FirstEnergy Pennsylvania Electric Co. said Monday it had reached a $225 million settlement with several stakeholders in its base rate review, which now must be approved by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC).
“This settlement will amplify our efforts to connect our lower-income customers with a wide variety of bill assistance programs while also making meaningful upgrades to our electric system to enhance reliability for customers,” FirstEnergy’s President of Pennsylvania John Hawkins said.
The parties agreeing to the settlement include the Office of the Consumer Advocate, the Office of the Small Business Advocate, the Pennsylvania PUC’s Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement, the Coalition for Affordable Utility Services and Energy Efficiency in Pennsylvania, the Met-Ed Industrial Users Group, the Penelec Industrial Customer Alliance, the West Penn Power Industrial Intervenors, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 459, the Local Union 777 of the IBEW, the AFL-CIO, the UWUA System Local 102, Walmart Inc., and the Pennsylvania State University.
“We appreciate the broad set of stakeholders who participated in open and transparent settlement discussions that resulted in an agreement that balances all interests in our rates proceeding,” said Hawkins.
FirstEnergy PA — a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. doing business as Met-Ed, Penn Power, Penelec and West Penn Power — said if approved by the Pennsylvania PUC, the settlement agreement would result in rate increases for residential customers using 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month.
Specifically, Met-Ed customers would see an average increase of 1.9 percent or $3.49 for a new monthly bill of $191.19; Penelec customers would have an average increase of 4.1 percent or $8.33 for a new monthly bill of $209.29; Penn Power customers would have an average increase of 4.5 percent or $8.13 for a new monthly bill of $188.72; and West Penn customers would see an average increase of 6.2 percent or $9.70 for a new monthly bill of roughly $166.
FirstEnergy PA said that the average monthly bill for its customers would be in line with the statewide average for typical customers served by the other three major electric companies in Pennsylvania.
Once approved by state regulators, the settlement includes investments focused on strengthening the energy grid, enhancing the customer experience, and managing bill costs.
For example, the utility will increase vegetation management investments to enhance tree trimming and other related work around company power lines to improve electric service reliability.
Future investments also will allow the company to continue recovering expenses incurred when restoring electricity to customers following storms and severe weather, and to identify opportunities to selectively place distribution facilities underground to help enhance electric service reliability, according to the settlement.
Other FirstEnergy PA investments will support the electric grid through the Long-Term Infrastructure Improvement Plan III to enhance the reliability of power lines and substations.
Likewise, FirstEnergy would increase annual funding for Hardship Fund grants by $2 million above current levels for a three-year period starting in 2025. The maximum Hardship Fund grant also would be increased to $600 to assist eligible customers whose electric service has been or is at risk of termination.
The utility also plans to implement a process in which it would use income data from the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services to improve enrollment and retention in FirstEnergy’s income-eligible Pennsylvania Customer Assistance Program.
FirstEnergy PA also wants to hire an incremental 10 percent to field workforce above the prior year’s attrition for five years or until the next base rate review, whichever comes first.
Pending PUC approval, FirstEnergy PA is requesting a Jan. 1, 2025 effective date for the new rates.
The post FirstEnergy Pennsylvania reaches base rate settlement with stakeholders, seeks approval from regulators appeared first on Daily Energy Insider .
Local News
