PSWG-MDMA Meeting Notes 4-14-98

The MDMA Group of the PSWG met on April 14, 1998 at SoCalGas's offices in
Los Angeles. The meeting was facilitated by Chris King.

Attendees:
Joann Allen, SCG
Paul Aubin, Nertec
Dan Barber, PG&E
Bill Buckley, Itron
Duncan Cano, PG&E
Cathy Chang, SCG
Pymm Chartrand, GE
Thomas Chen, eT Comms.
Gary Ciardella, PG&E
Carolyn Clark, PG&E
Larry Colwell, SCE
Al Figueroa, SDG&E
Jeff Francetic, L&G
Mike Jaske, CEC
Chris King, CellNet
Teri Kuniyuki, LADWP
Jerry Larson, SCE
Mike Lehman, PG&E
David Malane, SCG
Anthony Mazy, ORA
Ed McCann, SDG&E
Paul Nelson, SCE
Lenlia Nichols, SCG
Ron Pate, ABB
Jamie Patterson, CEC
Jim Price, ORA
Ed Quiroz, ORA
George Roberts, Schlumberger
Sherman Severin, Coopers&Lybrand
Greg Sheran, SCE
Rick Silva, Tecom
Lee Simmons, Enron
Kathy Smith, ABB
Kirsten Stacey, PG&E
David Sweeney, LADWP
Amos Tsikayi, FirstPoint

Agenda Items:

1. CPUC Perspective - Chris King reported briefly on a meeting he had with
Bob Lane. Bob suggested that the PSWG ought to look at the interim
standards from D.97-12-048 and assume they are the starting point. The PSWG
should identify any problems with the interim standards and recommend
solutions, but, to the extent the interim standards are working okay, they
could be left alone. 

2. EDI - Jim Price reported that additional states are adopting the use of
EDI, including NH. States using or planning to use EDI appear to include
NH, MA, NJ, PA, AZ, and NY. The group identified the following issues
regarding a change from use of CMEP to EDI: cost and cost recovery, timing,
testing of EDI over the Internet, coordination with the CPUC's gas
proceeding, any period of coexistence during which both standards would be
acceptable, and the ISO's use of a different standard. There appeared to be
consensus that EDI should be adopted, subject to addressing these issues,
but no vote was taken. Also, Chris said anyone who was interested could
subscribe to the EDI standards group e-mail list by sending an e-mail to
listproc@pge.com with the following words in the body of the e-mail:
SUBSCRIBE UIGLIST <FirstName> <LastName>

ACTION: Jim will lead a subgroup to develop a SPECIFIC PROPOSAL BY 4/21 on
which the group can vote. The proposal should address at least the specific
EDI format proposed, timing, coexistence, and testing. Members of the
subgroup are Duncan Cano, Larry Colwell, Lee Simmons, Cathy Chang, and Ed
McCann. Also, Mike Jaske will report back to the group by 5/1 on WHAT THE
ISO IS DOING and how the PSWG might encourage the ISO to adopt EDI as well.
Finally, Jim will solicit input from the full group on comments to the
draft EDI standards for meter data exchange and will SUBMIT A LETTER TO THE
UIG COMMITTEE working on the EDI standards.

3. VEE - Kathy Smith is leading an effort to clarify interval and monthly
VEE rules.

ACTION: The next events are a conference call on 4/20, the MUG meeting --
to be focused on VEE issues -- on 4/27 at CellNet, and the Joint UDC-MDMA
meeting on 5/6. Kathy will report back to the PSWG-MDMA group at the next
meeting on 4/28.

4. Universal Meter ID. Jim Price proposed adopting the proposal for a
universal meter ID initially presented by CellNet in the RSIF working group
in fall 1997. Issues include whether the new ID numbers are to appear on
the bill (i.e. be used throughout the CIS system) and linkage to meter
history. 

ACTION: Chris King will update the written PROPOSAL, obtain comments from
the UDCs and others (Theresa Acuna, Dave Bernardo, George Roberts, Cathy
Chang, Sue Sponsel, and Kathy Smith) and circulate it to the group prior to
the next meeting.

5. MDMA Certification. The group discussed whether Meter Readers (MR)
should be certified or approved separately from Meter Data Managers (MDM)
and agreed that, for now, the system is working and the two functions
should continue to be certified together. However, in the report, the group
will suggest that this is an issue that could be revisited in the future. 

ACTION: Chris King will provide report language.

6. MDMA Standards. The group discussed the following interim standards, and
proposed new standards, and agreed on actions as follows:

a. Timeliness: the interim standards appear okay but should be reviewed
subject to the ISO's settlement timetable (Mike Jaske to report by 5/1) and
actual settlement experience. The group will revisit Timeliness in May.

b. VEE: the interim standards need some minor changes as well as some
clarifications; again market experience will be useful. Kathy Smith will
propose specific changes by 6/1, including input gathered at MUG and
UDC-MDMA meetings and conference calls (see above).

c. Estimated Data: the group will discuss this standard after looking at
the start-up experience; also, this standard may have to be changed if
timeliness deadlines are shortened. Larry Colwell and Lee Simmons will
report back to the group by the next meeting on start-up issues, if any.

d. MR and MDM Training. The group agreed that the interim standard is
working and no changes should be recommended, though it would be
appropriate to review this again in the future.

e. Documentation Requirements. The group agreed that the interim standard
is working and no changes should be recommended, though it would be
appropriate to review this again in the future. As for monitoring or
auditing of compliance with documentation requirements, the group agreed to
defer to the activities of the DQI Working Group.

f. Disaster Recovery Plans. The group agreed that the interim standard is
working and no changes should be recommended, though it would be
appropriate to review this again in the future. As for monitoring or
auditing of compliance with disaster plan requirements, such as periodic
testing, the group agreed to defer to the activities of the DQI Working Group.

g. MDMA Server Availability. The CPUC referenced but did not explicitly
adopt interm standards for this, except for the requirement that data be
available on the server for three days. The other two items are overall
availablility (no more than four hours scheduled down time per month) and
data transfer capability (ability to transfer all data within two hours).
The group agreed that these should be clarified as requirements, but
decided not to discuss the specific requirements until after May 1 and some
market experience has been observed.

h. Archiving. The group agreed that the interim standard of archiving for
36 months is working and no changes should be recommended, though it would
be appropriate to review this again in the future. 

i. Meter Reading Frequency. The group discussed the interim standard of
requiring reading at least once a month. Anthony Mazy will draft a proposal
regarding the possibility of requiring more frequent reads depending on the
amount of data stored in the meter.

ACTION: Chris King will draft language regarding the agreements on items d,
e, f, and h above for submittal to the next PSWG Plenary meeting for
approval by the plenary. The draft will be circulated and ratified at the
next subgroup meeting, on April 28.

6. New Business. A request was made to develop a requirement for a common
format for communicating the meter read schedule from the UDCs to ESPs and
MDMAs. Tom Lofgren will draft a proposal by 4/21. (Paul Nelson is not
responsible for this!)

A request was made to formalize the requirement for technical support (24
hours per day, response within 2 hours, deferral of non-urgent problems to
the next business day. Amos Tsikayi will draft the proposed language by 4/21.

A request was made to create a common format for communicating data
adjustments. This may be covered in the MUG, UDC-MDMA meetings, or the use
of EDI. Kathy Smith will monitor this.


7. Next Agenda, for April 28:
a. VEE Update
b. Review draft report outline
c. Review language for plenary documenting items agreed upon by the subgroup.
d. Review security issues (Ed Quiroz to propose)
e. Review Meter ID proposal.
f. Review EDI proposal.
g. New business.


Thank you.

Chris S. King
Vice President, CellNet Data Systems, Inc.








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