The Ohio Public Utilities Commission has adopted guidelines for mandatory pilot programs by electric utilities to aggregate customer loads. Termed as "conjunctive service," the move is seen by the PUC as an "experimental step towards competition in the electricity market." Utilities must offer the new service to all customer classes in a nondiscriminatory manner.
The guidelines permit aggregators to negotiate rates with utilities that reflect cost savings from load aggregation due to several factors, including: more homogenous load factors, consolidation of billing and collection, and the load-building potential.
Initially, utilities must not limit availability of the aggregation service in terms of total capacity, total number of customer groups or maximum or minimum number of service locations. Brokers and aggregators will function primarily as "energy service companies," the PUC said, in forming groups and negotiation conjunctive service contract with utilities during the pilot project. Re Competition in the Electric Industry, Case No. 96-406-EL-COI, Dec. 24, 1996 (Ohio P.U.C).