Energy Choice
                            

Matters

Texas PUC Approves New Requirements For Smart Meter Texas

Includes New Process For Third Party Providers To Access Smart Meter Texas Customer Data

May 11, 2018

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

The following story is brought free of charge to readers by EC Infosystems, the exclusive EDI provider of EnergyChoiceMatters.com

The Public Utility Commission of Texas at its meeting yesterday agreed on new business requirements for Smart Meter Texas (SMT) and directed that an order be prepared approving such changes

Chief among the changes approved by the PUCT is a new process by which a customer affirms an agreement to share its SMT data with a Competitive Service Provider ("CSP", an entity other than the REP of Record).

Under this new process for providing CSPs with access to SMT, the customer will no longer be required to establish an SMT account before being able to share his or her SMT data with a CSP.

See our prior story for more details on this process (The PUCT adopted the process set forth by settling parties without modification)

The PUCT also set a 12-month limit on the time that a residential or small commercial customer's authorization provided to a third-party (who isn't the REP of record) remains valid for such third party to access the customer's Smart Meter Texas data.

The PUCT also, "reluctantly," granted a waiver to the SMT TDUs of Tex. Admin. Code § 25.130(g)(1)(J), a rule which requires that an AMS system shall provide or support the capability to communicate with devices inside the premises, including, but not limited to, usage monitoring devices, load control devices, and prepayment systems through a home-area network ('HAN') based upon standards and protocols that comply with nationally recognized non-proprietary standards such as ZigBee, Home-Plug, or the equivalent

The waiver was granted on the presence of an adequate substitute of similar functionalities under the revised SMT (enhanced on-demand reads, for example), and since the TDUs will continue to support existing HAN devices (through their own AMS systems and not SMT 2.0). The waiver was not granted on economic grounds, Chairman DeAnn Walker stressed

In modifying part of the settlement regarding HAN, Walker stressed that the TDUs must continue to support existing HAN devices until the customer decides to no longer require such support. Walker noted that under the stipulation as filed, support for a HAN device could have been terminated due to removal of the customer's meter, which Walker said is not an action by the customer, and therefore is not appropriate. The final order will only permit termination of support for an existing HAN device due to action by the customer

Walker noted that at an earlier open meeting, the TDUs had argued that the costs of the HAN requirement were "significant", and therefore the TDUs had alleged that a waiver was appropriate on economic grounds. The TDUs later filed a supplement indicating a $30,000 annual cost to SMT for such HAN support.

While Walker said that $30,000 is a lot of money to individual customers paying rates to support SMT, she said that for any utility to characterize $30,000 as significant is, "stunning."

The PUCT also approved revised business requirements for SMT as included in a settlement filed by parties

Docket 47472

ADVERTISEMENT
NEW Jobs on RetailEnergyJobs.com:
• NEW! --Director - Sales Management & Strategy -- Retail Supplier
• NEW! -- Operations Analyst -- Retail Supplier
• NEW! -- Sr. Business Development Manager -- Retail Supplier
• NEW! -- Sales Support Specialist -- Retail Supplier
• NEW! -- Natural Gas Operations Manager -- Retail Supplier
• NEW! -- Energy Consultant
• NEW! -- Director, Retail Energy Supply & Pricing -- Retail Supplier -- Houston
• NEW! -- Sales and Channel Partner Manager -- Retail Supplier