Robert F. in Jacksonville FL but working on an Alabama client. Alabama Power just got approval for new rate schedules effective April 1st and it's completely messing up my audit of 2018-2019 bills. The demand charge structure for Schedule LPL is changing from three tiers to four tiers, and they're adding a new facilities charge. Client has 850 kW average demand and this could swing the analysis by thousands of dollars. Anyone dealt with Alabama PSC rate transitions before?
Rate case nightmare - Alabama Power changing everything mid-audit
Walt P. from Knoxville. I work with Alabama Power regularly and their rate case transitions are always messy. Make sure you're using the correct effective dates - sometimes they phase in changes over multiple months. For LPL customers over 500 kW, the new facilities charge is $8.50/kW which wasn't in the old tariff at all. You'll need to pro-rate the bills if your audit period spans the April 1st effective date.
Reggie H. in Memphis. Had the same issue last year with TVA rate changes hitting mid-audit. Best approach is to split your analysis into pre-change and post-change periods, then calculate weighted averages for annual projections. Don't try to blend the rate structures or you'll get garbage results. Also check if Alabama Power filed any transition credits for existing customers - sometimes they soften the blow for the first few months.
Walt P., you're absolutely right about the facilities charge - that's a $7,225 annual increase I completely missed. Reggie H., I'll split the analysis periods. Found the transition filing in PSC docket 2018-00281 and there is a six-month credit program, but it's only for customers under 1,000 kW. This client is going to get hit hard.