Pennsylvania PUC identifies more than $4 million in savings for utilities, customers

Audits conducted by the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (PUC) uncovered more than $4 million in annual savings for utilities and customers, according to a report recently published by the PUC.

The 2016-17 annual report on PUC management audits (MAs) and management efficiency investigations (MEIs) identifies potential improvements in operations, service reliability, and safety programs for a number of Pennsylvania utilities.

The MAs identified 185 improvement opportunities. Utilities voluntarily or partially accepted 178 of these recommendations. The quantifiable net annual or recurring benefits from implementing the MA reports’ recommendations are estimated at $3.87 million in annual or recurring savings and $277,000 in one-time savings.

The PUC’s Bureau of Audits also completed MEIs, which evaluated implementation efforts related to 51 recommendations from prior MAs and the utilities’ emergency preparedness efforts.

The PUC determined that the companies have effectively implemented 28 or 55 percent of the prior recommendations and that they had taken some action on the 24 remaining recommendations. PUC staff made 30 follow-up recommendations, which the companies accepted or partially accepted in their implementation plans.

Total quantifiable net annual or recurring benefits from implementing the MEI follow-up recommendations are approximately $465,000. The previous MA recommendations have resulted in annually recurring savings of $44,000 and one-time savings of $133,000, staff found.