Heads up everyone - been reviewing MLGW bills here in Memphis and found significant fuel adjustment over-collections that weren't properly credited back to customers. We're talking about 8-10 months of excess collections that should have triggered automatic refunds under the tariff. I suspect this is happening across multiple utilities. When's the last time you saw a negative fuel adjustment on your clients' bills? If natural gas prices dropped but the riders didn't follow, there's money on the table.
PSA: Check your fuel adjustment true-up credits
Randy, excellent catch. Kentucky Utilities here in Lexington has the same issue. I found over-collections going back to mid-2022 when gas prices crashed but their FAC rider stayed elevated. Filed for refunds on six commercial accounts last month - total recovery was $14,000. The utilities are counting on nobody watching the true-up calculations.
This is gold, Randy. Avista up here in Spokane has been running hot on their PCA (Power Cost Adjustment) for months. Natural gas hit $2.50 MMBtu in December but their adjustment factor is still calculating based on $4+ gas. I've got spreadsheets going back 18 months showing the divergence. Time to start filing some complaints.
Duke Energy Carolinas has been particularly bad about this. Their fuel clause methodology includes a "smoothing mechanism" that delays both increases and decreases. Great for rate stability, terrible for accuracy. I recovered $8,500 for one industrial client by documenting the lag between actual fuel costs and billed adjustments. The key is getting monthly fuel procurement data from their FERC filings.
ConEd in New York has similar issues with their Monthly Adjustment Clause. The problem is their "fuel" clause includes purchased power costs that don't correlate with actual fuel prices. When NYISO day-ahead prices dropped 30% last summer, ConEd's MAC stayed flat for six months. Filed complaints for three clients and recovered over $20K in over-collections.
Alabama Power's fuel clause has been running 2-3 cents/kWh too high since November. The issue is they're including capacity payments to affiliates in their "fuel" costs. Southern Company shuffles power between subsidiaries and the accounting is deliberately opaque. I've got documentation showing $45,000 in excess charges for one manufacturing client. Filing with the Alabama PSC next week.
NV Energy out here in Vegas has been pulling the same tricks. Their Base Tariff Energy Rate includes fuel costs that should be flowing through their Energy Supply Charge. Double-dipping at its finest. The Nevada PUC staff is overwhelmed and doesn't catch these accounting games. Recovered $12K for a casino client by documenting the duplicate charges.
Randy's PSA is spot-on. I've been doing quarterly fuel adjustment audits for all my Alabama clients since 2020. The key is getting both the utility's monthly fuel filings AND the actual FERC Form 423 data showing delivered fuel costs. The discrepancies are eye-opening. Last quarter alone I found over-collections totaling $67,000 across eight commercial accounts.
Dominion Energy Virginia has been particularly creative with their fuel clause. They've been including "environmental compliance costs" that should be recovered through their ENV rider, not fuel adjustment. Filed a complaint in December and they settled for $31,000 in refunds rather than fight it. The precedent is now set for similar challenges.
Oncor here in Texas doesn't have fuel charges (transmission-only utility), but I see similar issues with the retail electric providers' pass-through charges. They lag the ERCOT price signals by 30-60 days, always in their favor. The key is tracking the daily settlement point prices against billed energy charges. Most customers never check the math.
Great responses everyone. The pattern is clear - utilities across the country are gaming fuel adjustment mechanisms. The solution is systematic monitoring and aggressive complaint filing. I'm putting together a shared spreadsheet template for tracking fuel costs versus billed adjustments. Will post the link once it's ready. Keep fighting the good fight.
Randy, that spreadsheet would be incredibly valuable. I've been manually tracking TVA's fuel cost adjustments for my Nashville clients but having a standardized format would help identify patterns. The key insight from this thread is that fuel clause over-collections are systematic, not random errors. These utilities know exactly what they're doing.