Manufacturers Decry Utility Effort to Keep Federal Tax Savings

OMA members at this week’s OMA Energy Committee decried the actions of Ohio electric utilities that have announced they intend to keep federal tax reform savings rather than passing them on to customers. Monopoly electric distribution utility companies in most states have acted voluntarily to pass the tax savings on to customers.

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) has opened an investigation into the propriety of Ohio’s utilities passing tax savings along to customers, but Ohio’s investor-owned electric distribution utilities (AEP-Ohio, Duke Energy, FirstEnergy, and Dayton Power & Light) are challenging this PUCO directive.

The OMA Energy Group has intervened to support immediate rate reductions stemming from the tax savings.

Here’s an analysis of the actions taken by other states by OMA energy counsel, Kim Bojko of Carpenter Lipps & Leland, in a memo to the OMA Energy Group.

Cleveland Plain Dealer energy reporter John Funk reports that FirstEnergy says a major reduction in the company’s overall delivery rates or a refund of money to customers to reflect the new 21 percent federal tax rate is out of the question. 3/1/2018