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FirstEnergy Ohio EDCs To Propose Dynamic Pricing Supply Options For Non-shopping Customers Under Grid Modernization Settlement

Would Install 700,000 Smart Meters

Settlement Includes Provisions For Retail Supplier Access To AMI Data

November 12, 2018

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Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com

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The FirstEnergy Ohio electric distribution companies have filed with several parties a stipulation addressing grid modernization, along with several federal tax issues, that would, among other things, include the installation of 700,000 advanced meters in the EDCs' service territories

The FirstEnergy Ohio EDCs serve about 2 million customers in Ohio.

The stipulation would require the FirstEnergy Ohio EDCs to propose dynamic pricing options for non-shopping customers, as follows.

The stipulation provides that, "Within six months of an Opinion & Order in the current case, and after consultation with the Grid Mod collaborative group, the Companies will propose a time-varying rate offering for non-shopping customers, which will be designed to achieve the energy and capacity savings detailed in the cost-benefit analysis and should leverage enabling devices, e.g. smart thermostats. The Companies will work with suppliers to have data ready for a supplier-offered time-of-use product to customers upon VEE certification of AMI meters."

"Once there are either (a) at least three suppliers offering products utilizing AMI data or (b) at least three different types of time-varying products utilizing AMI data, then the Companies, with Commission approval, will withdraw their SSO time-of-use rate offering. Costs associated with the implementation, administration, or marketing of the Companies’ time-varying rate offering shall be recovered through a bypassable charge upon Commission approval," the stipulation provides

The stipulation further provides that, "Within six months of the Opinion & Order in these consolidated cases, the Companies will meet with the Grid Mod collaborative group and subsequently submit a plan to Staff detailing the time-varying rate options it reasonably believes will be offered to retail customers by CRES [competitive retail electric service] providers. The Companies are not obligated to guarantee that a time-varying rate option will be offered by any CRES."

As part of the installation of 700,000 advanced meters, the EDCs will install the necessary supporting communications infrastructure, and a Meter Data Management System (MDMS), and associated systems and process. The AMI deployment will utilize a scalable MDMS, which enables the validation, editing, and estimating (VEE) of meter data for billing purposes, and can be leveraged for future advanced meter deployments.

The stipulation provides that, "To enable customer opportunity to receive products and services which utilize their meter, the Companies will provide a map of where AMI is being deployed with dates of deployment and an AMI tag on the Customer Information List provided to CRES providers."

"The AMI deployment will utilize the necessary and generally accepted standards, e.g. Smart Energy by Zigbee Alliance, to implement a Home Area Network, so that customers can connect qualified devices (e.g. in-home displays, smart programmable thermostats, etc.). The technical eligibility requirements for qualification purposes, including those for security, will be developed through the Grid Mod collaborative group," the stipulation provides

"To enable customer choice and variety of product options, a qualified device will not be limited to devices supplied only by the Companies or an affiliate," the stipulation provides

The stipulation provides for retail supplier data access to AMI data as follows:

"The Companies will implement data access enhancements for customers and competitive retail electric service ('CRES') providers. This should include the necessary upgrades to systems and processes for wholesale market settlements, i.e. calculating and settling individual total hourly energy obligation ('THEO'), peak load contribution ('PLC'), and network service peak load ('NSPL') values for each customer, instead of relying on generic load profiles. The Companies shall exercise best efforts to begin calculating wholesale market settlement statements based upon THEO, PLC, and NSPL as the meters become certified. CRES data transmitted to PJM will be, at a minimum, hourly interval, and data utilized and transmitted to CRES providers will be at the metered level. The THEO, PLC, and NSPL data will be made available to authorized CRES providers, consistent with 4901:1-10-24 of the Ohio Administrative Code, through the pre-enrollment list and electronic data interchange ('EDI') transactions, as applicable. The Companies will also allow CRES providers to access the data through an Application Program Interface (API). The process will permit batched retrieval of data for both prospective and existing customers. Data retrieved through API will include the most current data available. The Grid Mod Collaborative will evaluate for purposes of Grid Mod II the benefits and costs associated with providing data (whether through API, EDI, or another technology such as data streaming) using 15-minute intervals, one minute and sub-second data availability and making VEE certified data available as quickly as possible. There will be no fees associated with accessing or requesting data provided via EDI, customer portal, or supplier portal (including data accessed through API). The Grid Mod collaborative will identify ways to make the customer authorization process easy for consumers," the stipulation provides

"Customer access will be provided by a customer portal and a Home Area Network. The Companies will provide the Green Button 'Download My Data' format on their customer portal. The Companies will also provide system-to-system access to authorized third parties through the current standardized format which will allow customer interval data to be automatically accessed. The Grid Mod collaborative will discuss the authorization process for third party access and identify a method to ensure the process is easy for consumers. The Companies will evaluate Green Button 'Connect My Data' through the grid modernization collaborative. Any enhancements to data access will be coordinated with the Data and Modern Grid Workgroup," the stipulation provides

"The Companies will develop a process for CRES providers to provide customer consent in order to access data for prospective customers. When data is requested, the system will immediately or nearly immediately process and return the requested data," the stipulation provides

The stipulation further provides:

i. The Companies will begin using AMI for calculation of individualized PLC after the meter exchange has occurred where the VEE certified AMI data has been read for any qualifying peak events. For peaks utilized in the PLC calculation before the meter exchange has occurred, the current method of using register reads and profiles will be used. Data for purposes of billing and scheduling will be provided via EDI or the standard form used for billing systems by the Companies and suppliers.

ii. VEE certified meters can be used for purposes of settlement of customers receiving net metering service from certified suppliers, so long as it is consistent with the applicable net metering rules.

The stipulation was signed by the FirstEnergy Ohio EDCs, PUCO Staff, Direct Energy Services, LLC and Direct Energy Business, LLC, Interstate Gas Supply, Inc., Industrial Energy Users-Ohio, and the Ohio Energy Group, among other associations

Case No. 16-481-EL-UNC et. al.

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