to Duke. Part of this is letting FirstEnergy know we’re not happy with what they did for us. It’s too late. They should have offered this before.”
Duke Energy Retail is a subsidiary of Duke Energy Corporate and an affiliate of Duke Energy Ohio, a utility that serves mostly the Cincinnati area.
Duke Energy Retail will be offering the first 10,000 customers who sign up special fixed rates. Steigerwald said the company could expand the offer if demand is high.
About 300,000 customers in FirstEnergy territory served by the Illuminating Co., Ohio Edison and Toledo Edison have all-electric homes. In May, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio ruled in favor of phasing out the largest discounts that customers contend they had been promised for life.
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.
To sign up for Duke’s plan, go to http://retail.duke- energy.com/signup or call 877-331-3045. For FirstEnergy Solution’s plan, sign up at www.fes.com. No phone number is available but there might be one by next week, Francis said.
Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com.
