D0909029 Establishing Commission Processes for Review of Projects and Investments by Investor-Owned Utilities Seeking Recovery Act Funding

3. Reporting Requirements

As noted above, on May 29, 2009, the ACR proposed reporting requirements concerning applications to the DOE for Smart Grid funding. Specifically, the ACR stated:

For the IOUs, this proceeding will consider a reporting requirement consisting of the following:

· An IOU should submit a notice to the Commission's Energy Division and the service list in this proceeding when an application for funding has been submitted to the DOE. The notice should include: the application submitted to the DOE or a link to the application on a publicly accessible utility or government website; a brief, one-page summary of the project or activity; the amount of federal funding being sought; estimated jobs created; amount and source of matching funding; partners involved in the project; and identification of any other type of federal or other funding being sought for the same activity;

· An IOU should submit a further notice to the Commission's Energy Division and the service list in this proceeding when DOE awards funding for an activity or informs the IOU that the activity will not receive a DOE award;

· For projects or activities receiving a DOE award, an IOU should submit quarterly notices to the Commission's Energy Division describing in detail the status of all federally funded projects or activities until such time as the project or activity is complete; and

· To the extent DOE requires an IOU to prepare and submit studies, evaluation, or other reports on Recovery Act-funded activities, the IOU should provide copies of the same reports to the Commission's Energy Division.

For entities other than the IOUs that apply for Recovery Act Smart Grid funding, voluntary reporting to the Commission's Energy Division, and in the case of the publicly-owned utilities, voluntary reporting to the California Energy Commission (CEC) appears as a reasonable approach to acquiring the information needed. Voluntary reports could provide the same type of information that is required of the IOUs.²²

In addition, the ACR invited comment on whether the Commission should "post the notices and reports provided by parties on a publicly accessible website" in order to promote disclosure and transparency.²³ The ACR also invited parties to propose "alternative reporting requirements."²⁴

3.1. Positions of Parties

In general, parties did not discuss the proposed reporting requirements at great length, but instead either voiced no objection or support for the proposed reporting requirements.

PG&E states that it believes "the ACR's reporting proposals for DOE-funded Smart Grid projects are reasonable."²⁵ PG&E asks, however, that "the Commission clarify that it is willing to accept already-existing reports on DOE-funded projects that provide the same or similar information to that requested by the Commission."²⁶

SDG&E provides comments concerning the proposed requirement of quarterly notices to the Commission's Energy Division. SDG&E argues that:

... this reporting requirement would be duplicative of current DOE reporting requirements in this area. Specifically, SDG&E notes that the DOE regulation already impose stringent reporting requirements on project status - which are by default public reports.²⁷

SDG&E concludes that "it is likely that copies of the DOE reports will adequately provide Commission staff the information needed for keeping the Governor apprised of information on any federally funded project."²⁸

CLECA supports the proposed reporting comments, stating:

... such reporting is a minimum necessary requirement for utilities seeking federal funding, but [CLECA] questions whether this will prove sufficient to enable Commission oversight. CLECA also heartily concurs that this information should be made public.²⁹

TURN reports that it "agrees with the proposal to require IOUs and other utilities to submit regular reports to the Commission and the public concerning its proposals under the Smart Grid funding opportunities contained in the A.R.R.A. [Recovery Act]."³⁰

DRA's comments do not state a position supporting or opposing reporting requirements, but DRA does ask that a copy of any information submitted to the Commission be provided to DRA. Specifically, DRA states:

DRA requests that the scoping ruling require the IOUs to provide DRA a copy of all such information at the time of submission, including confidential information. DRA further requests that to the extent the utility's application to DOE contains confidential information, such as vendor pricing information in response to an IOU Request for Offer (RFO), the public version of the application be available on the IOUs' websites.³¹

In reply, SCE states that although it has no objection to providing public information to DRA, "to the extent an IOU includes confidential data in its application to DOE, the Commission should not require the IOU to automatically provide the data to DRA, simply because it will also be submitted to the Commission."³² Similarly, citing safety and security provisions, SDG&E argues that "there is little benefit and significant potential detriment to forcing the utilities to provide DRA with sensitive application information and that the request is incompatible with the other Smart Grid cybersecurity functions each utility must perform."³³

3.2. Discussion

The proposed reporting requirements are reasonable. The first two reporting requirements only serve to provide notice to the Commission and to the service list of an IOU's action to seek DOE funding for Smart Grid projects and the results of those efforts. These requirements are clearly necessary and helpful to the Commission in its planning and exercise of regulatory oversight of utility operation.

The third reporting requirement - requiring quarterly updates concerning funded projects - is also reasonable. SDG&E points out that this requirement duplicates Federal oversight reporting requirements, which it describes as "stringent."³⁴ Similarly, PG&E also asks that the Commission clarify its willingness to accept "already existing reports on DOE funded projects..."³⁵ There is no reason for the Commission either to duplicate or to require the submission of identical information in a slightly different format. Instead, the Commission will simply require the submission to the Commission of copies of the quarterly status reports submitted to DOE.

The last proposed reporting requirement - the submission of copies of "studies, evaluation, or other reports on Recovery Act-funded activities" required by the DOE to this Commission - is reasonable.

Concerning the Commission's inquiry about the advisability of posting information on the public Internet, SDG&E points out that the reports submitted to the DOE are "by default public."³⁶ CLECA, as noted above, "concurs that this information should be made public."³⁷ Similarly, DRA also supports that the "public version of the application be available on the IOUs' websites."³⁸

Based on this information, we will require that IOUs file and serve in this proceeding copies of all publicly available information provided by an applicant to DOE for Smart Grid funding in this proceeding. This action will ensure the availability of this information on the Commission's website.

Finally, DRA's request that the IOUs provide a copy of materials directly to DRA at the same time they provide the materials to Energy Division is reasonable. DRA's access to information is consistent with the public interest, and DRA is covered by statutes that require DRA to protect confidential information.

In light of security concerns, the appropriate policy is for IOUs to serve any non-confidential information associated with a Smart Grid project on DRA and other parties. The IOUs shall also furnish confidential and security-related information to Energy Division and DRA at the same time the information is provided to DOE.

Based on the discussion above, the Commission will impose reporting requirements on IOU applicants for DOE Smart Grid funding as follows:

· An IOU should file electronically and serve a notice in this proceeding when an application for funding of a Smart Grid-related action has been submitted to the DOE. The notice should include: the application submitted to the DOE; a brief, one-page summary of the project or activity; the amount of federal funding being sought; estimated jobs created; amount and source of matching funding; partners involved in the project; and identification of any other type of federal or other funding being sought for the same activity. Confidential and security-related information in the application shall be supplied to Energy Division and DRA when an application is submitted to DOE. Such information should be provided to other interested parties only under appropriate non-disclosure agreements;

· An IOU should file electronically and serve a further notice in this proceeding when DOE awards funding for a Smart Grid activity or informs the IOU that the activity will not receive a DOE award. The notice should contain all publicly available information contained in the DOE award;

· For Smart Grid projects or activities receiving a DOE award, an IOU should file electronically and serve quarterly notices in this proceeding describing in detail the status of all federally funded projects or activities until such time as the project or activity is complete; and

· To the extent DOE requires an IOU to prepare and submit studies, evaluation, or other reports on Smart Grid Activities fund by the Recovery Act, the IOU should file electronically and serve copies of the same reports in this proceeding. All confidential and non-confidential portions of reports should be provided to DRA automatically. Confidential and security-related information in reports should be supplied to other interested parties under appropriate non-disclosure agreements and subject to any other measures deemed appropriate by this Commission.

Because all non-confidential information pertaining to Smart Grid projects developed pursuant to the Recovery Act will be filed electronically and served in this proceeding, the information will be available on the Commission's website.