By a unanimous 3-0 vote, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission approved a $30 million joint stipulation settlement on Tuesday allowing Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co. to recapture lost revenues from the company’s SmartHours program, according to a report by The Oklahoman.
OG&E will recover $30.3 million — $10.1 million per year — for three years of lost revenue from SmartHours from 2013 to 2015, according to the report.
Utilities are allowed to recover “lost net revenues” for demand-response and energy-efficiency programs under OCC rules. The reimbursements are designed to be an incentive for utilities to offer the programs.
The Attorney General’s Public Utility Unit neither opposed nor signed the settlement although it agreed with OG&E in a June 2015 hearing before an administrative law judge.
OG&E is required to file an application in the next 60 days to amend its existing demand-program tariff for 2016-2018. That application will reflect new definitions to calculate “lost net revenues” for the demand-response programs, according to The Oklahoman.
More than 110,000 of OG&E’s residential customers have signed up for SmartHours. The billing option offers a lower nonpeak rate from June to September, but higher variable rates during peak demand from 2 to 7 p.m.