The newsletter provides updates on electricity and natural gas rates from FirstEnergy and AEP Ohio. It also discusses how one customer significantly reduced household electricity usage by replacing incandescent bulbs with LEDs, saving an estimated $38,300 over the bulbs' lifetime. Additional events and strategies for mitigating rate increases are also mentioned.

1. Newsletter February 2012
FirstEnergy Update AEP-Ohio Update
FirstEnergy’s rate plan determines default generation New distribution and generation rates took effect for
prices for the three-year period beginning on June 1, AEP-Ohio bills issued on or after January 1, 2012.
2011 by a series of six auctions. The fourth auction Some smaller business customers are seeing very
was held in late January and resulted in a clearing large increases, which AEP and others tried to hide
price of 4.476¢ per kilowatt hour (kWh). from the public during the litigation that took place last
year at the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio
This result is blended with the results of the three prior (PUCO). You may read more about this in this
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auctions to establish the Standard Service Offer (SSO) January 27 Columbus Dispatch article:
rate for the 12 months beginning on June 1, 2012. This http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/201
average SSO rate will be 5.337¢ per kWh, down 4% 2/01/27/new-aep-rates-stun-small-businesses.html
from the current average SSO rate of 5.56¢ per kWh.
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Based upon this average price, the utility will set retail In the following quote from a December 19 article in
rates that vary by rate schedule and season. the Columbus Dispatch, Sam Randazzo of IEU-Ohio
is comments on the problems with the PUCO decision
These auction results are indicative of the drop in on the AEP rate plan:
market prices for generation that we have been seeing The PUCO is a state agency charged with
recently. Many commercial and industrial customers regulating the state’s utilities, and the rate-
can secure contracts with retail electric suppliers at approval process is supposed to be
prices below the auction rates. Contact us if you have transparent and conducted in a way that
any questions about your situation. serves the public interest. The AEP plan failed
on both counts, said Sam Randazzo, lead
attorney for Industrial Energy Users-Ohio. “It
is a bad deal measured by everything the
commission is obligated to obey and respect,”
Randazzo said in testimony filed in the case.
For the entire article, see:
CALENDAR OF EVENTS http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/201
POWER QUALITY IN GEAUGA COUNTY
1/12/19/closed-door-talks-common-in-utility-rate-
cases.html
PUNDERSON STATE PARK MANOR LODGE
11755 KINSMAN ROAD, NEWBURY We estimate that AEP customers, without the benefit
FEBRUARY 8, 2012, 7:30 – 9:30 A.M. of shopping, are now paying 20% to 60% more for
Sponsored by the Geauga Growth Partnership and electricity than comparable FirstEnergy customers
FirstEnergy; continental breakfast included; no charge. who are shopping. IEU-Ohio, on behalf of Brakey
Call 440-564-1060 or email info@geaugagrowth.com. Energy’s clients, continues to urge the PUCO to reject
16TH ANNUAL OHIO ENERGY MANAGEMENT AEP’s efforts to narrow the ability of customers to
CONFERENCE save money by shopping for generation services with
retail electric suppliers. We are hopeful that the
THE COLUMBUS RENAISSANCE HOTEL negative public reaction will result in the PUCO
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50 NORTH THIRD STREET, COLUMBUS clarifying its December 14 decisions and providing
FEBRUARY 21-22, 2012 better shopping opportunities for AEP customers. In
Mike and Matt Brakey will be among the presenters at the meantime, contact us to discuss strategies that
this informative conference. Brakey Energy’s clients are you might use to mitigate the price increases.
eligible for a 20% discount on the registration fee.
Contact us for the discount code. For more information
see www.MECseminars.com.

2. P.O. Box 202720, Shaker Heights, Ohio 44120 (216) 751-1758
Reducing Household Power Natural Gas Update
Consumption The NYMEX settlement price at the end of January
In an article in the Plain Dealer on Sunday, January was $2.68 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf), down 13%
nd
22 , John Funk describes how Mike Brakey cut the from $3.08 at the end of December. For Dominion
electric consumption in his Shaker Heights home East Ohio (DEO) commercial and residential
dramatically through various measures, including customers under Choice, the price to beat is
replacing all the light bulbs in the house with LED’s. NYMEX plus $1, or $3.68 per Mcf beginning in mid-
(http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2012/01/le February. Columbia Gas of Ohio’s price to beat is
d_lightbulb_prices_are_falli.html ) NYMEX plus $0.188 per hundred cubic feet (Ccf), or
$0.456 per Ccf for February.
Mike installed 88 LEDs at a total cost of $2,400 over a
three-year period. The combined load of the LEDs is
709 watts compared to approximately 7,000 watts for
equivalent incandescent bulbs. Details on the fixtures
used are shown in the table below:
COST
PER KELVIN
NUMBER FIXTURE FIXTURE RATING WATTS
3 Cree RL6 $95 3,000 12.4
1,000
Lumen
3 Cree RL6 $75 3,000 10.0
650
Lumen
7 Nexxus $50 5,000 7.8
Array Par
30
70 Sylvania $20 3,000 8,4
A19
5 Sylvania $29 3,000 8.3
G25
The Kelvin rating relates to both the color of the light and
the temperature. 3,000 K is a warm white light, with a
tinge of yellow. 5,000 K is a cool white light, with a tinge
of blue; it is better for reading. All of these fixtures are
rated for a minimum of 50,000 hours of life, with less
than 10% degradation.
Presently, residential electric rates across FirstEnergy
territories in Ohio average approximately 12¢ per kWh.
For 50,000 hours of light, this translates into $42,558 for
equivalent incandescent bulbs as opposed to $4,255 for
the LED’s Mike installed. Thus, the savings would be
about $38,300 over 50,000 hours of usage. You may
read more about this on our website,
www.BrakeyEnergy.com.
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