On Monday, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio embraced a proposal in Governor John Kasich’s first budgetto absorb the call-center functions of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel. The proposal does not directly save Ohio taxpayers money, but will result in over $25 million in assessments returned to utilities.
“The PUCO stands ready to assist Gov. Kasich in his efforts to streamline state government,” PUCO Chairman Todd Snitchler said in a press release Monday.
According to the Governor’s budget proposal released last week, the Ohio Consumers’ Council (OCC) will see a dramatic loss of funding in the next fiscal year, realizing a 51.3 percent cut that reduces the agency’s budget to $4.1 million. The Governor’s proposal states that the agency’s budget “is being strategically reduced to avoid redundancy with the mission of the Public Utilities Commission.”
Neither the PUCO nor the OCC are funded through taxpayer dollars directly; both are funded through fees assessed on investor-owned utilities. Monies that go unspent by OCC or PUCO are returned to the utilities.
The Governor’s proposal also reduces the budget for the PUCO; the PUCO would see its funding decrease by 5.5 percent in fiscal year 2012 and another 18.1 percent in fiscal year 2013.
Because those unspent funds are required to be returned to the utilities, Ohio utilities would see a return of over $25 million dollars for fiscal years 2012 and 2013
The OCC Call Center is staffed by OCC employees, with no plans to outsource the work.
Currently the PUCO Call Center has 33 employees who directly work for the PUCO. The call center handled 56,115 cases on behalf of utility customers in 2010, saving them a total of $637,092. In 2009, the call center worked 62,959 cases, saving customers $791,254. According to Matt Butler, spokesperson for the PUCO, there are no plans at this time to outsource the call center to a private company.
Butler says the agency will be able to absorb the OCC Call Center operations.
“The PUCO call center responds to a wide-variety of inquiries including disputes between consumers and utility companies, requests for energy assistance and payment plan arrangements, and questions about rules and regulations,” Butler said.
A spokeswoman for AEP-Ohio declined to comment on the Governor’s budget proposal for this story. A spokesperson for FirstEnergy did not respond to request for comment.
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