NEV Response to UDC Request for Support of Amendment to Pet. Mod.

The following is addressed to the request of Southern California Edison,
Pacific Gas & Electric, and San Diego Gas and Electric (collectively
"petitioners") for support from the participants of the Rule 22 Review
Group for an Amendment to the Petition to Modify of Decision 97-10-087,
filed on February 9, 1998.  

The petitioners requested support for the following amendment to their
original Petition for Modification.  The amendment would grant UDCs the
authority to cancel the DASR of any customer who believes it was
submitted in error or without authorization or, not in accordance with
the third party verification and/or 3 day waiting period requirement.
The amendment would also include language that explicitly restricts the
UDCs from initiating contact to verify the customer authorized the DASR.


NEV does not support the petitioner's request for the authority to
cancel the DASR of a customer, large or small, who believes it was
submitted in error or without authorization or, not in accordance with
the third party verification and/or 3 day waiting period requirement.
However, NEV would support the petitioner's request if the amendment
included a complaint verification process.  NEV proposes the following
alternative to the petitioner's request.  

UDCs could cancel a DASR, if the customer notifies the UDC that the DASR
was not authorized, provided the UDC contacts the ESP and allows three
working days for the ESP to provide verification that the customer
authorized the DASR.  The verification process can not be optional for
the UDC.  It should be noted that this alternative would include all
customers.  

A verification process ensures that ESPs are not automatically assumed
to be guilty of having "slammed" a customer that notifies the UDC of an
unauthorized DASR.  Further, it significantly reduces the financial risk
an ESP would be exposed to in the event that the UDC cancels a DASR
without notifying the ESP.  This is particularly true in the case of
large commercial and industrial customers.  The ESP is actively working
during the DASR process to begin power deliveries to the customer on the
effective date of the switch.  In preparing to provide electric service
the ESP must identify how to meet the load of the particular customer.
The ESPs supply strategy may require the ESP to take a position in the
market or execute a contractual agreement with a supplier.  Given that
the ESP will likely be making commitments in the market on the
customer's behalf, it is unacceptable for the utility to have authority
to reverse a DASR without first contacting the ESP to determine which
party is in error.  
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