Peevey Denies Commercial Energy Show Cause Order on Direct Access Caps

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December 24, 2010

In an Assigned Commissioner's ruling, California PUC President Michael Peevey denied Commercial Energy of California's motion to show cause and request for related relief regarding the implementation of the direct access phase-in at Pacific Gas & Electric (Rulemaking 07-05-025).

In a story broken on EnergyChoiceMatters.com (9/30), Commercial Energy was seeking relief regarding what it argued was implementation of the load caps at PG&E which was inconsistent with the PUC's order in D.10-03-022.  Commercial Energy's two main arguments were:

1) Six-month notices of intent to take direct access from "legacy" direct access-eligible customers should not have been accepted from March 15, 2010 (the effective date of D.10-03-022) and April 11, 2010, the start of the open enrollment window

2) If such new direct access load was appropriately accepted, PG&E should have recalculated its baseline direct access level and reallocated its direct access load caps for each year of the transition period to reflect the lower amount of available direct access load, rather than subtracting all of the new direct access load from the space available under the 2010 cap alone, thereby reducing slots available in the initial open enrollment window.

Peevey denied such relief, finding that D.10-03-022's statement that "[e]xisting rules and processes currently in place for DA service shall remain in place, except for changes specified herein as necessary to implement the provisions of SB 695," permitted PG&E to continue to accept six-month notices of intent from legacy direct access-eligible customers prior to April 11, 2010.

"Granting the relief sought by Commercial Energy would be inappropriate also to the extent it would result in the impairment of contracts of DA customers who entered into those contracts in good faith," Peevey said.

"There is also no basis to require a recalculation of the adopted DA baseline amounts.  In D.10-03-022, the Commission confirmed the data to be used in calculating the DA annual load limits based on the utilities' reported load figures.  The Commission adopted those figures for use in implementing the SB 695 caps. I find no valid basis to call for a recalculation of the previously adopted annual DA limits adopted in D.10-03-022," Peevey added.

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