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ESCO Withdraws From NY Evidentiary Review Proceeding Citing "Burdensome and Irrelevant" Discovery

June 12, 2017

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Copyright 2010-17 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com

Constellation New Energy, Inc. (CNE) provided the New York PSC with notice of its withdrawal as a party from the PSC proceeding conducting an evidentiary review of the retail energy mass market.

Affiliate Constellation Energy Gas Choice, LLC (CEGC) will remain a party to the proceeding

In its notice of withdrawal, Constellation New Energy stated, "CNE is an energy service company ('ESCO') and is one of two Constellation entities participating in these proceedings in an effort to work with the New York State Public Service Commission (the 'Commission'), Department of Public Service Staff, and other interested parties to study and improve the retail electric and gas markets for mass-market customers in New York. However, CNE is concerned with the increasingly-burdensome and irrelevant discovery requests and the ensuing unsupported expansion of the proceedings."

"[T]he time and expense of responding to these sweeping discovery requests has made keeping two Constellation entities as parties simply too onerous. Despite CNE’s withdrawal, however, Constellation remains committed to a robust competitive market in New York. Therefore, at this time, CEGC remains a party to these proceedings," CNE said

"When these proceedings commenced, the defined scope of the information expected to be provided by ESCOs was relatively specific and focused. CNE did not, at that time, anticipate that the proceedings, and information production requirements, would be expanded to include the large commercial and industrial ('C&I') sector of the retail market. On May 23, 2017, the presiding administrative law judges issued a ruling that unequivocally agrees with CNE, finding that the scope of these proceeding is in fact limited to the retail market for residential and small non-residential customers. Despite its finding on the limited scope of the proceedings, however, the ruling requires ESCOs to produce information related to large C&I customers as well as ESCO profitability in general," CNE said in its notice of withdrawal

"The practical effect of the recent May 23 and 25 rulings greatly expands the amount of information that CNE is required to obtain, review, cull, and produce. As a result, these rulings would require CNE to spend an unreasonable amount of employee and administrative time in reviewing vast amounts of material to determine which material may be responsive to the discovery requests and additional hours in preparing appropriate responses. Simply put, it has become too burdensome and expensive for CNE to continue to voluntarily participate in these proceedings," CNE said in its notice of withdrawal

"Constellation remains committed to doing its part to facilitate vibrant, competitive retail markets throughout the country and is hopeful that these proceedings will serve to refine and improve the competitive retail market for mass-market customers in New York. Constellation urges the Commission to ensure that any changes to the regulatory landscape strike the appropriate balance between promoting regulatory certainty, consumer protection, and innovation," CNE said in its notice of withdrawal

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