“Because I said so” is not how the law works.
Today, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) issued an extraordinary decision that guts protections for consumers in San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) territory, taking away their ability to access real-time power usage information – a key tool to manage monthly utility bills. CPUC’s abrupt rejection of the law and complete disregard for longstanding precedent shows an unmistakable similarity to Donald Trump: governance through power grabs, the rule of law be damned.
Today, Mission:data and virtual power plant (VPP) leader Voltus, Inc. filed a complaint against PJM at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), alleging that PJM’s Open Access Transmission Tariff (OATT) violates the Federal Power Act because it obligates market participants to provide smart meter data, but utilities do not make such data available.
$5.4 billion in smart meter investments didn’t buy access to information. Instead, it bought customers “death by a thousand PDFs.”
Mission:data has removed ComEd and Ameren Illinois Company from the Green Button Explorer because these utilities’ Green Button Connect offerings are non-functional — the first time we have demoted a utility for performance reasons.
We have also added Eversource (Massachusetts), Indiana Michigan Power Company, and Southwestern Electric Power Co (SWEPCO) to the Explorer.
Xcel claimed that customers can share their natural gas information with energy efficiency firms, but Mission:data’s Green Button Scorecard™ revealed that wasn’t true.
“By deceiving policymakers about natural gas information, Xcel has made it more difficult for families to consider alternatives to gas heating,” said Michael Murray, Mission:data’s co-founder and president. “By controlling your data, Xcel is curtailing your freedom to decide what’s best for you and your home.”
Now that it’s 2025, how should we improve permissioned access to energy data? What should policymakers focus on?
“Enforcement, enforcement, enforcement.”
That was my answer to a question posed last month at the Colorado Solar and Storage Association’s conference in Denver. Enforcement has been on my mind because of two contrasting events – one in American politics, the other involving utility regulation – that perfectly underscore its importance at this moment.
While Americans are focused on today’s election, today’s post looks at our northern neighbor. Ontario, Canada’s provincial regulation 633/21 calls for all electric and gas utilities in Ontario to offer Green Button Connect (GBC) by November 1, 2023. So, now that we’re one year into this policy, how are things going?
First some background. Ontario’s Green Button policy is unique in North America due to the sheer number of utilities that are involved - about 57. According to our Green Button Explorer, the USA has only 27 utilities with a GBC mandate. Thus, Ontario is a laboratory for the widest range of implementation types across North America. This variety essentially stress-tests the concept of standardization: supposedly, the regulation requires each utility to be certified by the Green Button Alliance. So our first-year review is also asking the question: Is certification working?
The Biden Administration’s actions in the past week demonstrate a truly remarkable bipolarity with regard to empowering consumers.
Yesterday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued sweeping data portability rules for banks and fintechs. Known as “open banking,” the requirements allow consumers to have their banking data – transaction history, interest rates and loan information – transferred seamlessly to competing services. The rules are the culmination of a multi-year commitment by the Democratic party to support customer choice, prevent “lock-in,” and fuel competition on price and service quality.
But last Friday in another part of the Biden Administration, the Department of Energy (DOE) dismissed data portability requirements entirely for $2 billion in grants to electric utilities.
In order for demand response to grow and reduce wholesale power costs, we would be better off ripping out smart meters and going back to once-a-month meter readings.
That’s the implication from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) recent decision in which FERC dismissed a complaint by CPower against PJM Interconnection. CPower alleged that PJM’s tariff is unduly discriminatory because it requires Curtailment Service Providers (“CSPs”) to provide interval usage data for all customers with advanced meters.
But utilities often deny CSPs access to this information. FERC’s three Democratic Commissioners – Willie Phillips, David Rosner and Judy Chang – were appointed by President Biden and voted to deny the complaint.
September 19, 2024 – Mission:data Coalition, a nonprofit advocate for energy data portability, provides the following reaction to today’s FERC order denying CPower’s complaint. CPower alleged that PJM Interconnection’s (“PJM”) tariff is unduly discriminatory because it requires Curtailment Service Providers (“CSPs”) to provide interval usage data for all customers with advanced meters, but utilities often deny CSPs access to this information.
“Today’s order marks the beginning of the ‘Data Barriers’ era,” said Michael Murray, Mission:data’s co-founder and president. “Statistical sampling and submeters are poor substitutes for utility meter data. The time has come to force utilities to put customers in charge of their own information, rather than pursue workarounds."
....
With over 13 million Americans experiencing “dangerous” heat levels this week, we are reminded of how the cracks in our infrastructure begin to show as the mercury rises, like distribution transformers failing at sustained 110F temperatures, as happened in Spokane, WA during a previous “heat dome” event.
Energy data is infrastructure, too – and just because it’s digital doesn’t mean it’s immune from strain during a heat wave. Here are four ways our data infrastructure is crumbling, showing us that investments are sorely needed.
