| (12) An electric utility subject to §25.343 of
this title (relating to Competitive Energy Services) must not provide
any advanced metering equipment or service that is deemed a competitive
energy service under that section. Any functionality of the AMS that
is a required feature under this section or that is included in an
approved deployment plan or otherwise approved by the commission does
not constitute a competitive energy service under §25.343 of
this title.
(13) An electric utility's deployment and provision
of AMS services and features, including but not limited to the features
required in subsection (g) of this section, are subject to the limitation
of liability provisions found in the electric utility's tariff.
(e) Technology requirements. Except for pilot programs,
an electric utility must not deploy AMS technology that has not been
successfully installed previously with at least 500 advanced meters
in North America, Australia, Japan, or Western Europe.
(f) Pilot programs. An electric utility may deploy
AMS with up to 10,000 meters that do not meet the requirements of
subsection (g) of this section in a pilot program, to gather additional
information on metering technologies, pricing, and management techniques,
for studies, evaluations, and other reasons. A pilot program may be
used to satisfy the requirement in subsection (e) of this section.
An electric utility is not required to obtain commission approval
for a pilot program. Notice of the pilot program and opportunity to
participate must be sent by the electric utility to all REPs and all
entities authorized by a customer to have read-only access to the
customer's advanced meter data.
(g) AMS features.
(1) An AMS must provide or support the following minimum
system features:
(A) automated or remote meter reading;
(B) two-way communications between the meter and the
electric utility;
(C) remote disconnection and reconnection capability
for meters rated at or below 200 amps.
(D) time-stamped meter data;
(E) access to customer usage data by the customer,
the customer's REP of record, and entities authorized by the customer
provided that 15-minute interval or shorter data from the electric
utility's AMS must be transmitted to the electric utility's or a group
of electric utilities' web portal on a day-after basis;
(F) capability to provide on-demand reads of a customer's
advanced meter through the graphical user interface of an electric
utility's or a group of electric utilities' web portal when requested
by a customer, the customer's REP of record, or entities authorized
by the customer subject to network traffic such as interval data collection,
market orders if applicable, and planned and unplanned outages;
(G) for an electric utility that provides access through
an application programming interface, the capability to provide on-demand
reads of a customer's advanced meter data, subject to network traffic
such as interval data collection, market orders if applicable, and
planned and unplanned outages;
(H) on-board meter storage of meter data that complies
with nationally recognized non-proprietary standards such as in American
National Standards Institute (ANSI) C12.19 tables or International
Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) DLMS-COSEM standards;
(I) open standards and protocols that comply with nationally
recognized non-proprietary standards such as ANSI C12.22, including
future revisions;
(J) for an electric utility in the ERCOT region, 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 on
open standards and protocols that comply with nationally recognized
non-proprietary standards such as ZigBee, Home-Plug, or the equivalent
through the electric utility's AMS. This requirement applies only
to a HAN device paired to a meter and in use at the time that the
version of the web portal approved in Docket Number 47472 was implemented
and terminates when the HAN device is disconnected at the request
of the customer or a move-out transaction occurs for the customer's
premises; and
(K) the ability to upgrade these features as the need
arises.
(2) A waiver from any of the requirements of paragraph
(1) of this subsection may be granted by the commission if it would
be uneconomic or technically infeasible to implement or there is an
adequate substitute for that particular requirement. The electric
utility must meet its burden of proof in its waiver request.
(3) In areas where there is not a commission-approved
independent regional transmission organization, standards referred
to in this section for time tolerance and data transfer and security
may be approved by a regional transmission organization approved by
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or, if there is no approved
regional transmission organization, by the commission.
(4) Once an electric utility has deployed its advanced
meters, it may add or enhance features provided by AMS, as technology
evolves. The electric utility must notify the commission and REPs
of any such additions or enhancements at least three months in advance
of deployment, with a description of the features, the deployment
and notification plan, and the cost of such additions or enhancements,
and must follow the monthly progress report process described in subsection
(d)(9) of this section until the enhancement process is complete.
(h) Discretionary Meter Services. An electric utility
that operates in an area that offers customer choice must offer, as
discretionary services in its tariff, installation of enhanced advanced
meters and advanced meter features.
(1) A REP may request the electric utility to provide
enhanced advanced meters, additional metering technology, or advanced
meter features not specifically offered in the electric utility's
tariff, that are technically feasible, generally available in the
market, and compatible with the electric utility's AMS.
(2) The REP must pay the reasonable differential cost
for the enhanced advanced meters or features and system changes required
by the electric utility to offer those meters or features.
(3) Upon request by a REP, an electric utility must
expeditiously provide a report to the REP that includes an evaluation
of the cost and a schedule for providing the enhanced advanced meters
or advanced meter features of interest to the REP. The REP must pay
a reasonable discretionary services fee for this report. This discretionary
services fee must be included in the electric utility's tariff.
(4) If an electric utility deploys enhanced advanced
meters or advanced meter features not addressed in its tariff at the
request of the REP, the electric utility must expeditiously apply
to amend its tariff to specifically include the enhanced advanced
meters or meter features that it agreed to deploy. Additional REPs
may request the tariffed enhanced advanced meters or advanced meter
features under the process described in this paragraph of this subsection.
(i) Tariff. All discretionary AMS features offered
by the electric utility must be described in the electric utility's
tariff.
(j) Access to meter data.
(1) A customer may authorize its meter data to be available
to an entity other than its REP. An electric utility must provide
a customer, the customer's REP of record, and other entities authorized
by the customer read-only access to the customer's advanced meter
data, including meter data used to calculate charges for service,
historical load data, and any other proprietary customer information.
The access must be convenient and secure, and the data must be made
available no later than the day after it was created.
(2) The requirement to provide access to the data begins
when the electric utility has installed 2,000 advanced meters for
residential and non-residential customers. If an electric utility
has already installed 2,000 advanced meters by the effective date
of this section, the electric utility must provide access to the data
in the timeframe approved by the commission in either the deployment
plan or request for surcharge proceeding. If only a notice of deployment
has been filed, access to the data must begin no later than six months
from the filing of the notice of deployment with the commission.
(3) An electric utility's or group of electric utilities'
web portal must use appropriate and reasonable standards and methods
to provide secure access for the customer, the customer's REP of record,
and entities authorized by the customer to the meter data. The electric
utility must have an independent security audit conducted within one
year of providing that access to meter data. The electric utility
must promptly report the audit results to the commission.
Cont'd... |
