OKLAHOMA CITY – Public Service Co. of Oklahoma seeks approval to continue its programs that incentivize customers to save energy, and wants to extend the duration of its energy efficiency and “demand response” programs from three years to five.
Energy efficiency programs “involve reducing electricity consumption on the customer’s side of the meter,” while demand response programs “involve incentivizing customers to reduce their demand for a specified period of time, generally during peak demand hours,” explained James B. Alexander, of the state Attorney General’s Office.
A hearing on PSO’s application is scheduled before a state Corporation Commission administrative law judge on June 24, starting at 10:30 a.m. The Jim Thorpe Building, where the commission is headquartered, has been closed to the public for several weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic but reopened June 15. Nevertheless, the June 24 hearing may be live streamed over the internet.
If the application is approved, PSO reported, the monthly utility bill of an “average” residential customer using 1,085 kilowatt-hours of electricity would include a monthly cost of $3.35 in 2022. The amount would increase 3¢ in 2023, to $3.38; drop 2¢ in 2024, to $3.36; creep back up 2¢ in 2025, to $3.38; and increase 2¢ more in 2026, to $3.40.
Similarly, for an “average” commercial customer using 5,795 kWh, the monthly costs would be $1,767.67 in 2022; $1,772.03 (about $5 more) in 2023; $1,751.81 (a little over $20 less) in 2024; $1,765.29 (an increase of $13.48) in 2025; and $1,785.12 (almost $20 more) in 2026.
Those monthly amounts would be earmarked for recovery of all demand program costs, lost net revenues and “a shared savings incentive,” PSO said.
PSO has more than 560,600 customers in 232 cities and towns in eastern and southwestern Oklahoma. The utility serves at least 37 communities in southwest Oklahoma, including Lawton, Altus, Duncan, Cache, Elgin, Fletcher, Porter Hill, Hobart and Rush Springs.
The utility’s customers number 483,536 residential, 64,003 commercial, 6,796 industrial, and 8,283 “other.”
PSO OFFERS REBATES, INCENTIVES
PSO, a subsidiary of American Electric Power Co., has energy efficiency and conservation programs for residential and business customers alike, said Stan Whiteford, the company’s region communications manager.
They also include rebates and incentives for the purchase of energy-efficient equipment, “anything from upgrading to energy-efficient air conditioning units in the home, to replacing old motors and pumps in industrial applications,” he said. “Change-outs to energy-efficient LEDs in schools, warehouses, manufacturing facilities and retail shops are included.”
A free home weatherization program for households who earn less than $50,000/ year “is another EE/conservation program,” Whiteford said. “So is our Shine A Light program, where we purchase and distribute LEDs by partnering with food banks for distribution to their clients.”
The company’s Power Hours program is “a thermo- stat program that provides customers more control of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system and with time-of-day, variable peak pricing and direct load control options,” said PSO executive Jeff E. Brown. “These options also provide the company with peak demand savings,” Brown said.
There also are rebates and incentives for contractors to build more energy-efficient homes. “And our Peak Performers program incentivizes schools and business customers to reduce their electric load on certain hot summer days when demand for electricity is high.”
Programs proposed for 2022-2026 also include a Conservation Voltage Reduction program for residential, commercial and industrial customers.
Conservation Voltage Reduction (CVR) refers to the installation and maintenance of technology that “optimizes and lowers delivered voltages, creating energy savings for customers,” Brown said. “It uses a centralized intelligent control system to continuously monitor and automatically control substation and line voltage regulating devices to maintain the overall distribution line voltage within a narrower bandwidth than possible without CVR.”
All of the programs that are proposed offer incentives or rebates that result in energy savings and reduced demand for electricity, “which helps us hold down the costs associated with having to buy or build additional power generation,” Whiteford said.
“The goals of PSO’s Demand Portfolio are to minimize the long-term cost of utility service; avoid or delay the need for new generation, transmission and distribution investment; and encourage and enable utility customers to make the most efficient use of energy and to reduce wasteful use of energy,” Brown said in testimony pre-filed with the Corporation Commission.
The Wi-Fi enabled connected devices market continues to grow as homes and businesses become “smarter,” Brown said. “While this electrification offers challenges with load management and load growth for utilities, connectivity of these devices offers opportunities for utilities to partner with customers in managing more devices and minimize possible adverse impacts to the utility system.”
PSO also has requested a waiver of the Corporation Commission rule that prohibits fuel switching, to ac- commodate a limited annual number of residential and small business air source heat pumps (70 units), new construction heat pump water heaters (10 units) and multifamily complex mini-split air source heat pumps (50 units). This is intended to “address interest expressed by customers to remove natural gas-fired equipment in homes and buildings in certain circumstances,” said Brown, Energy Efficiency and Consumer Programs Manager for PSO.
ATTORNEY GENERAL EXPRESSES CONCERN
With the exception of their home weatherization program, PSO plans to consolidate their existing programs into one Residential Energy Services plan, Alexander said. Consolidation would enable PSO to “expand the multifamily programs to manufactured homes and expand the list of qualified thermostat rebates,” Alexander said in pre-filed testimony.
The AG’s office is “concerned” that extending its programs from three years to five “may delay consideration of changes that may be beneficial in the intervening years,” Alexander said.
In addition, while statistics show that participating customers and the utility system as a whole benefit from energy efficiency programs, non-participating customers would experience increased energy bills, he said.
“The Attorney General’s objective is to improve effective access for residential customers who are renters so that they do not face persistently higher burdens over time,” Alexander said.
A University of Oklahoma graduate of the Price College of Business, Alexander received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, majoring in energy management, and is pursuing an MBA.