Hunlock Creek resident Brandi Brace is opposing an annual rate increase sought by UGI Electric. She has done substantial research as part of her efforts. ‘I want them to stop raising rates for things that are not essential to the customers, but realistically I just want to be heard,’ Brace said.
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The more Brandi Brace looked into the rate hike proposed by her electric company, the more she opposed it.
As a customer of UGI Electric, the utility notified the Hunlock Creek woman when it filed for an annual $8.7 million rate increase with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission in February. UGI stated residential customers who use 1,000 kilo-watt hours a month would pay 12.4% more if the full increase was approved.
“I got the letter from UGI. I rolled my eyes and started to look into it,” Brace said during a telephone conversation earlier this month.
The company noted its last base rate hike was three years ago. It first filed for a $9.2 million increase and later reduced it to $7.7 million. The PUC lowered it further, approving a $3.2 million increase on Oct. 25, 2018.
“Adding anticipated investments included in this base rate increase request, UGI Electric will have invested nearly $51 million in the distribution system since the last UGI Electric base rate case,” Christopher Brown, UGI vice president and general manager of rates and supply, said in a Feb. 8 press release.
With the April 28 public hearings on the rate hike approaching, Brace dug through reams of documents, made and distributed fliers and created a web site, powerinnepa.com, to educate and enlist public support.
Even though other individuals and groups notified the PUC of their opposition to the proposed increase, it’s been a solitary and, at times, frustrating task for Brace, a tutor at Penn State Wilkes-Barre. She committed resources and spent hours sorting through the online filings in PUC Docket R-2021-3023618.
“I went onto the web site and downloaded nine books of information. It was so much information and, to be honest, it was incomprehensible,” said Brace, who holds a Master’s Degree in Game Studies from Tampere University in Finland.
Brace encouraged others to register with the Pennsylvania Office of Consumer Advocate at 1-800-684-6560 by 3 p.m. Friday to either testify at the public hearings or listen in.
“I honestly don’t think many people will care to listen, but the Office of the Consumer Advocate says they aren’t used to much public interest so even 10-20 people would make a huge difference,” Brace wrote in an email.
Count Brace among those planning to listen in as she awaits her opportunity to speak with the filing of her formal complaint by May 3. She doesn’t know what to expect, but intends to make the most of her newfound advocacy role.
“I want them to stop raising rates for things that are not essential to the customers, but realistically I just want to be heard,” Brace said.
Initially, UGI sought to have the hike take effect on April 9, but last month the PUC suspended the company’s request pending an investigation, as it often does in rate cases. A decision could take up to seven months, the time it takes an administrative law judge to hold hearings, review the material and testimony for and against the proposed increase and make a recommendation to the PUC.
With nothing but positive comments about the solar panels installed on her home, Brace reacted negatively to UGI’s proposal to pay for the installation of charging stations for electric vehicles through the rate hike.
The company wants to own and operate three DC Fast Charge stations in its service territory. The stations, estimated to cost $300,000, are capable of delivering 80% of a full charge to an electric vehicle within 30 minutes, Eric Sorber, vice president and general manager of UGI Electric Division, said in a Feb. 8 filing with the PUC.
Brace argued if UGI is permitted to pay for the charging stations through the rate hike, it will create an anti-competitive market. There are no other public charging stations in UGI’s service territory that includes approximately 62,000 customers in Luzerne and Wyoming counties and just a limited number of electric vehicles. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation reported in 2019 there were 99 electric vehicles registered in Luzerne County and five in Wyoming County.
If another company wants to compete in the market, it won’t have the financial support of a public utility, Brace added.
“By dominating a new market, they are not providing any benefit for the customer, only the shareholders,” Brace said in an email.
Brace further questioned whether the proposed increase runs counter to state law against discrimination in rates. She pointed out the company said residential and commercial customers will pay more, while an industrial customer using 50,000 kWh a month would see a 0.9% decrease if the hike as requested was approved.
Going up against a corporation can be intimidating and the reason people back down, Brace acknowledged. She’s in unfamiliar territory and has had some guidance from the Office of Consumer Advocate.
The office is intervening on behalf of consumers in this case, said Acting Consumer Advocate Tanya McCloskey. For those who go it alone, it advises them of their choices and how to proceed, she said.
”Regarding the process in general, we understand it can be daunting to individual consumers. Our office was created by the General Assembly in order to help level the playing field between utilities, who have the ability to hire legal teams/experts and consumers, who do not have the same resources,” McCloskey explained in an email.
Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.