10. Assignment of Proceeding
Michael R. Peevey is the assigned Commissioner and Timothy J. Sullivan is the assigned ALJ in this proceeding.
1. The "Report on Consensus and Non-Consensus Smart Grid Metrics," which is Attachment A to the December 29, 2010 ALJ Ruling in this proceeding, contains 19 consensus metrics.
2. The 19 consensus metrics contained in the "Report on Consensus and Non-Consensus Smart Grid Metrics" serve as a reasonable basis on from which to develop Smart Grid Metrics because they cover the major areas of concern identified SB 17 (Chapter 327, Statutes of 2009).
3. The 19 consensus metrics and definitions, as amended for clarity and contained in Attachment A, are reasonable initial metrics for assessing progress in implementing a Smart Grid because tracking changes in these metrics will provide a measure of the extent of progress achieved by a utility.
4. The 19 consensus metrics will assist the Commission in preparing its annual report on the Smart Grid because they provide information needed to create this report.
5. The 19 consensus metrics are not relevant for measuring SoCalGas's deployment of its new metering infrastructure because this gas metering structure is technically very different from that deployed by electric corporations.
6. The initial scope of this proceeding did not apply to SoCalGas because it was limited to electrical corporations.
7. It is not reasonable to require that SoCalGas provide information to the Commission pursuant to the 19 consensus metrics that apply to electric systems because of the differences in their new metering infrastructure and because they did not have judicial notice.
8. It is reasonable to modify consensus metrics 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 pertaining to Customer/AMI Metrics to ensure consistency of reporting across companies and across measures because such consistency will both increase the utility of the measures and decrease confusion in reporting.
9. It is reasonable to modify consensus metric 3 pertaining to Customer/AMI Metrics to add clarity to the reporting metric because such clarity improves the accuracy of this measure.
10. It is reasonable to revise Storage Metric 1 to measure more accurately the amount of electricity released by a storage unit and reported by the transmission and distribution system because accuracy is an important element of any metric.
11. It is reasonable to set a baseline year starting July 1, 2011 from which to begin the measurement of grid operations Metrics 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 because a common baseline will enable comparisons across time and across companies.
12. It is reasonable to revise Grid Operations Metric 4 to require the reporting of the percentage of customers and circuits experiencing greater than 12 sustained outages in addition to the raw number because this figure will provide context on the extent of the outage.
13. It is reasonable to continue to investigate the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of requiring the inclusion of census track information for Metrics 4, 5 and 9 pertaining to the Customer/AMI metrics because such information permits the Commission to determine whether the benefits such information provides warrants the cost of acquisition.
14. It is not reasonable at this time to require utilities to report Customer/AMI Metric 9 by customer class, CARE status, and climate zone because the Commission has not investigated the costs of such a requirement.
15. It is reasonable to require that PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E continue to research the costs and feasibility of matching customers who access their information online with customer class, CARE enrollment status, and climate zone because that information will enable the Commission to determine a reasonable course of action.
16. Because of the importance of third-party access to customer information is still in its infancy, it is reasonable to adopt the revisions to Customer/AMI Metric 9 proposed by DRSG at this time because these revisions will enable the Commission to track third-party access.
17. It is reasonable to revise the definition of "Escalated Complaint" and to ensure that the definition is consistent across utilities because these revisions eliminate ambiguities that undermine the accuracy of a measure.
18. It is reasonable to require the information collected in Customer/AMI Metric 6 to be tracked by the complaint topics: AMI meters, AMI programs, device registration, and communications issues. To the extent that information is available, it is reasonable to count separately complaints concerning utility products and those pertaining to third-party products, programs or devices. These requirements are reasonable because they improve the accuracy of these measures and permit comparisons across utilities.
19. It is reasonable to require Customer/AMI Metric 7 to include a reason for the replacement of a meter because this information is critical to the Commission's understanding of this program.
20. It is not reasonable at this time to adopt a metric pertaining to thermal storage air condition because the Commission is currently investigating policies pertaining to storage in R.10-12-007.
21. It is reasonable to await direction and guidance on storage metrics from the Commission rulemaking pertaining to storage, R.10-12-007, because that proceeding is undertaking a systematic view of storage policy.
22. It is reasonable to defer the development of environmental metrics to a Technical Working Groups initiated by this proceeding because the Commission lacks information needed to adopt such measures at this time.
23. It is reasonable to establish July 1, 2011 as the benchmark date for metrics because a common starting point improves the comparability of collected data.
24. Because of the need to file an annual report with the Governor and the Legislature by January 1 of each year, it is reasonable to set July 1 to June 30 as the year for reporting purposes. Reliance on a January 1 to December 31 reporting year would result in the provision of dated information in the annual report.
25. The establishment of "goals" for the Smart Grid may offer a more productive and more reasonable approach to directing progress towards the Smart Grid because this approach has proved effective in other areas of energy policy.
26. It is reasonable to revise the metrics from time to time because of the changing nature of Smart Grid technologies and services.
27. It is reasonable to create a Technical Working Group to consider the revision of metrics or the adoption of additional metrics because a working group provides a good forum for addressing such a technical topic.
28. It is reasonable that the Technical Working Groups insure that any new metric developed during the working group process should be consistent with the Pub. Util. Code and with policies approved in the Commission's review of the Smart Grid Deployment Plans. In addition, new metrics should be consistent across PG&E, SCE and SDG&E. These requirements are reasonable because they ensure consistency with the Pub. Util. Code and add to the comparability of the metrics across companies.
29. It is reasonable to require PG&E, SCE, SDG&E, DRA, and Commission Staff to begin consideration of revisions to adopted metrics after the adoption of this decision through Technical Working Groups because of the rapid pace of change in this area. It is reasonable to permit other parties to participate in these discussions because of the valuable insights that they may provide.
30. It is reasonable to create a Technical Working Group to develop cyber-security metrics because a technical working group is the best forum for consideration of such a technical topic.
31. It is reasonable to require that the initial Technical Working Group meetings pertaining to cyber-security undertake an inventory of the cyber-security information that the utilities are already collecting, what information on cyber-security the utilities are providing to the Commission and to other state and Federal agencies, and current cyber-security practices in use by the utilities because such information can educate the Commission on the current state of network security. It is reasonable to keep this information confidential, and if filed with the Commission, it is reasonable to keep it under seal without time limit unless the Commission determines that the release of this data is in the public interest because information on security could be exploited.
32. It is reasonable to create a Technical Working Group to address issues pertaining to the development of environmental metrics because of the technical nature of these issues.
33. It is reasonable to create a Technical Working Group to develop Smart Grid goals pertaining to customers, to the environment, to energy markets, and to utility operations because such a forum can permit the consideration of multiple technical factors simultaneously.
34. It is reasonable to require that the Technical Working Group considering goals file and serve a report by November 1, 2012 in this proceeding because this will permit timely consideration of this matter by the Commission.
1. The 19 consensus metrics as modified and contained in Attachment A are consistent with California statutes pertaining to the Smart Grid.
2. Pursuant to § 8367 of the Pub. Util. Code, the Commission must prepare and provide an annual report to the Governor and to the Legislature containing information on the status of the Smart Grid.
3. Since the statutory provisions pertaining to the provision of an annual report to the Governor and the Legislature on the status of the Smart Grid do not apply to SoCalGas, it is not necessary to develop metrics pertaining to deployment of its metering infrastructure at this time.
4. Setting a baseline year starting on July 1, 2011 from which to begin the measurement of grid metrics is consistent with the statutes pertaining to the Smart Grid.
5. The creation of Technical Working Groups to revise metrics and to establish goals for deploying the Smart Grid, to develop metrics pertaining to cyber-security, and to develop metrics for assessing environmental improvement is consistent with statutes pertaining to the Smart Grid.
6. To facilitate the development of comprehensive Smart Grid Deployment plans, the Technical Working Group considering goals should file and serve its report in this proceeding by November 1, 2012.
IT IS ORDERED that:
1. The Consensus Metrics and definitions contained in Attachment A to this decision are adopted.
2. Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Southern California Electric Company and San Diego Gas & Electric Company shall include information pertaining to these metrics defined in Attachment A in their reports filed pursuant to ordering paragraphs 15 of Decision 10-06-047.
3. Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Southern California Edison Company, San Diego Gas & Electric Company shall participate in four Technical Working Groups formed by representatives of the Commission to review the consensus metrics, to develop cyber-security metrics, to develop environmental metrics and to propose Smart Grid goals. The representatives of the Commission may invite others as needed to participate in a Technical Working Group. The Technical Working Group developing goals shall file and serve its report by November 1, 2012 in this proceeding.
4. Rulemaking 08-12-009 remains open.
This order is effective today.
Dated April 19, 2012, at San Francisco, California.
MICHAEL R. PEEVEY
President
TIMOTHY ALAN SIMON
MICHEL PETER FLORIO
CATHERINE J.K. SANDOVAL
MARK J. FERRON
Commissioners
ATTACHMENT A
