PECO customers in Philadelphia are seeing a new line item called "Distribution System Improvement Charge" or DSIC starting this month. Looks like it's running about $2-4 for residential and $15-25 for small commercial accounts. The tariff language is vague - just says "infrastructure investments between rate cases." This feels like another utility cash grab disguised as system improvements. Anyone dealt with similar riders from other Exelon subsidiaries?
PECO adding "Distribution System Improvement Charge" - anyone seen this?
Phil, Eversource has something similar up in Connecticut called the Infrastructure, Safety and Reliability Adjustment. Same concept - recover capital costs between rate cases without full regulatory review. The problem is these riders have weak oversight and no incentive for cost control. I challenged one case and found 40% of the "infrastructure" costs were routine maintenance that should come from existing rates.
FirstEnergy has been running similar riders in Ohio for years. The key is demanding detailed project documentation. These utilities love to lump everything under "system reliability" but when you dig into the work orders, half of it is normal wear-and-tear replacement. PECO is probably following the same playbook as their competitors.
Thanks for the insights. I'm going to start collecting client bills with this charge and see if I can reverse-engineer their calculation methodology. In Virginia, Dominion's infrastructure riders have been growing 15-20% annually. These things start small but become major revenue streams. Better to challenge them early before they get entrenched.