PSC-03-15-00003-P To Allow Residential Customers to Opt Out of AMR Metering for Gas and Make Other Tariff Changes Related to Gas Metering

1/21/15 N.Y. St. Reg. PSC-03-15-00003-P

NEW YORK STATE REGISTER

VOLUME XXXVII, ISSUE 03

January 21, 2015

RULE MAKING ACTIVITIES

PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION

PROPOSED RULE MAKING

NO HEARING(S) SCHEDULED

 

I.D No. PSC-03-15-00003-P

To Allow Residential Customers to Opt Out of AMR Metering for Gas and Make Other Tariff Changes Related to Gas Metering

PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE State Administrative Procedure Act, NOTICE is hereby given of the following proposed rule:

Proposed Action:

The Commission is considering a petition by Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. to make various changes to P.S.C. No. 9 to allow for customers to opt-out of the use of Automated Meter Reading for gas service and to address other meter issues.

Statutory authority:

Public Service Law, section 66(1) and (12)(b)

Subject:

To allow residential customers to opt out of AMR metering for gas and make other tariff changes related to gas metering.

Purpose:

To allow residential customers to opt out of AMR metering for gas and make other tariff changes related to gas metering.

Substance of proposed rule:

The Commission is considering whether to approve, modify or reject, in whole or in part, a tariff filing by Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. (the Company) to make revisions to its gas tariff schedule, P.S.C. No. 9, related to Automated Meter Reading (AMR) and Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI). The Company is proposing a new General Information Section III.8 – Metering and Billing - AMR/AMI Meter Opt-Out. This new provision would allow residential customers in one or two family homes that have AMR or AMI meters installed by the Company the option of a one-time election to opt-out of AMR/AMI metering and thereby, have their meters read manually. Customers who choose to opt out would have to: 1) complete an AMR/AMI opt-out application; 2) pay a monthly charge of $19 per account per visit for onsite cycle meter readings; and 3) if a meter was previously installed, pay for the removal of such meter and for the installation of a solid-state non-communicating meter at the costs specified in General Information Section IV.2, unless the Company did not notify the customer in writing in advance of the AMR/AMI meter installation, in which case there will be no charge. Customers who opt out of AMR/AMI metering and have two months of estimated bills in a 12-month period due to no access to the meter will be required to furnish, install and maintain the facilities necessary to accept outdoor meter(s) or provide access to the Company to install, or re-install, as applicable, AMR/AMI metering. Customers who opt out of AMR/AMI metering may elect to participate in AMR/AMI metering at a later date. The amendments have an effective date of April 1, 2015.

In addition, the Company proposed to modify the Gas Tariff’s Table of Contents to extend General Information III.8, “Metering and Billing” to Leaf No. 76.2. The Company is also modifying General Information Section III.8.D, “Meter Reading and Billing Period,” which indicates that the Company shall attempt an actual meter reading for each scheduled meter reading by a visit to the Customer’s premises: the Company shall attempt an actual reading either remotely or by a visit to the premises. Additionally, the Company is eliminating reference to the installation of remote registers in General Information III.5.A. (Leaf 41) and III.8.I, because remote registers are no longer being installed.

Text of proposed rule and any required statements and analyses may be obtained by filing a Document Request Form (F-96) located on our website http://www.dps.ny.gov/f96dir.htm. For questions, contact:

Elaine Agresta, Public Service Commission, 3 Empire State Plaza, Albany, New York 12223-1350, [phone], email: [e-mail]

Data, views or arguments may be submitted to:

Kathleen H. Burgess, Secretary, Public Service Commission, 3 Empire State Plaza, Albany, New York 12223-1350, [phone], email: [e-mail]

Public comment will be received until:

45 days after publication of this notice.

Regulatory Impact Statement, Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, Rural Area Flexibility Analysis and Job Impact Statement

Statements and analyses are not submitted with this notice because the proposed rule is within the definition contained in section 102(2)(a)(ii) of the State Administrative Procedure Act.

(14-G-0571SP1)