DALLAS, Aug. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- As requested by the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC), Oncor Electric Delivery today filed required financial information on delivery rates. Oncor asked the PUC to take no action to change delivery rates.
In April 2007, the PUC initiated a review of delivery rates for Oncor. Only about 18 percent of Oncor's customers -- primarily those in rural areas -- would be affected. The limited scope of this rate review is the result of dual oversight by the PUC and city regulators. Oncor will continue to honor its legal obligation to city regulators to file a delivery rate case by mid-2008.
"We filed the requested financial information so the PUC can review Oncor's delivery rates," said David T. Gill, Oncor Vice-President for External Affairs. "While we prefer that no changes be made to rates before our rate case in 2008, we have complied with their request for information, but we believe that the requirements of state law, as well as PUC precedent, would support an increase that would result in higher delivery rates for certain of Oncor's territories, primarily in less populated areas. We believe that a separate, higher delivery rate for selected areas would not be ideal."
"Because of the inherent inequity of different rates for different areas, we asked for no change," said Gill.
As part of Oncor's request to keep regulated delivery charges low, the company has requested a regulatory "safety valve" that enables a lower, but reasonable return on its utility investment.
Delivery rates reflect the charges that regulated transmission and delivery service companies like Oncor bill retail electric providers in their service area. These regulated delivery rates typically represent a relatively small percentage of most customers' monthly power bill.
Oncor, a subsidiary of TXU Corp., is an electric distribution and transmission business that provides power to more than three million homes and businesses and operates more than 115,000 miles of transmission and distribution lines in Texas. Information about Oncor can be obtained by going directly to http://www.oncor.com/.
