PPL says refund is not much

It’s not much, perhaps not even noticeable, but electricity customers might soon receive larger refunds – and receive them more frequently.

PJM Interconnection, an industry-created electricity middleman for 13 mid-Atlantic states and the District of Columbia, has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to allow it to distribute rebates on a quarterly basis, rather than annually.

PJM was created and is funded by the electricity providers within its region. But, because the entity makes no profit, if it is able to cut costs, it returns the excess. Utilities add that cost into customers’ bills.

“Because of the success of our cost-cutting, we recently proposed to calculate the refunds on a quarterly basis rather than at the end of the year,” said PJM spokesman Ray Dotter.

PJM refunded $6.5 million in 2007 and expects to return at least $50 million in 2008, and estimates an additional $25 million to $35 million if the proposal is approved.

But it won’t mean much for consumers. PPL Electric Utilities passes that refund to customers, said spokesman Ryan Hill, but “really these refunds, you’re talking about the smallest part of the smallest part of the bill.”

“It would be a very small effect of a customer’s bill,” he said. “And you’ve got to remember it would get spread out over a million users over 12 months. … It’s going to be pretty negligible.”

Also, Dotter noted, “a savings here may be offset by an increase somewhere else.”