The state Public Utility Commission Friday (9/12) granted a request for a 30-day extension in the decision-making schedule for the Pennsylvania Power & Light Co. customer choice restructuring case.

Paul E. Russell, PP&L's associate general counsel, said Friday the extension means that a final PUC decision would be expected in the case by Feb. 5, 1998. He said the company and other parties had agreed to the extension prior to the commission's action on Friday.

"The extension will allow additional time for possible settlement discussions," said Russell. "This extension will not delay the beginning of customer choice."

PP&L's restructuring filing is part of Pennsylvania's transition to allowing customers to choose the company that generates their electricity.

Under the plan, PP&L customers would have the opportunity to shop for generation supplies while enjoying a price cap for delivery services. If customers choose not to shop, their rates for generation are capped for nine years.

"If our plan is approved, customers who are buying their electricity from PP&L in the year 2001 will be paying prices that are essentially the same as they were paying in 1986," said Russell. "This is a 15-year record of price stability that is unmatched in Pennsylvania." Russell noted that, when inflation is taken into account, PP&L rates will have dropped by about one-third over that same period.

In its plan, PP&L proposes to:

• Cap rates that all customers pay for the delivery of electricity for four-and-one-half years and rates customers pay for generation for as long as nine years.
• Provide one-third of PP&L's customers with the opportunity to choose their electricity supplier beginning Jan. 1, 1999. Another third would have that opportunity beginning on Jan. 1, 2000, and all customers would be able to choose by Jan. 1, 2001.
• Collect about $4.0 billion in transition costs over a period of seven years without increasing customer rates.
• Conduct an extensive education effort to ensure that customers understand retail competition and can participate on an informed basis.
• Unbundle customer rates into four main categories: a Transmission charge; a Distribution charge; a Generation charge; and a Competitive Transition Charge, which will be used to recover transition costs. The CTC will be paid by all retail customers who receive transmission or distribution service from PP&L.
• Continue to be the "supplier of last resort" for customers who choose not to shop.
• Expand its programs for low-income customers.