As New York Retail Mass Market Evidentiary Hearings Close, ESCOs Again Seek Agreement On Certain Issues, Suggest Joint Proposal

At the conclusion of the evidentiary hearings in the New York PSC's review of the retail energy mass market, ESCOs again sought to reach consensus among the parties on certain issues

The ALJs have ruled that a common table of contents shall be used for post-hearing briefs, and had tasked parties with developing a consensus table of contents if possible.

In discussing the table of contents, counsel for the Retail Energy Supply Association noted that the issues to be briefed could be narrowed to the extent parties can reach agreement on certain issues, with such consensus obviating the need for litigation on such issues.

Although no specific issues were cited during the briefing discussions as having the potential for consensus, counsel for RESA noted that there is apparent agreement on some issues and suggested that an agreement could be reached among the parties, with potentially a joint proposal addressing certain issues developed by the parties.

ESCO parties were supportive of RESA's approach.

Counsel for Department of Public Service Staff was not opposed to isolating certain areas of the table of contents for discussions on potential agreement, but was concerned about any delay in the briefing schedule.

Other parties "may be right" that there are certain issues in the case that parties can "check off" as potentially being able to be resolved outside of full litigation, but counsel for DPS Staff said that nothing has changed from its prior letter concerning a then-proposed settlement process sought by ESCOs. In such prior statement (see full discussion here), Staff had said that settlement talks would only be appropriate once ESCOs "concede" to certain points made by Staff, such as a prohibition on mass market sales except where there is a guaranteed savings versus default service

While counsel for DPS Staff said that Staff would keep an open mind, counsel for DPS Staff said that the focus should be on moving forward on the briefing schedule and table of contents

Counsel for the Utility Intervention Unit was skeptical of the potential for the narrowing of issues via any agreement, stating that parties are very far apart