In short, this could be much ado about nothing.
As a former utility auditor, I know just a tiny bit more about utility audits than the average person. It’s such a complex topic that I do not claim to know much more.
A few things to consider from the new audit report of Atlantic City Electric Company:
- Social media and politicians seem to be pumping up citizens to expect meaningful refunds. That seems irresponsible, especially at this stage. There is no evidence to support that type of assertion. Unfortunately, we know that social media and politicians do not have to tell the truth.
- Only two of the findings have refund recommendations, and the bound is small.
- The little quantifiable information contained in audit report that is publicly available indicates that refunds will be small. I used an AI tool to extract the little numerical data in the report and extrapolate rough estimates across the customer base.
- The total identified errors are a fraction of 1% of total billings.
- The refund report is not part of the audit report. That will be calculated over coming months, and will surface publicly sometime in 2027.That’s just how this slow process moves.
- The best we can do with the available information is estimate the range of the possible refund. No matter what we assume as estimates, the possible refund is small.
- It is possible, perhaps even likely, that the average refund could work out to only a few dollars per customer. One estimate placed it under $1 per customer. In short, this could be much ado about nothing.
- There is no assurance that the refund will reach retail customers (home accounts) at all.
- The audit report is available online at https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/# to confirm any of these statements.
Aside from the audit report and surrounding discussion, I hope that our government officials are smart enough to see that the real affordability problem with electric power in South Jersey is not connected to the findings of this audit.
Author’s Disclosure: I was a former shareholder of Atlantic City Electric Company.