Pilot program planned as company eyes option for all customers in 2010

PPL Electric Utilities took another step toward making a time-of-use pricing option available to all customers in 2010 by asking the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission on Thursday (9/11) to approve a year-round time-of-use pilot program.

“We want our customers to have more choices for managing their electric use and greater control over what they spend on electricity,” said David G. DeCampli, president of PPL Electric Utilities. “Our investments in advanced meters and our ability to track hourly usage information make these new pricing options possible.”

Under time-of-use rates, the amount customers pay for generation charges varies by season and by time of day. Electricity costs less to generate when people use less, and costs more to generate during “peak” hours when customer use is highest.

Customers who choose a time-of-use rate option can save money by shifting electricity use to times when it is less costly to generate.

If approved by the PUC, the pilot program would begin this winter and continue through the end of 2009. The pilot program would be open to 1,200 residential customers. The company has proposed to mail invitations to customers to take part in the pilot program until the program is filled.

The pilot program would test acceptance of time-of-use rates and study how best to help customers achieve success in reducing their energy costs. The company has run a summer time-of-use pilot program since 2002. That pilot program, expanded this summer to 600 participants, will continue in the summer of 2009.

The new year-round pilot program would include a summer generation charge (June through September) of 8.3 cents per kilowatt-hour for electricity used during peak hours and 4.2 cents per kilowatt-hour for electricity used during off-peak hours. Summer peak hours would be 11 a.m. to

6 p.m. weekdays. All other hours would be off-peak.

For the other months of the year, generation charges would be 7.5 cents per kilowatt-hour during peak hours and 4.6 cents per kilowatt-hour off-peak. Peak hours for the non-summer months would be 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays. All other hours would be off-peak.

Combining all components of PPL Electric Utilities’ standard residential rate produces an average generation charge of 5.3 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2009 around the clock.

PPL Electric Utilities intends to make a time-of-use option generally available to customers starting in 2010.

DeCampli said the company plans to make hourly electricity-use information available online to all customers later this year through its Energy Analyzer at www.pplelectric.com. The information will enable customers to track more closely how activities in their homes affect usage. It will help pilot program participants test and monitor their ability to shift energy use to off-peak hours.

“Our ability to track hourly usage information supports electric competition because it will enable competitive suppliers to offer our customers a variety of pricing options in the future,” DeCampli said. “This could lead to more options for our customers to pick plans that best fit their lifestyles.”

PPL Electric Utilities does not profit from generation charges. Rather, it must purchase electricity in the open market for customers who don’t choose another supplier and pass those costs directly to customers without markup.

PPL Electric Utilities Corporation, a subsidiary of PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL) that provides electricity delivery services to about 1.4 million customers in Pennsylvania, has consistently ranked among the best companies for customer service in the United States. More information is available at www.pplelectric.com.