Ohio Code 4928.39 – Determining total allowable transition costs
Upon the filing of an application by an electric utility under section 4928.31 of the Revised Code for the opportunity to receive transition revenues under sections 4928.31 to 4928.40 of the Revised Code, the public utilities commission, by order under section 4928.33 of the Revised Code, shall determine the total allowable amount of the transition costs of the utility to be received as transition revenues under those sections. Such amount shall be the just and reasonable transition costs of the utility, which costs the commission finds meet all of the following criteria:
Terms Used In Ohio Code 4928.39
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Electric utility: means an electric light company that has a certified territory and is engaged on a for-profit basis either in the business of supplying a noncompetitive retail electric service in this state or in the businesses of supplying both a noncompetitive and a competitive retail electric service in this state. See Ohio Code 4928.01
- state: means the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 1.59
(A) The costs were prudently incurred.
(B) The costs are legitimate, net, verifiable, and directly assignable or allocable to retail electric generation service provided to electric consumers in this state.
(C) The costs are unrecoverable in a competitive market.
(D) The utility would otherwise be entitled an opportunity to recover the costs.
Transition costs under this section shall include the costs of employee assistance under the employee assistance plan included in the utility’s approved transition plan under section 4928.33 of the Revised Code, which costs exceed those costs contemplated in labor contracts in effect on the effective date of this section.
Further, the commission’s order under this section shall separately identify regulatory assets of the utility that are a part of the total allowable amount of transition costs determined under this section and separately identify that portion of a transition charge determined under section 4928.40 of the Revised Code that is allocable to those assets, which portion of a transition charge shall be subject to adjustment only prospectively and after December 31, 2004, unless the commission authorizes an adjustment prospectively with an earlier date for any customer class based upon an earlier termination of the utility’s market development period pursuant to division (B)(2) of section 4928.40 of the Revised Code.
The electric utility shall have the burden of demonstrating allowable transition costs as authorized under this section. The commission may impose reasonable commitments upon the utility’s collection of the transition revenues to ensure that those revenues are used to eliminate the allowable transition costs of the utility during the market development period and are not available for use by the utility to achieve an undue competitive advantage, or to impose an undue disadvantage, in the provision by the utility of regulated or unregulated products or services.