California Commission Uses Activists’ Framework in Proposed Privacy Rules for Smart Meters
California rules about smart-meter data -- the first set in the country -- should largely track privacy and security recommendations by public interest groups based on the Fair Information Practices (FIP) for notice, consent and accountability, said a proposed decision by the Public Utilities Commission. The rules should cover online service providers and others beyond electric companies and should require the power companies to give customers extensive pricing information, said a document filed late Friday(http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/efile/PD/134875.pdf) by PUC President Michael Peevey, the commissioner assigned to the rulemaking.
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By its procedures, the commission can’t adopt a final version for 30 days, after a comment period. The proposed decision says it would start a new phase of the proceeding that would expand the PUC’s efforts beyond Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), Southern California Edison (SCE) and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) to other electric and gas companies, “community choice aggregators, and electric service providers” in the state. Players in the proceeding said Monday they were still digesting the 139-page proposed decision.
"We see California as a crucial place to help establish privacy rules for Smart Grid technologies,” said the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) Monday. “We're gratified the PUC has chosen our recommendations as the starting point in the discussion leading up to the adoption of privacy rules for Smart Grid technologies in California.” The draft said it worked off the position taken by CDT and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, working together.
The electric companies and consumer advocates probably will support the proposed decision, said Mona Tierney-Lloyd, regulatory affairs director of EnerNOC, whose business includes providing demand-response services to utilities. Concerns probably will be raised by companies like hers -- non-utilities that provide smart-grid services -- regarding “creating an excessive regulatory burden” in disclosures about companies that they share usage data with, she said. EnerNOC also would like the draft changed or clarified so the company wouldn’t be subject to a heightened level of disclosure in taking part in the wholesale electricity market, Tierney-Lloyd said.
"We do like the fact that it adopts the FIP and the pricing requirements,” said Executive Director Michael Shames of the Utility Consumers’ Action Network. But the proposed decision “punts on important issues or is too timid” in places, he said. “Overall, the PD [proposed decision] represents an important first step in advancing the issue of smart-grid privacy issues and will likely be looked at other states as a model by which to evaluate the privacy issues.” PG&E takes the privacy and security of customer information very seriously and will have more to say about the rules over the next month, said spokesman Greg Snapper.
The rules would apply not only to the three large, private electric companies but also to “the companies that assist them in utility operations, companies under contract with the utilities, and other companies that, after authorization by a customer, gain access to the customer’s usage data from the utility either via the internet or through a connection with the Smart Meter that forwards that data without further customer action (such as through a device ‘locked” to a service provider),” the proposed decision says.
The commission should adopt, in addition to privacy and security rules, “policies to govern access to customer usage data by customers and by authorized third parties,” the proposed decision said. It would specify that PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E “offer residential customers bill-to-date, bill forecast data, projected month-end tiered rate, a rate calculator, and notifications to customers as they cross rate tiers” and that the utilities “work with the California Independent System Operator to improve customer access to wholesale electricity prices.” Each company would also have to start “a pilot study within six months on how to provide real-time or near real-time pricing information to customers.”
The draft would adopt “a framework to allow customers to authorize third parties who agree to comply with the adopted privacy and security rules to receive usage data from utilities via the ‘backhaul,'” it says. “SDG&E must continue to provide third parties access to customer usage data and PG&E and SCE must initiate such a service.” The proposed ruling would order “the three utilities to commence pilot studies within six months to connect Home Area Network-enabled devices to Smart Meters.” And it would adopt “reporting and audit requirements regarding the utilities’ customer data privacy and security practices, third-party access to customer usage information, and any security breaches of customer usage information.”