June 2023 Utility Rates Newsletter

IMPORTANT MONTHLY UPDATES & ANNOUNCEMENTS

This month, we cover updates to ComEd’s Carbon-Free Resource Adjustment (CFRA), highlight generation rate hikes in Ohio and New Jersey, explain the Utility Resources section of the Energy Use Profile, share feedback about our Pre-Proposal Service, and review our 2nd quarter numbers. 

ComEd's CFRA Update

• The CFRA transitioned from a credit of 0.033¢/kWh to a charge of 1.241¢/kWh. 
• Beginning in October, the CFRA will update monthly rather than seasonally. 

ComEd’s CFRA finally switched from a credit to a charge for the first time since its inception. Originally introduced as a credit of 4.306 cents per kWh, the CFRA has received several updates that have whittled down the value of the credit each time. Now, customers will have to pay a charge of 1.241 cents per kWh for the summer months of June through September.  

The CFRA was implemented back in June 2022 following the approval of Illinois’ Climate and Equitable Jobs Act to support carbon-free nuclear facilities that would otherwise be retired. When energy market prices are high — as in 2022 — the CFRA is a credit, and conversely, the CFRA is a charge when prices are low. This was the case when it was first introduced in the summer of 2022; however, as energy prices have reduced since then, the CFRA has also steadily decreased to the point where it has transitioned to a charge. Here are all recorded values for the CFRA thus far: 

Another upcoming change to the CFRA in October is in regard to its updating frequency. Historically, the CFRA updated seasonally; however, ComEd is changing the seasonal update frequency to a monthly basis to align the CFRA with fluctuating energy market prices. This will likely produce smaller and more frequent updates than the significant ones that have occurred historically. 

Many of our users have expressed concern about the CFRA because it can significantly impact their analysis. Our global rates available for ComEd include the most recent CFRA values; however, if you wish to take a more middle-of-the-road approach with your analysis, you can copy a global rate and use the above table to apply an average of the CFRA instead. 

Ohio Standard Service Offer Rate Hikes

• Many Ohioans should expect 50% to 100% increases in generation rates this summer. 
• Customers with an Alternate Electric Supplier (AES) are unaffected by these rate hikes. 

Ohio customers receiving the Standard Service Offer (SSO) from Duke Energy, AEP, or a First Energy subsidiary — Ohio Edison, The Illuminating Company, and Toledo Edison — will experience significant increases in their electric bills this summer. These customers should expect anywhere from 50% to over 100% increases in SSO prices. SSO prices are nearly doubling for these utilities because of increased costs associated with purchasing power at recent auctions. 

Our ETB utility rates team compared the previous Price to Compare (PTC) rates to the updated PTC rates for each utility below: 

These SSO rate hikes do not affect customers who receive their energy supply from an AES (also known as a retail electric supplier). If you are working with a customer who receives the generation of their energy from an AES, then you can utilize the Retail Supply Details section in the Energy Use Profile to input the supply rate found on your bills. 

Public Service Electric & Gad - NJ BGS Increases

• PSEG-NJ’s BGS rates are increasing by 9% and 23% for residential and commercial customers, respectively. 
• ETB users can easily replace the BGS rates with their customer’s third-party supplier rate in the Energy Use Profile. 

Ohioans are not the only ones experiencing exorbitant generation rates this summer; PSEG-NJ Basic Generation Service (BGS) rates are also increasing for RSCP customers. PSEG-NJ updated its BGS rates for the summer, and due to recent energy auctions, residential customers will see a 9% increase. In comparison, commercial customers will see a 23% increase in the supply portion of their bills. Our rates team contrasted the 2022 and 2023 BGS rates in the table below: 

In addition to these generation increases, PSEG’s Green Programs Recovery Charge — a standalone line item on bills designed to recover revenue for several of PSEG’s green programs — increased by 80% from $0.0029 to $0.0052 per kWh for all customers. One saving grace for GLP and LPL customers is that their BGS capacity charges decreased by 50% from $3.40 to $1.74 per kW.  

Again, if your customer receives supply from a third-party supplier, then you can use the Retail Supply Details function in your Energy Use Profile to substitute your customer’s supply rate for the BGS rates found in our global PSEG-NJ rate schedules. 

Q2 2023 Utility Rates in Review

Our utility rates team enjoys sharing our progress with users because much of it comes from user requests. Every utility and rate we add signifies expanding solar and storage opportunities, which is exciting! We quantify our Q2 successes below:  

• New rates added: 252
• Updated rates: 1192
• Pre-Proposal Service turnaround time: 1.9 days
• New utilities added: 40
• 19 different states
• 3 different countries

Pre-Proposal Service Feedback Request!

As we approach the first anniversary of our Pre-Proposal Service, we wanted to reflect on the success of this service by recounting what some of our users have had to say. Many of our ETB users have taken advantage of our Pre-Proposal Service offer, and we appreciate the feedback they have given! Here’s what some have said about this service: 

• “The service you gave goes beyond a 10-star, exemplary service if there were such a star system.” 
• “I am very impressed with the quality of my Pre-Proposal Service request… It was absolutely worth paying for.”  
• “ETB is not only one of the most accurate and in-depth energy software platforms for solar and ESS, but they also have the best customer support in the industry… I highly recommend ETB.”  

Have you tried our Pre-Proposal Service yet? Let our team of rate experts with years of experience complete every aspect of the rate creation and Energy Use Profile process for you! See this link for more details:ETB Developer Pre-Proposal Service.  

Did You Know? - We have an Energy Toolbase Utility Rates Resources Database

Our utility rates team creates and updates electric rates for hundreds of utilities nationwide. We are intimately familiar with much of the information that goes into creating accurate rates in a way that the average ETB user may not be. This is why we added the Utility Resources section within the Energy Use Profile — to provide our users with the tools and information they need to create, edit, and use rates accurately. If a utility has resources available for it, then the resources section will appear above the utility and rate selection screen after selecting a utility in the Energy Use Profile:  

You can find all sorts of helpful information in the resources section, from simple links to a utility’s electric tariffs or explanations of different bill rate codes to instructional guides on inputting the capacity kW, editing a municipal franchise fee, and using the Retail Supply Details function. 

Adding the Utility Resources section is another way that our rates team tries to share information with our users so that they can successfully utilize all the features our platform offers.