ALJ/TRP/avs Date of Issuance 3/13/12
Decision 12-03-015 March 8, 2012
BEFORE THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
Application of Pacific Gas and Electric Company To Revise Its Electric Marginal Costs, Revenue Allocation, and Rate Design, including Real Time Pricing, to Revise its Customer Energy Statements, and to Seek Recovery of Incremental Expenditures. (U39M) |
Application 10-03-014 (Filed March 22, 2010) |
DECISION APPROVING SETTLEMENT REGARDING
PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY
REVISED CUSTOMER ENERGY STATEMENT
Table of Contents
Title Page
DECISION APPROVING SETTLEMENT REGARDING PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY REVISED CUSTOMER ENERGY STATEMENT 22
3. Framework for Reviewing RCES Proposals 55
4. PG&E's Pre-Settlement RCES Proposal 66
5. Testimony of Other Parties 77
6. General Terms of the RCES Settlement 99
APPENDIX 1 - "Settlement Agreement on the Revised Customer Energy Statement Issues in PG&E's Application 10-03-014"
DECISION APPROVING SETTLEMENT REGARDING PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY REVISED CUSTOMER ENERGY STATEMENT
1. Introduction
This decision adopts the all-party settlement, attached as Appendix 1 of this decision, resolving issues in Phase 3 of this proceeding regarding proposals to revise and improve Pacific Gas and Electric Company's (PG&E's) customer energy statement.
PG&E's gas and electric customer energy statements are standardized forms used to inform customers of the bill amount owed and to provide information as to how the bills were calculated.1 The settlement that we adopt herein incorporates measures to implement a revised customer energy statement (RCES). The goals of the RCES are to (a) improve the clarity and usefulness of the billing information in the customer energy statement, (b) motivate the customer to understand the effect of their behavior on energy usage, and (c) to interest customers in pursuing dynamic pricing options.
The RCES settlement approved herein satisfies the requirements of California Assembly Bill 1763 (Ch. 551 Stats. 2008) to incorporate dynamic pricing information, and to fulfill the Commission's policy that California investor-owned utilities implement more customer-friendly billing formats (as previously discussed in Decision (D.) 05-11-009 and D.07-07-047).
We approve a funding limit of $19.012 million in RCES cost recovery. In pre-settlement testimony, PG&E had requested Commission approval of $34.7 million in costs to implement its RCES proposal through 2013. As an element of the RCES settlement, all parties agreed to support recovery of RCES costs limited to $19.012 million. The RCES settlement includes the provision for a one-way balancing account which will be established to track costs and ensure that customers only pay the revenue requirement associated with actual RCES expenditures up to $19.012 million.
PG&E is directed to proceed with implementation of the RCES project in accordance with the settlement terms set forth in Attachment 1 of this decision. Once the appropriate RCES implementation has been completed in accordance with the settlement, PG&E will submit its RCES for Commission approval through a subsequent advice letter filing. Contingent upon Commission approval, and completion of the SmartMeterTM program roll-out and successful transition of customers to billing using SmartMeterTM interval data, PG&E expects to launch the RCES customer energy statement during the latter half of 2013.
1 Pub. Util. Code § 394.4(c) requires that customer utility bills have a standard format that is determined by the Commission. The format must include enough information to permit recalculation of the bill, disclose late fees separately and provide a phone number for customer inquiries and complaints.
