I’ve written several times about the exit of the merchant function Dominion East Ohio and energy marketers have been pushing since 2005. Exiting the merchant function means that the utility would no longer provide a default offer for customers. Currently, commercial customers do not have access to Dominion’s default offer, the Standard Choice Offer (SCO), and residential customers must call Dominion to be placed on the rate, which many people have. Why? Because the SCO is almost always the lowest rate available.
In 2018, the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel (OCC) filed a motion to once again make the SCO the default service for residential customers. OPAE followed with a similar motion on behalf of commercial customers, including our member agencies.
After some procedural wrangling, the parties finally started settlement talks in the Fall of 2019. There is agreement in principal on a settlement, and parties are working to wordsmith a stipulation that all can agree with. We hope to be able to unveil the terms of the deal in next month’s newsletter.