In this issue:

• Be aware of your natural gas choices
• New OCC publications available to aid consumers
• PIPP debt crediting program helps natural gas customers
• Q & A: Learning about DSL service
• OCC launches Action Alerts Network
• Consumers made a difference in electric rate plan decision

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Be aware of your natural gas choices

It’s time again to start weighing your energy options before this winter’s heating season begins. No one can predict exactly what this winter’s natural gas prices will be. However, indicators point to another season of high rates. Knowing this, it is important that consumers understand their choices and evaluate their options now to help manage their heating bills this winter.

Customers of Cincinnati Gas & Electric, Columbia Gas of Ohio, Dominion East Ohio and Vectren Energy Delivery of Ohio, have the opportunity to choose an alternative natural gas supplier. Natural gas choice allows consumers to comparison shop for natural gas just as they would any other product or service.

When consumers begin to explore their energy options, it is important that they understand their rights and ask questions before entering into a service agreement.

Before choosing a supplier, here are questions consumers should ask:

• Is there a fee to enroll?
• Is there a fee to switch to a different provider
• How long is the service agreement?
• What is the rate, or how much will I pay for natural gas?
• Is the rate fixed or variable over the term of the agreement?
• Is there a fee if I want to get out of my agreement early?
• At the end of the agreement, will it automatically renew or will I have the option to enroll again?
• If I have a billing problem, who do I contact?
• When will the change be reflected on my monthly natural gas bill?

The answers to these questions along with reading the details of the service agreement should help consumers decide which natural gas supplier is best for them.

Once consumers have found the supplier and offer that best meets their needs, they will need to enroll and sign a service agreement with that company. Once a consumer has enrolled, it is critical that they obtain a copy of their service agreement detailing all the terms and conditions and keep it through the duration of the service agreement.

After consumers enroll with a supplier, the supplier will notify their local natural gas company of the switch. The natural gas company will then mail a letter confirming the consumer’s decision to switch. Once the consumer receives that letter, he or she has seven business days from the postmarked date to cancel the agreement without penalty. Be aware that it may take between 30 and 45 days before the new natural gas supplier’s name and rate are reflected on the monthly natural gas bill.

For a list of natural gas suppliers, comparison of their rates and other consumer protection information, contact the OCC toll free at 1-877-PICKOCC (1-877-742-5622) or visit www.pickocc.org.

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New OCC publications available to aid consumers

Each year the utility industries in Ohio continue to grow and change and so do the informational needs of consumers. In order to continue educating consumers and provide the most current information, the Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel (OCC), the residential utility advocate, provides the following new materials to assist them with making informed decisions about their utilities.

Calculating natural gas bills: Last year, both Cincinnati Gas & Electric and Vectren Energy Delivery of Ohio began using a monthly Gas Cost Recovery rate (the rate that natural gas companies charge customers for usage). Two new fact sheets are available that will assist consumers in verifying charges on their bills as well as calculating what they might pay if they switch to a competitive supplier.

Do-Not-Call: A fact sheet is available that focuses on how to sign up for the national Do-Not-Call registry, how to file complaints with the Federal Communications Commission and the Ohio Attorney General’s office, the fines imposed for violations and other facts consumers need to know.

Comparing landline to cellular telephone service: This fact sheet offers a comparison between a landline telephone (a traditional home telephone) versus a cellular phone. Using this resource, consumers will be able to compare the types of features available in packages and possible positives and negatives of each type of service.

Local number portability: Many consumers are looking to switch local providers but keep their same telephone number. This fact sheet provides information about keeping the same number when switching from landline to landline, landline to cellular, cellular to cellular or cellular to landline.

To request a copy of these or any of the OCC’s free educational fact sheets, consumers can call toll free at 1-877-PICKOCC (1-877-742-5622) or view them online at www.pickocc.org under “Consumer Publications.”

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PIPP debt crediting program helps natural gas customers

Natural gas customers of Columbia Gas of Ohio, Dominion East Ohio and Vectren Energy Delivery of Ohio will have an opportunity to reduce or eliminate their Percentage of Income Payment Plan (PIPP) account balance. The PIPP program enables income-eligible customers to pay a percentage of their income towards their monthly natural gas bill. The remaining account balance is carried over each month and the amount owed continues to accumulate.

As part of the PIPP debt crediting program, if a PIPP customer:

• Pays the PIPP amount on time and in full each month for one year, the company will credit the PIPP balance that the customer had at the beginning of the 12-month period by 33 percent.
• Pays the PIPP amount on time and in full each month for 24 months, the company will credit 50 percent of the remaining balance.
• Pays the PIPP amount on time and in full each month for 36 months, the company will eliminate the remaining account balance.
• Pays the PIPP amount on time and in full each month following the 36th month, the company will eliminate the remaining account balance after each 12-month period.

If at any point in the program the customer fails to make the PIPP payment on time and in full each month, the customer will begin the program again starting at month one.

The Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel (OCC) is available to answer questions and provide information about utility services including billing issues, disconnects and reconnects.

Consumers can contact the OCC toll free at 1-877-PICKOCC (1-877-742-5622) Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

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Q & A: Learning about DSL service

Q. What is DSL service?

A. Line and is a service that allows a customer to receive high-speed Internet access over their telephone line. DSL allows consumers to use their telephone line for voice (telephone calls) and data (Internet) at the same time.

Q. Are all DSL services the same?

A. No. The speed of the DSL service is the primary difference. Some telephone companies offer several speeds of DSL with the fastest speed costing the most money.

Q. Beyond DSL, are there other ways to receive high-speed Internet access?

A. Yes. Depending on where a customer is located, high-speed access may also be available using cable lines and from satellites. Technologies that may become more widely available in the future include high-speed access over electric power lines.

Q. Can residents of rural areas receive DSL service?

A. Only some rural residents have DSL service available. Not all companies serving rural areas offer DSL, and for those that do, the service may be limited. For DSL to work best, a customer’s home must be within about three miles of the local telephone company’s “central office,” where the necessary wiring and switches are located.

Q. If I switch to a competitive local telephone provider, can I keep my DSL service?

A. Not in most cases. Local telephone companies in Ohio are not required to make their DSL service available to competitors. For example, about 20 companies are competing to serve SBC Ohio’s residential customers, however very few offer DSL service.

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OCC launches Action Alerts Network

The Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel (OCC) needs your help when it wants to raise awareness about utility issues that may result in an increase on your monthly utility bills. When policy is being made, decision makers need to hear firsthand from the residential consumers who will be impacted. This is an opportunity for you, the consumer, to voice your opinion and affect positive change.

To keep you informed, the OCC has created an Action Alerts Network that will notify you when there is an emerging utility issue that could impact the rates you pay or your utility services. These alerts will explain the issue, describe how it will affect you as a residential consumer and give you details on how to voice your opinion.

Opportunities to get involved

Types of Action Alerts issues may include information about pending utility rate increases, termination of existing programs or services, notice of fraudulent activities or scams or the inability of a utility company to meet certain service quality standards.

As a member of the OCC’s Action Alerts Network, you will have the opportunity to support our efforts by voicing your opinions. Examples of ways to take action may involve writing letters to state regulators or your local newspaper or participating in public hearings or town meetings.

How to sign up

To join our Action Alerts Network, visit the OCC’s website at www.pickocc.org or call toll free 1-877-PICKOCC (1-877-742-5622) and select option 4 to receive Action Alerts by mail. As part of our network, you also will begin receiving informational e-mail alerts. These e-mails will provide you with up-to-date utility information that requires no action on your part, but only serves to educate you about relevant industry issues.

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Consumers made a difference in electric rate plan decision

Consumer opposition recently impacted a decision by state regulators, who required a competitive auction and made significant improvements to a FirstEnergy rate plan that could have raised some customers’ generation rates by up to 50 percent from 2006 through 2008. The original plan was submitted by FirstEnergy last year and vigorously opposed by the Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel (OCC), other consumer groups and governmental aggregators.

“A groundswell of opposition by consumers across northern Ohio and the arguments made by our office and numerous other groups made a difference and resulted in significant changes from what FirstEnergy had proposed in its rate plan,” said Janine Migden-Ostrander, Consumers’ Counsel.

Over 500 individual consumers voiced their opposition directly to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO).

Based on the PUCO decision, a competitive auction will take place, which could give consumers across northern Ohio the benefit of lower electric rates. The auction will allow suppliers to bid to provide power at a lower rate than FirstEnergy.

If the auction does not produce lower rates, the rate plan as modified by the PUCO would go into effect. Based on changes made to FirstEnergy’s proposal, distribution and generation rates will be frozen at their current levels through 2007 and 2008, respectively, with limited exceptions.

At the time of publication, similar rate plans submitted by American Electric Power (AEP) and Cincinnati Gas and Electric (CG&E) are being considered by the PUCO. The OCC has opposed these plans, arguing that they could allow electric rates to increase beginning in 2006 and eliminate existing consumer benefits.

AEP’s proposed plan could raise the average residential consumer’s electric bill by $8 to $10 per month and could permit distribution rate increases in violation of an ongoing agreement approved by the PUCO in 2000.

Likewise, the OCC opposes a settlement reached between CG&E and several parties, which would impose a new charge, resulting in an average increase of approximately $230 over three years for at least 75 percent of residential customers. The CG&E settlement also continues the collection of transition charges for two additional years, which would cost the average residential customer an additional $63 per year in 2009 and 2010.

The OCC continues to vigorously advocate for the interests of residential electric customers in these important cases.