Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel

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PUCO takes no action taken on utility service reliability investigation request; DP&L, Duke allowed to defer millions in storm costs

COLUMBUS, Ohio – January 14, 2009 – The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) has yet to act on the request of several consumer groups, including the Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel (OCC), to investigate the reliability of Ohio’s major electric utilities after a September 2008 windstorm that left some Ohioans without power for more than a week. Meanwhile, the PUCO today allowed both Dayton Power & Light (DP&L) and Duke Energy Ohio to defer millions of dollars related to the storm so it can collect it with interest from consumers at a later date.

“An investigation into the reliability of Ohio’s electric utilities is essential,” said Janine Migden- Ostrander, Consumers’ Counsel. “No movement has been taken on our request to find out if enough action has been taken to limit the breadth and depth of power outages, yet the PUCO quickly acted on the requests of Duke and DP&L allowing the companies to defer their stormrelated costs. Customers have received unreliable electric service for too long. The costs these utilities have asked for and their reliability practices must be closely examined.”

Duke Energy Ohio estimated it cost $31 million to restore service and approximately 83 percent of its Ohio customers went without power because of the storm. Dayton Power & Light did not provide an estimate of how much it cost to restore service to the nearly 300,000 customers who lost power.

The PUCO also allowed, in December, American Electric Power (AEP) to defer its storm-related costs after 700,000 customers lost power at the height of the wind storm. AEP did not provide any expenses incurred as a result of the outages.

In December, a partnership of consumer groups called the Consumers for Reliable Electricity in Ohio, requested an investigation into the service reliability of American Electric Power (AEP), DP&L, Duke Energy Ohio and FirstEnergy following a major windstorm in September 2008. The storm caused outages for 2.6 million electric customers, some of who were without electricity for more than a week.

State law requires that reliable service be provided by all of Ohio’s state-regulated electric utilities. Over the last several years, the adequacy of the maintenance of electric distribution lines has been scrutinized by consumer groups, including the OCC.

In January 2004, the OCC asked the PUCO to conduct a statewide electric reliability investigation, where it highlighted the need for electric utilities to provide tree trimming reports that define their practices, outline future plans and disclose current and future spending. Later that month, the PUCO rejected the OCC’s request. In January 2005, the OCC asked the PUCO to conduct a comprehensive AEP-specific reliability investigation based on the breadth and depth of power outages following two winter storms. The PUCO did not act on the request for a comprehensive investigation.

About the Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel

The Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel (OCC), the residential utility consumer advocate, represents the interests of 4.5 million households in proceedings before state and federal regulators and in the courts. The state agency also educates consumers about electric, natural gas, telephone and water issues and resolves complaints from individuals. To receive utility information, brochures, schedule a presentation or file a utility complaint, residential consumers may call 1-877-PICKOCC (1-877-742-5622) toll free in Ohio or visit the OCC Web site at www.pickocc.org.