CONTACT: Dianne Dienstein October 9, 1997 CPUC - 108
415-703-2423 (R94-04-031)

HOW CUSTOMER INFORMATION CAN BE RELEASED TO CUSTOMERS

AND TO COMPETING ELECTRIC SERVICE PROVIDERS

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) today specified how customer electricity usage information can be made available both to utility customers and to energy service providers to facilitate development of California's competitive electricity market in 1998, and put safeguards into place to ensure confidential customer information is only released with customers' consent.

Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric currently have their own databases which contain for each customer confidential information such as: name, service address, mailing address, meter reading, usage, bill amounts, city taxes, meter number and account number. Each utility maintains at least a year's worth of billing data for a customer.

To enable customers to shop for alternative electricity service providers, both they and the company or companies wishing to serve them need some basic information about what their electricity use is. Information about a specific customer will be kept confidential unless that customer authorizes its release.

Release of Confidential Information at Customer Request

A utility customer can request from the utility distribution company for his or her own use, or authorize - in writing or by fax - release of his or her confidential customer-specific information to a specific energy service provider(s). Customer-specific information includes name, service and billing address, phone number, account number, historical metered electricity usage, voltage level of service, the utility tariff for that customer class, the load profile and basic metering information. A utility customer can request this information up to twice a year without charge.

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HOW CUSTOMER INFORMATION CAN BE RELEASED - 2

Release of Non-confidential Information

To facilitate entry of new electric service providers into the market and give them knowledge about electricity use similar to that utilities have, the Commission has ordered utilities to make Non-confidential Database Information for residential and commercial customers who use up to 500 kW/month available - with the identity of the customer removed - within the next 45 days.

In directing utilities to establish and release Non-confidential Database Information, the Commission seeks to balance the need for maintaining customer confidentiality with the need for making information about electricity usage available to the public to facilitate growth of a competitive electricity market. A year's worth of billing information from a Non-confidential Database would be released.

The information releasable would not include a customer's name or any way to link the information with an individual customer because:

• the data must be grouped into groups of no less than 15 customers with no one of those customers making up more than 15 percent of the load.
• residential customers would be grouped according to their five digit zip code, but if that would result in a group of less than 15, only the first four digits of the zip code would be used.
• business customers would similarly be grouped into groups of 15 and by the first three digits of the zip code and their two digit Standard Industrial Classification number. If there were less than 15 in a group, the group would be enlarged by dropping a digit from the zip code. If a customer used 15 percent or more of the load, it would be left out of the grouping to preserve its confidentiality.

The Commission has taken great care to develop a way for customers to receive their own usage information and to make it available to companies from which they may wish to purchase electricity. A utility is not liable for the release of confidential information if it has protected confidential information as the Commission requires but, despite having done that, someone manipulates the data to identify a specific customer.