Today, the Alliance submitted comments to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) regarding their proposed Policy Statement on Alternative Rate Methodologies. In May, the PUC issued the proposed policy statement inviting utilities to develop alternative ratemaking mechanisms in base rate cases to promote federal and state policy objectives and provide incentives to improve system efficiency, while reflecting the sound application of cost of service principles, establishing a rate structure that is just and reasonable, and considering customer impacts. The Alliance submitted comments arguing that existing standby rates run counter to these goals. Our comments recommend that the PUC establish a Standby Rate Subcommittee as part of the CHP Working Group (which was launched last spring in a separate docket) to make sure that utilities provide rate calculators, enumerate best practices for standby rates, and to help determine whether each utilities’ standby rates are fair and equitable.
Read our comments here.