A recent paper by Chris King asserted that
UDCs had advantages compared to other organizations and should
continue to own meters and control metering decisions. This paper
observes that the advantages ascribed to a UDC are the advantages
of a monopoly, and that a standalone INFOCO monopoly would have
equivalent or greater advantages.
From the perspective of metering, communication
systems, and bill processing, a UDC could be imagined to have
the same responsibilities as the current IOU. It would be a regulated
monopoly that provides all component services of the distribution
function. Chris King asserts that preserving these component services
for the UDC is the preferred option.
An INFOCO is a universal metering, data
collection, and potentially bill processing monopoly that exists
separate and distinct from a LINECO that provides electricity
distribution wires, substations, and maintains these physical
systems. INFOCO could be organized in a variety of ways, but extending
its services function into multiple energy and other commodities
would make the greatest sense. Thus, a single INFOCO could readily
address electricity, natural gas, and potable water. INFOCOs could
be imagined to have standalone communication systems to customer
premises or to use telecommunication systems already in place,
such as those for telephone service or for cable television.
The attached table compares the UDC and
INFOCO for various aspects of metering, data communication, and
bill processing. In general, an INFOCO is comparable to, or superior
to, an electricity UDC. Again, in general, the features where
an INFOCO is superior are those where costs of systems can be
reduced by providing similar functions for related commodities
and thus allocate fixed costs over a greater number of units.
| FUNCTION | Electricity UDC | INFOCO Monopoly |
| 1. Electricity Metering | ||
| a. Usage Measurement | standardized, bulk purchases drive down costs | equivalent to UDC |
| b. Recording Usage | whatever the standard (impulse accumulating register, half hourly digital recording), a standardized approach within the meter or external to it is cheaper | a multi-commodity monopoly would have advantages in recording consumption of additional commodities at minimum incremental cost |
| c. Meter Certification | large scale meter shops minimize certification and repair costs of operations | equivalent to UDC |
| d. Meter Inventory Management | large operations can facilitate inventory control | equivalent to UDC |
| 2. Communication Systems | ||
| a. Electricity Price Downloading | a communication system's costs would be cheapest per unit when allocated across all electric customers | multiple commodity price signals or additional information channels would further reduce costs compared to standalone electricity system |
| b. Usage Uploading | whether electronic communication or manual meter readers, universal coverage reduces costs per unit | would have advantages compared to electricity-only system in reducing costs compared to standalone electricity system |
| 3. Data Processing | ||
| a. Billing | since UDC has revenue requirements, it would logically bill customers for these; therefore, a combined bill for commodity usage, distribution services, and other public charges would reduce costs compared to standalone billing systems | (1) equivalent to UDC
(2) INFOCO could choose whether to bill consumers directly, or to provide data to service providers |
| b. Collection/Credit | IOU has several collection advantages by statute compared to standalone, competitive firm, but unclear whether these transfer to UDC | ambiguities are equivalent to UDC, but INFOCO likely to be granted greater privileges than private firms |
| c. Analyses | UDC can compare one customer to all others most readily, but no special motivation to be creative with data or responsive to customer inquiries | equivalent to UDC |