Working on a Puget Sound Energy account in Olympia and noticed they're calculating franchise fees incorrectly. The city ordinance specifies 6% of gross revenues from electric service, but PSE is applying it to net revenues after various deductions. This creates about $200-300 monthly undercharge to the city but overcharge to customers through the franchise fee adjustment mechanism. Has anyone dealt with PSE franchise fee calculation disputes before?
PSE Puget Sound Energy franchise fee calculation errors
Vera, that's an interesting twist - usually we're fighting overcharges, not undercharges that get passed through to customers. With Montana-Dakota Utilities up here, we occasionally see similar issues where their interpretation of municipal franchise agreements doesn't match the actual ordinance language. Have you contacted Olympia city finance department to see if they're aware of the calculation error?
Noel, I reached out to Olympia city finance and they confirmed PSE has been underpaying franchise fees for at least two years based on the incorrect calculation method. The city is now working directly with PSE to correct the calculation and recover back payments. This should also result in customer credits once PSE adjusts their franchise fee recovery mechanism.