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N.Y. Utilities Slam Westchester's Sought "Pilot" Muni Aggregation for Transferring Aggregation Costs to Non-Aggregation Customers, But Would Back Limited "Demonstration" CCA

February 19, 2015

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Copyright 2010-15 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Karen Abbott • kabbott@energychoicematters.com

New York utilities slammed the proposed mechanics of a pilot municipal aggregation sought by several Westchester, New York communities for seeking to require utilities to absorb many of the responsibilities (and costs) of the community choice aggregation, although the utilities would support a much more limited "demonstration" community choice aggregation.

Sustainable Westchester, Inc., representing some 40 communities in Westchester County at the time of a December filing, asked the PSC for authorization to conduct a "pilot" opt-out municipal aggregation prior to the PSC generically addressing community choice aggregation in an ongoing investigation.

Among notable provisions of Sustainable Westchester's pilot is that it would last four years, and that Sustainable Westchester, "anticipates that it will request of each appropriate Utility the ability to insert communication material into utility-issued bills."

Additionally, Sustainable Westchester requested various customer data from the utilities, and asked that all data be provided by each utility free of charge, or at most for a "nominal" fee

Filing jointly, Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc., Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc., Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation, National Fuel Gas Distribution Corporation, The Brooklyn Union Gas Company d/b/a National Grid NY, KeySpan Gas East Corporation d/b/a National Grid, Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation d/b/a National Grid, New York State Electric & Gas Corporation, and Rochester Gas and Electric Corporation blasted these mechanics.

"The Sustainable Westchester proposal would require utilities, and more importantly, their customers, to shoulder the majority of the costs to establish a CCA program without any payment for such service," the joint utilities said.

"For instance, the Petition requests that the utilities notify residents of the municipality's decision to establish a CCA program, to inform them of the municipality's contract terms with an Energy Services Company ('ESCO'), and to inform them of the opportunity to opt-out of the CCA program. The Petition also requests that utilities include Sustainable Westchester communication materials in utility bills. These provisions are wholly contrary to the process envisioned in the Staff White Paper and the processes used in other jurisdictions with established CCA programs. In those existing programs, the responsibility for informing, educating, and administering opt-out programs is squarely placed on the municipality that has chosen to implement a CCA program. These provisions are also inconsistent with the existing utility-ESCO relationship and the Commission-approved Uniform Business Practices. The provisions also fail to recognize that the utilities appropriately do not have access to ESCO/customer contracts and thus cannot and should not notify residents of their terms. Lastly, the provisions would inappropriately burden utility customers who are not within the CCA program with unnecessary costs that are directly attributable to the CCA program," the utilities said.

"The Joint Utilities are also specifically concerned with Section 9 of the Petition. In it, Sustainable Westchester seeks to impose a significant amount of obligations on the utility for provision of data and notification of customers. Sustainable Westchester asserts that the utility should provide Sustainable Westchester an ongoing stream of customer data at no, or at most a minimal cost, on “a rolling basis” in an unreasonable timeframe (ten days). Sustainable Westchester fails to recognize that any data or information, whether aggregated or customer-specific, must be carefully developed by the utilities and reviewed for accuracy," the utilities said.

While opposing the specific proposals from Sustainable Westchester, the utilities said they would support a small-scale CCA "demonstration" project in Westchester County limited to residential customers in a single municipality and conducted in accordance with mechanics in the previously issued PSC Staff CCA White Paper.

Case 14-M-0564

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