HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) today approved a voluntary program where PPL will offer customers a rate based upon the time of day they use electricity.

The Commission voted 5-0 to allow a voluntary time-of-use (TOU) program for PPL customers and to approve a motion by Commission Chairman James H. Cawley that established that PPL will recover all costs specific to the TOU program through its default service tariffs.  Chairman Cawley also issued a statement that noted areas for improvement in future TOU filings including the adoption of automation and technology to enhance consumers’ ability to respond to changes in market prices.

The voluntary TOU program would provide optional pricing for electric service for residential and small commercial and industrial customers. Under the plan, customers could choose a billing option that provides different pricing for “on-peak” and “off-peak” hours. Higher rates would be charged for on-peak hours while lower rates would be charged for off-peak hours. The rates would be set on a flat cents per kWh basis and be different for summer and non-summer periods.

Previously, PPL had offered TOU programs for a limited number of customers or for customers with certain types of heating systems. If PPL customers currently on the Residential Thermal Storage (RTS) rate schedule choose to continue with a TOU rate they will see their on-peak hours reduced, meaning their systems are available for use at the off-peak price for longer periods of time.