OCC Consultant's Search for Restructuring Documents Nets Preliminary Findings COLUMBUS, Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ohio Consumers' Counsel (OCC), the residential utility advocate, today released preliminary findings and draft testimony from LaCapra & Associates, the Boston-based energy consultant used by the OCC during the electric restructuring process. The documents were retrieved as a result of an extensive computer network scan conducted by LaCapra at the request of the OCC due to public interest in verifying the consultant's preliminary evaluation of FirstEnergy's "stranded costs." Based on its records retention schedule, the OCC had disposed of many of the documents related to LaCapra's preliminary findings. LaCapra's estimates only relate to the generation portion of FirstEnergy's stranded costs. Regulatory cost estimates were not performed by the consultant but were conducted internally by the OCC. All of the estimates were devised to strengthen the OCC's negotiating hand and give the agency an aggressive litigation position. LaCapra's initial assessment from January 2000 gave an estimate of between $2.2 and $4.4 billion for the generation portion of the stranded costs. "As we got closer to the hearing date, the other major groups involved concluded they were going to settle this case," said Robert S. Tongren, Consumers' Counsel. "The choice we made was to participate in the negotiations and gain additional benefits for consumers rather than litigate a case that, more likely than not, we would have lost." Nineteen other stakeholders, including the staff of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio and other consumer groups, signed on to the agreement. Stranded costs are collected by FirstEnergy through customers' electric rates to pay for the company's power plant investments. Residential electric customers had been paying these costs all along, and would have continued to pay them indefinitely if it had not been for restructuring. Customers of FirstEnergy are paying no more for their electricity today than they were 10 years ago. In fact, many of them are paying less as a result of the competitive marketplace. As a result of the OCC's negotiations, FirstEnergy customers received: - Low-cost energy called "market support generation" made available to alternative suppliers served to jumpstart electric choice savings in northern Ohio. The discounted price of the power has worked to produce savings of as much as 20 percent off the generation part of customers' electric bills. The OCC was the only advocate office in the country to obtain this type of low-cost energy for residential consumers. - A "shopping credit" that has helped save customers money when switching to an alternative supplier. By negotiating a higher shopping credit than proposed by FirstEnergy, suppliers are better able to beat FirstEnergy's price and produce customer savings. Currently, 44 percent of FirstEnergy's customers have switched to an alternative supplier. - Customers' rate credits, which the OCC had negotiated in 1995 and 1998 merger cases, were extended an average of two years and will produce $150 million in savings past their original expiration date of December 31, 2005. Beyond the advantages of jumpstarting the competitive market, the OCC successfully negotiated a two-year extension of the freeze on FirstEnergy customers' distribution rates, set to expire under the restructuring law on December 31, 2005. Now, distribution rates are frozen through December 2007. LaCapra's preliminary findings and draft testimony can be found on the OCC's website at http://www.pickocc.org/ . About the Ohio Consumers' Counsel The Ohio Consumers' Counsel (OCC) is the residential utility advocate serving as a resource for individuals who have questions and concerns or would like more information about the services provided by their publicly owned electric, natural gas, telephone and water companies. The state agency also educates consumers about utility issues and resolves complaints from individuals. To receive utility information brochures, schedule a presentation or file a utility complaint, residential consumers may call 1-877-PICKOCC (1-877-742-5622) toll free in Ohio or visit the OCC website at http://www.pickocc.org/ . DATASOURCE: Ohio Consumers' Counsel CONTACT: Contact: Ryan Lippe of Ohio Consumers' Counsel, +1-614-466-7269 Web site: http://www.pickocc.org/

Copyright