1. Enron's motion to file its comments on the Workshop Report one day out of time should be granted.
2. This decision does not specifically adopt the DAIP because the revisions to the proposed direct access tariffs would alter the wording of the DAIP as well.
3. The Commission should analyze each of the proposed tariffs, and decide which of the tariff provisions should be adopted, rather than revising the wording of the DAIP.
4. Some existing system constraints limit the ability of the UDCs to comply with all of the direct access rules.
5. Due to these constraints, the UDCs should be allowed to use differing tariffs on a limited basis.
6. Any customer who returns to default UDC service during the transition period will be returned to the customer's previous rate schedule at the frozen rate level.
7. The imposition of an interim fee for discretionary services ("competitive services"), and the booking of non-discretionary services ("non-competitive services") to a memorandum account is not unlawful.
8. The rate freeze provision of AB 1890 does not prevent the recovery of costs to accommodate the implementation of direct access.
9. The issue of whether non-discretionary services should be permitted to be recovered under PU Code Section 376 will be deferred until the Commission examines the costs of providing those kinds of services.
10. The UDCs should be permitted to charge for discretionary services on an interim basis, and to book the interim fees and incremental costs to a one-way memorandum account.
11. Permitting the UDCs to collect interim fees for discretionary services should not be construed as a decision on the merits of the October 1, 1997 filings of SDG&E and Edison, nor as approval of the fees charged by the UDCs for discretionary services.
12. The proposal to book the incremental costs of the non-discretionary services to a memorandum account, and then seek to recover the amount from the customer in the future presents a retroactive billing issue.
13. The UDCs should be permitted to book the incremental costs of non-discretionary services to a memorandum account pending a Commission decision regarding the appropriateness of such costs and possible recovery under PU Code Section 376.
14. If the non-discretionary fees are approved, the Commission should consider waiving the DASR switching charge in certain situations.
15. The fees for discretionary services that are contained in the rate schedules in Table 1 are approved for use on an interim basis.
16. The rate elements for non-discretionary services that are reflected in the rate schedules shown in Table 1 will be examined in a future proceeding.
17. Although the Preferred Policy Decision stated that direct access customers must sign an agreement to pay their share of the transition costs, PU Code Section 370 should control.
18. Since the Commission imposed fee pursuant to PU Code Sections 401, 404, and 431 is to be collected from the utility's subscribers and customers, the UDC should bill the ESPs for this fee.
19. The Commission should not be the body to decide whether the UDC or an ESP should be shielded from liability.
20. The Commission should adopt the compliance testing tariff wording on an interim basis.
21. The standards for compliance testing shall be reasonable, completed in a timely manner, and shall not be used by the UDCs in an anti-competitive fashion to restrict the entry of any competitors.
22. Processing the DASRs shall be by electronic means, although each UDC shall have the discretion to decide whether the ESPs can submit their DASRs in some other format as well.
23. The DASR forms of PG&E and Edison, as shown in the October 1, 1997 filings, are approved for use on an interim basis.
24. Due to the existing statutory protections, additional cancellation rights for residential and small commercial customers are not needed.
25. The ESP shall ensure that the requests of small business and residential customers to cancel service in accordance with PU Code Section 395 are honored.
26. Failure to honor a cancellation under PU Code Section 395 could be considered an unauthorized transfer of the customer.
27. Allowing a larger customer the right to cancel a DASR would defeat the purpose of having the ESP and the customer enter into a contract for direct access.
28. Before a DASR can be submitted by an ESP on behalf of a residential or small commercial customer, the independent verification pursuant to PU Code Section 366.5 has to occur.
29. If an interval meter cannot record in 15-minute intervals, hourly data with reporting in a 15-minute interval format will be permitted.
30. The tariff provisions in Sections H and M of Appendix A that relate to issues addressed in the metering and data communications standards workshop will be adopted on an interim basis.
31. The inability to offer bill-ready billing is a constraint.
32. PG&E shall be permitted to deviate from the bill-ready tariff provision, from the payment and collection terms under consolidated UDC billing, and from the late or partial payment provisions in Section P.(1) of Appendix A.
33. A DASR request to transfer a service account back to bundled UDC service because of non-payment should not be given a priority if there is a DASR processing backlog.
34. The Commission has reviewed and considered the differences between the proposed direct access tariffs, and should adopt the tariff provisions shown in Appendix A.
35. The Commission should not adopt the language of Section 1.3 of the service agreements that have been proposed by the UDCs because such a clause could cause the entire electric restructuring endeavor to come to a halt if subsequent events diminish the UDCs' ability to recover certain costs.
36. It is against the public's interest to adopt Section 1.3 as proposed by the UDCs in their service agreements.
37. The Commission's assertion of initial jurisdiction is proper because the subject matter of these disputes concern the direct access tariffs and other related tariff provisions.
38. When an administrative remedy is provided for by statute, relief must be sought from the administrative body.
39. In order to reduce the number of ESP and UDC disputes, the Commission should impose a meet-and-confer obligation as part of the ESP service agreement.
40. The Commission lacks jurisdiction over the operations of the ESP.
41. PG&E shall be permitted to deviate from the method in which billing data can be transferred.
42. The Commission should adopt the UDCs' position on who can conduct the audits, and the Alliance's proposal for the interest rate to be applied.
43. The Commission has reviewed and considered the differences between the proposed service agreements, and should adopt the service agreement shown in Appendix B.
44. Should there be a delay in excess of 30 days to process a DASR, any interested party may file a motion to appoint a third-party auditor to examine a UDC's system capabilities.
45. A review of AB 1890 and other pertinent code sections does not indicate any legislative intent to exempt BART from the applicable direct access rules.
46. The Legislature knew of the existence of PU Code Section 701.8 when AB 1890 was enacted.
47. Unless this decision provides otherwise, the direct access tariffs shown in Appendix A should be adopted by PG&E, SDG&E, and Edison.
48. The proposed change to the calculation of net revenue in Rule 15 should be deferred to R.92-03-050.
49. The issue of whether the small electric utilities should have to pay for a share of the public purpose programs is more properly addressed by way of a petition for modification of D.97-02-014.
50. The Commission should approve on an interim basis the tariffs, rate schedules, and service agreements that were attached to the respective DAIP filings of PacifiCorp, Sierra Pacific, and SCWC.
IT IS ORDERED that:
1. The Energy Division shall file the "Direct Access Pro Forma Tariffs And Service Agreements Workshop Report" (Workshop Report) with the Docket Office. The Docket Office is directed to file the Workshop Report as of the date the Energy Division submits it for filing.
2. Enron's September 17, 1997 motion for leave to file its comments to the Workshop Report one day out of time is granted. The Docket Office is directed to file the comments that were attached to Enron's motion as of September 17, 1997.
3. Appendix A and Appendix B are approved as the primary direct access tariff and electric service provider (ESP) service agreement, respectively, and shall be effective immediately. Unless permission to deviate from a tariff provision in Appendix A or from a specific provision in Appendix B has been granted in this decision, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) and Southern California Edison Company (Edison) shall adopt Appendix A and Appendix B for their direct access service offerings.
a. The proposed changes and additions to the preliminary statements and other tariff rules, as filed by PG&E, SDG&E and Edison on July 15, 1997, and as amended in subsequent filings, are approved to the extent that they are consistent with our discussion in this decision and with Appendix A and B. To the extent inconsistent provisions appear in these preliminary statements or in the other tariff rules, the utilities are directed to conform those provisions to this decision or to delete those provisions. The consistent provisions shall be effective immediately.
b. The rate elements for discretionary services that appear in the rate schedules listed in Table 1 are approved on an interim basis, and shall take effect immediately.
c. The elements making up the direct access service request (DASR) as shown in the October 1, 1997 filings of PG&E and Edison are approved on an interim basis, and shall take effect immediately.
(1) SDG&E may use the DASR form of PG&E or Edison, or it may file a motion to adopt its own DASR form.
d. To the extent that Edison's "Catalog of Customer Choices" and its "Directory of Products and Services for the Electric Service Provider," filed on October 1, 1997, are consistent with the discussion in this decision and with Appendix A and B, those two items are approved on an interim basis, and shall be effective immediately. Any provisions in those two items that are inconsistent with this decision shall be deleted, or conformed to this decision.
a. PG&E, SDG&E, and Edison are directed to make an advice letter filing which conforms all of the above-mentioned tariff provisions, tariff attachments, and rate schedules to this decision.
(1) The advice letter shall be filed with the Energy Division within 30 days from today's date.
(2) Protests to the advice letter shall be filed with the Energy Division within 20 days of the filing of the advice letter.
(3) The effective date of the advice letter shall be the 40th day after the filing of the advice letter unless the Commission acts upon the advice letter filing.
4. To the extent PG&E, SDG&E, or Edison has been allowed to deviate from the tariff requirements of Appendix A or from the provisions in Appendix B, PG&E, SDG&E, or Edison shall abide by the conditions set forth in the decision permitting such deviation, and shall adhere to any deadlines specified in this decision for terminating such deviations.
5. The tariffs, rate schedules, and service agreements that were attached to the respective direct access implementation plan filings of PacifiCorp, Sierra Pacific Power Company (Sierra Pacific), and Southern California Water Company (SCWC) are approved on an interim basis, and shall be effective immediately.
a. Once the Commission has issued decisions with respect to their transition plan applications, PacifiCorp, Sierra Pacific, and SCWC shall make their advice letter filings which conform their respective direct access tariffs, related rate schedules, other affected provisions, and service agreements to this decision, and the decision on their transition plan.
b. Should system or personnel or other limitations prevent any of these utilities from conforming their tariffs to this decision, the advice letter filing shall note the differences and the reasons for such non-conformance.
c. The advice letter shall be filed with the Energy Division within 45 days from the effective date of the decision on the utility's respective transition plan application.
d. Protests to the advice letter shall be filed with the Energy Division within 20 days of the filing of the advice letter.
e. The effective date of the advice letter shall be the 90th day after the filing of the advice letter unless the Commission acts upon the advice letter filing.
6. The six utilities are permitted to begin accepting DASRs starting on November 1, 1997, and they shall be required to begin accepting DASRs no later than November 9, 1997.
7. The six utilities named above are authorized to collect the interim fees for discretionary metering and billing services that are shown in their respective rate schedules, subject to refund in a Commission decision regarding the appropriateness of such fees.
a. The utilities shall book the interim fees and the incremental costs to a one-way memorandum account.
b. Should additional memorandum subaccounts be needed, the utility shall file with the Energy Division, within 21 days of the effective date of this decision, an advice letter requesting the establishment of such subaccounts. Interested parties will have 20 days in which to protest the advice letter filing.
8. The six utilities are authorized to book the incremental costs of providing non-discretionary services to a memorandum account pending a Commission decision regarding the appropriateness of such costs and possible recovery under Public Utilities Code Section 376.
a. Should additional memorandum subaccounts be needed, the utility shall file within 21 days of the effective date of this decision an advice letter requesting the establishment of such subaccounts. Interested parties shall have 20 days in which to protest the advice letter filing.
9. Within 90 days from today, a decision or a ruling will issue which will state where the issues regarding the fees and charges for discretionary and non-discretionary services will be addressed.
1. All six of the above-named utilities shall inform all new customers who have contacted the utility to initiate the process of obtaining electric service of the following: the customer's ability to choose an electric provider, that a customer information packet explaining this choice is available to the customer, and that the Electric Education Call Center may be called if the customer has any questions regarding direct access.
a. The six utilities shall prepare a uniform, written script that the utility's customer service representatives can use to inform customers about their right to choose an electric provider.
b. The script shall be submitted to the Energy Division by each of the utilities within 21 days from today's date.
c. The Energy Division is directed to review such scripts to ensure that this message is unbiased.
11. The Energy Division shall convene a meeting within 90 days from today to solicit persons who are interested in serving on the Rule 22 Tariff Review Group. It is the Commission's intent to establish a new proceeding to address possible changes to the direct access rules and tariffs. Once that proceeding is opened:
a. This group shall file a report with the group's recommendations at least once every six months.
b. PG&E, SDG&E and Edison shall undertake the administrative responsibility of copying, filing and serving the report (or a notice of availability of such report) on the service list. Comments to such reports may be filed with the Docket Office within 25 days from the date of service.
c.
This group shall terminate on December 31, 1999 unless extended by a Commission order.
This order is effective today.
Dated October 30, 1997, at San Francisco, California.
P. GREGORY CONLON
President
JESSIE J. KNIGHT, JR.
HENRY M. DUQUE
JOSIAH L. NEEPER
RICHARD A. BILAS
Commissioners
TABLE OF CONTENTS
OPINION REGARDING DIRECT ACCESS IMPLEMENTATION PLANS AND RELATED TARIFFS 2
I. Summary 2
II. Background 3
III. Direct Access Implementation Plans, Tariffs And Service Agreements 6
IV. Workshop Report 7
A. Introduction 7
B. Direct Access Service Election Process 7
C. Billing 9
D. Credit And Collections 11
E. Metering 12
F. Procedures For Aggregation 14
G. Service Fees 14
V. Proposed Tariffs And Service Agreements 15
A. Introduction 15
B. PG&E, SDG&E and Edison 16
1. Introduction 16
2. Preface To Rule 22 17
3. Customer Service Elections 17
4. General Terms 18
5. Customer Inquiries And Data Accessibility 32
6. ESP Service Establishment 34
7. Direct Access Service Request 35
8. Independent Verification 43
9. Metering Services 43
10. UDC Meter Service Options And Obligations 44
11. Meter Reading Data Obligations 44
12. Billing Service Options And Obligations 44
13. Payment And Collection Terms 50
14. Late Or Partial Payments And Unpaid Bills 51
15. Involuntary Service Changes 52
16. Service Disconnections And Reconnections 52
17. Credit Requirements 53
18. ESP Service Agreement 53
a) Introduction 53
b) Effect Of Possible Legislative And Regulatory Changes 54
c) Inclusion Of Other Charges On The Bill 55
d) Limitation Of Liability 55
e) Dispute Resolution 55
f) Billing Options 59
g) Audits 60
19. Other Issues 61
a) Third-Party Auditor 61
b) BART Issue 62
c) Line Extension Tariffs 64
20. Related Tariffs 65
C. PacifiCorp, Sierra Pacific And SCWC 67
D. Rule 22 Tariff Review Group 69
Findings of Fact 70
Conclusions of Law 75
ORDER 79
Appendix A
Appendix B
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