Update:  On October 23, 2013, the Commission issued an Entry addressing the assignments of error set forth by DP&L and FirstEnergy Solutions (FES) relating to the first auction in which DP&L is required to participate.  The Commission acknowledged in the Entry that it granted DP&L’s motion for an extension to file memoranda contra parties’ applications for rehearing and set the deadline for October 31, 2013, but further noted that DP&L is required to conduct an auction by November 1, 2013.  The Commission noted that it therefore must address issues relating to the auction prior to the October 31 deadline.

The Commission denied DP&L’s fifth assignment of error, which challenged the Commission’s order that requires DP&L to include the load associated with reasonable arrangement customers in the competitive bidding process.  The Commission found that requiring the load to be bid into the market does not change the contract between DP&L and the special arrangement customer; the only thing that changes is that a portion of the generation service will come from the wholesale market.  The Commission also found that there may be a greater decrease in delta revenue if the load is bid into the auctions.

The Commission denied FES’s sixth assignment of error, which claimed that it was unlawful for the Commission to authorize DP&L to participate in auctions through affiliates and subsidiaries while receiving a generation subsidy through the service stability rider (SSR).  The Commission found that FES failed to raise any new issues because the Commission has already ordered that all SSR revenues must remain with DP&L and that DP&L may not provide any competitive advantage to any affiliate or subsidiary participating in the CBP auctions.  The Commission noted that FES and the Duke affiliates were not precluded from participating in the auction in recent Commission decisions.

The Commission ultimately found that by November 1, 2013, DP&L is required to conduct the auction for 10 tranches of a 41-month product commencing on January 1, 2014.

The Commission also granted the applications for rehearing of OPAE/Edgemont, OCC, IEU-Ohio, OHA, OEG and Kroger for further consideration.  The remaining assignments of error in DP&L’s and FES’s applications for rehearing were also granted for further consideration, and will be addressed in a subsequent entry on rehearing.