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ConEd, NYSEG Proposes Fees for N.Y. Municipal Aggregations, Suppliers

April 24, 2015

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

Consolidated Edison and NYSEG have proposed fees to be applicable to municipal aggregations, and their ESCO supplier, for various data and services provided by the utilities.

The PSC has approved municipal aggregations in Westchester County as test projects, under Sustainable Westchester (SW).

The utilities' fee structure is comprised of three parts: (1) a non-refundable administration fee (Admin Fee) charged to SW or the municipality when the Companies are asked to provide aggregated data, (2) a combined subscription and data service fee (S&DS Fee) that will be billable by the utilities to the ESCO immediately after contract execution between SW and the municipality and an ESCO for electricity supply, and 3) a fee to execute any additional request that may be made to the utilities. The utilities will require that the contract terms with these entities include the above payment terms of the S&DS Fee to the utility.

As each municipality decides to explore a CCA option and requests aggregated full service residential and small commercial customer data, SW or the municipality will pay the upfront Admin Fee of $0.07 per account based on the number of accounts in the municipality(ies) for which aggregate data is being extracted, the utilities said

Once SW, the municipality, and an ESCO come to terms and execute a contract for supply, the ESCO will be billed a $0.65 per account S&DS Fee with payment due ten business days after receipt of invoice. The S&DS Fee includes the set up charges associated with extracting the specified filtered data in aggregate form. The utilities will also include customer-specific information required to enable the municipality to send customer opt-out notices as part of this $0.65 per account fee, subsequent to the execution of an agreement with SW or the municipality and the utilities, to address customer privacy and the protections discussed in a prior PSC order.

Additionally, if SW or a Westchester County municipality submits multiple aggregate data requests, or additional requests for value-added data services in the future, the ESCOs would be charged $0.35 per account to execute each additional request. For example, this fee will apply per account for requests made subsequent to the commencement of the CCA demonstration project for updated customer data. "This $0.35 is appropriate given that SW or a municipality may request multiple additional queries, analyses, or ask for the packaging of data. This reduced fee structure reflects a compromise position for the Companies based on the Companies’ desire: 1) to test and promote new business models as part of a demonstration project, and 2) to work in partnership with SW and others to assist it in its goal implementing a CCA demonstration project," the utilities said.

"The Admin Fee, S&DS Fee, and charge for additional requests per account is modelled [sic] on the simple data requests seen in more mature commercially-available data service industries (data service providers). This fee structure is similar to fees charged by data service providers that have similar populations (commercial and residential) and data privacy concerns. The market in general pays a premium for scarce data from data service providers and for data that is extracted from larger data sets obtained," the utilities said.

"The adoption of the fees proposed herein recognizes that assessing a value-based charge for the provision of data is proper and that, as the Commission continues to transition the marketplace, such fees may be based on the value that the data provides to the competitive markets rather the traditional cost-based bases. Additionally, the Companies anticipate that the implementation of a value-based fee structure for this demonstration project will inform the Commission and stakeholders for future potential demonstration projects. The Companies recognize that the fees contained herein are specifically developed for and applicable to this demonstration project and are not intended to be determinative of the appropriate level of fees in the event this demonstration project is transformed into a longer term project or for other demonstration or long-term projects," the utilities said.

Case 14-M-0564

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