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Lebanon energy committee warns recent PUC order could shift millions into customer bills
Summary
Clifton Beeler told the Lebanon energy committee a recent public utilities commission order defers large utility 'under‑collections' and leaves open options that could raise default service rates for small customers; he estimated a roughly $8.5 million reconciliation balance with $2.55 million tied to net‑metering payouts.
Clifton Beeler, a member of the Lebanon energy committee, told the committee the state public utilities commission (PUC) has provisionally left in place last year’s low energy‑service adjustment factor while deferring several disputed under‑collection issues.
Beeler said the Community Power Coalition identified a reconciliation balance of about $8,500,000 and that $2,550,000 of that figure represents payments to net‑metered customers over the past three years. "If you take the 8,500,000 starting point, take back out the 2,550,000, you're left with about 6,000,000," he said, adding that the parties are discussing amortizing recoveries over two to four years to ease customer impacts.
Why it matters: committee members stressed that how the PUC treats under‑collections will affect default service rates for Lebanon customers. Beeler said Liberty had proposed a roughly 21¢ default‑service rate for the small customer class, which would have raised Lebanon’s export credit exposure; the provisional PUC order, he said, maintains last year’s ESAF and appears likely to produce a lower immediate rate — "around 15 to 16 cents" for that class.
Beeler described a contentious procedural moment at a hearing when the PUC initially indicated it would not accept the coalition’s prefiled testimony. "Five minutes into the hearing they recessed for 15 minutes and then allowed the coalition to testify," he said, noting the commission later issued an order shortly after the hearing closed.
Beeler also said the Department of Energy had informed the commission that a recently signed state bill allows, in "extraordinary circumstances," treating some costs as a stranded‑cost charge spread across customers. He told the committee he believes political pressure to avoid visible rate increases ahead of the November election may be influencing the commission’s cautious approach.
The committee heard no formal motion on this item but discussed outreach and public information steps. Beeler said he and allies plan op‑eds and coordination to explain the technical issues to residents.
Next steps: Beeler said the coalition’s prefiled testimony is now admitted in related dockets and the group will continue discovery and advocacy as the PUC moves toward a final decision.
