FRANKLIN—Franklin Power & Light customers can expect slightly lower bills in April, thanks to a one-time rollback in the fuel adjustment factor.

Power & Light Director Michael Stoneham said the city received a one-time credit of $133,027.66 on its February bill from the Virginia Municipal Electric Association as a result of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission audit of Dominion Virginia Power’s compliance with the calculation of the wholesale fuel adjustment clause charges.

The audit period was Jan. 1, 2005, through Oct. 31, 2009. Stoneham said an error on Dominion’s part was discovered during the audit.

“It was a miscalculation” by Dominion, he said. “It wasn’t like we were being gouged.”

He added that the amount overpaid because of the company’s mistake is “very small in the overall scheme of things,” noting the city paid tens of millions of dollars in electricity bills during the audit period.

Power & Light will refund the money to its retail customers through a one-time adjustment in the fuel factor for bills due on April 20. The fuel factor for April will be minus-$0.00634 per kilowatt hour, which is a net credit of $6.34 per 1,000 kilowatt hours of usage.

Stoneham said adjusting the fuel factor for April bills is the easiest and fastest way to get the money back to the customers. All FP&L customers will see the adjustment.

Franklin wasn’t alone in receiving the credit; other members of the VMEA and Dominion’s other wholesale customers were also affected.

Stoneham stressed that the refund is not related to refunds recently announced for Dominion Virginia Power customers.

“There is no connection between this refund and the recent announcement of Dominion’s refunds to their retail customers,” he said. “This is an adjustment in the wholesale fuel clause. It has nothing to do with retail rates.”