The commission also agreed to allow the supermarket operator Kroger Co. to intervene in the case. The PUCO, through an attorney-examiner who scrutinizes such requests, accepted Kroger’s argument that as a large consumer of Duke electricity, it stands to be significantly affected by any change in Duke’s electricity rates.
The attorney-examiner rejected requests by two residents to intervene in the case, saying they did not state how their interests are not already being represented in the issue. The examiner noted that the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel will argue in behalf of residential customers.
The Sept. 14, 2008, storm, packing winds of about 70 mph from remnants of Hurricane Ike, knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of customers in the region. It took more than a week and up to almost two weeks, in some cases, for Duke Energy and neighboring Dayton Power and Light Co. to restore power to all of the customers affected by the storm damage to the electricity distribution system.
Duke Energy has said it incurred costs of $31 million to repair all the damage to its system and restore power to all its customers.
In January 2009, the PUCO gave both Duke Energy and DP&L approval to carry the storm recovery costs on their books, a preliminary step that could allow the companies to charge their customers for those costs.
DP&L has not specifically said how much in costs it incurred for the storm recovery. The Dayton utility has not yet asked the PUCO for permission to pass those costs along to its customers, Bryce Nickel, DP&L’s vice president for service operations, said Sunday, April 18.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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