Pennsylvania PUC Asks If CSPs & Other Third Parties Should Have "Direct" Access To The Customer's Meter

While Focused On Non-EGS Third Parties, PUC Does Ask Whether Retail Suppliers Need Electronic Access To Any Customer Meter Data That Is Currently Not Provided

February 8, 2022

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Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com

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The Pennsylvania PUC has opened a proceeding to, "determine if a safe, acceptable path exists for CSPs [conservation service providers] and other third parties [which are not retail suppliers] to gain access to customer data electronically from the EDCs."

Notably, in initiating the proceeding with a series of questions for comment, the PUC asked, "Should CSPs and other third parties be provided direct access to the meter?" [emphasis by PUC]

"What policies or regulations should this Commission promulgate to ensure that these CSPs and other third parties are provided timely access under reasonable terms and conditions to the EDC’s customer metering facilities," the PUC asked

Additionally, the PUC asked, "What communications, software or hardware can facilitate this direct access to the meter for customers and their approved CSPs and other third parties, and should the Commission establish requirements and or standards to facilitate this access?"

While the focus of the proceeding is on access for CSPs and third parties not licensed as electric generation suppliers by the PUC, the PUC did specifically include EGS data access in one question.

The PUC asked: "What electronic access to customer meter data do CSPs, other third parties, and EGSs need from EDCs, that they currently do not have? Provide specific examples where these entities do not have such access currently, and provide examples, if available, of electronic transactions that can be adopted to facilitate access."

The PUC also asked several questions concerning Home Area Network (HAN) protocols and automatic control

The PUC asked, "Should there be interconnectivity between the smart meter and other equipment in the home? If so, how much? [read capability vs. two-way communication]"

The PUC asked, "How can smart meters 'effectively support' automatic control of a customer’s electricity consumption by customers, utilities, and the customer’s CSPs or other third parties?"

The PUC's request for comment also included the typical questions implicated by third party data access, including:

• How should a CSP or other third party obtain customer consent for access to data from EDC systems? Would the EDC determine if a CSP or other third party has obtained the proper customer authorization before customer data is provided? If yes, how? If no, please explain why not.

• What customer data should the utility share with CSPs and other third parties? Should different types of CSPs and other third parties have different access to customer data?

• In what format should the data be given? Should the data from each EDC be in an identical format (similar to the Electronic Data Exchange Working Group web portal data)? What other technical standards should be applied to the data?

Docket No. M-2021-3029018

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