5. Process to Implement New DA Enrollments

5.1. Parties' Positions

The Joint Parties presented a detailed proposal for a utility enrollment process during the phase-in period that is set forth in Appendix 2 of this decision. SCE joined in the Joint Party proposal. The Joint Party proposal calls for an initial open enrollment period going through June 30, 2010, with a temporary one-time waiver of the 6-month advance notice requirement and one-time waiver of the bundled service commitment under Rule 22.1. The details of the proposal for the receipt, review, and approval of customer requests to switch to DA service under SB 695 are set forth in detail in Appendix 2 of this decision.

PG&E presented its own separate proposal for enrollments. Every customer would be required to submit a notice to their IOU that they want to switch to DA service. Upon acceptance of a customer notice to switch to DA service, PG&E will provide instructions for DASR submittal in a confirmation letter. If a valid DASR is submitted during the DASR window indicated in the customer confirmation letter, the customer will switch on the date indicated. If no DASR is received by the close of the DASR window, the account will be placed on Transitional Bundled Service or "safe harbor" status. That means it will be billed on the Transitional Bundled Commodity Cost (TBCC) rates and given an additional 60 days in which to submit a valid DASR. If no DASR is submitted during this additional 60-day period, the customer notice is cancelled, the account continues on the TBCC rates for an additional six months, and then the account is committed to bundled portfolio service for a three-year period. In addition to following the existing switching rules, this would also discourage speculative submittals of customer notices, and allow customers who are serious about switching to DA service the ability to do so without the impediment of over-subscription of available load under the cap by more speculative participants.

SDG&E also presented its own proposal (as Attachment A of its February 1, 2010 Reply Comments) as to the processing protocols for enrolling customers under the provisions of the SB 695 cap. SDG&E's proposed approach is similar to the approaches proposed by SCE and CACES/AReM. SDG&E's process calls for the customer to submit a notice of intent (NOI) within the designated open enrollment period, subject to a daily batching process. SDG&E would apply a "soft cap," not to exceed 10% of the annual cap, in evaluating whether a request was to be approved. Customers would be notified within 20 calendar days as to whether their NOI was accepted. DASRs would be processed in accordance with SDG&E's Rule 25.

DACC points to the customer application and tracking process adopted for the California Solar Initiative as an example to follow for administering the DA allocations. As proposed by DACC, a customer interested in transferring load to DA service would submit a "Customer-Originated Direct Access Service Request" (CODASR) to its local IOU(s). Each CODASR would correspond to a customer utility service identification (ID) account number, covering the entire load served through that ID, as measured by the preceding 12-month billing period. Customers submitting completed CODASRs would be allocated priority rights to the available DA capacity on a first-come, first-served basis. The customer would have 30 calendar days to complete negotiations with a supplier, and for the supplier to submit a traditional DASR for the customer. If no DASR was submitted on behalf of a customer within the 30-day period, the rights to the available DA capacity previously allocated to that customer would be allocated to the customer with the next lower priority of rights.

5.2. Discussion

We shall adopt an enrollment process for customers to sign up for direct access subject to the revised SB 695 limits under the provisions adopted in this decision, as set forth in Appendix 2 of this decision.

The adopted process incorporates the four-year phase-in discussed above. It also incorporates a uniform treatment of all qualifying customers, without a separate set-aside or preferential treatment of existing DA-eligible customers. We address this issue further in Section 6. We also adopt a two-day window for customers to correct NOI deficiencies. The two-day limit will facilitate timely processing of daily NOI batches.

In comments to the proposed decision, the Joint Parties argued that each IOU should be authorized to maintain a limited wait-list during the OEW to back-fill any room under the first-year allocation occupied by NOIs that are submitted but ultimately voided for failure to submit a DASR or correct a deficiency. We find this proposal to be reasonable, and shall incorporate a wait-list process into the adopted procedure set forth in Appendix 2.

The utilities shall begin placing submitted NOIs on an OEW wait-list on a first-come, first-served basis when or if the Year 1 allocation becomes fully subscribed during the OEW. There will be no wait-list after the OEW closes. The OEW shall be filled up to 25% of the Year 1 allocation. The IOU shall notify the customer that they are on the wait-list within 20 days after submission of the customer's NOI. Notifications to customers that they are eligible to come off the wait-list (on a first-come, first-served basis) shall be made by email within one business day of the utility's determination that space is available under the Year 1 allocation. All such notices shall be made no later than June 29, 2010, the last day of the OEW. The submission and processing schedule, as set forth in Appendix 2 shall apply.

Each IOU shall be required to indicate on its public website whether notices of intent to switch to DA service are being accepted, and to update this information regularly. This information should be sufficient to inform customers and ESPs whether there is room under the annual limits during the phase-in period or the overall cap after the phase-in. Each IOU shall notify all DA-eligible customers of their opportunity to obtain generation service from another provider of the Effective Date. Each IOU shall provide a link to the new DA provisions on their respective web sites and shall also provide additional notification via bill inserts and onserts. ESPs shall notify their customers of their procurement-related obligations.