16 Tex. Admin. Code § 25.311 - Competitive Metering Services
(a)
Purpose. This section establishes the terms and conditions for competitive
metering services to be offered to commercial and industrial customers served
by an investor-owned transmission and distribution utility (TDU) beginning on
January 1, 2004, as required by Public Utility Regulatory Act (PURA)
§39.107(a), in areas where customer choice has been introduced. In areas
where customer choice has been delayed, this section shall establish terms and
conditions for competitive metering services to begin on a date determined by
the commission, following the introduction of customer choice.
(b) Definitions. The following words and
terms, when used in this section, shall have the following meanings unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1)
Commercial and industrial customers--Those customers that do not receive
electric service under a residential distribution tariff.
(2) Data management--Includes validation,
estimation, editing, extraction of billing components, support of retail
transactions described in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT)
protocols, and transfer of meter reading data to the settlement agent and other
approved entities specified by the ERCOT protocols.
(3) Maintenance--Activities necessary to
maintain a meter in proper working order, including failure investigation,
equipment repair, and replacement.
(4) Meter owner--Entity that owns the
settlement and TDU billing meter that is used for the measurement of electric
energy delivered to a particular location.
(5) Metering services--Activities relating to
the measurement, for the purpose of settlement and TDU billing, of electricity
provided to a retail customer, including, but not limited to ownership,
installation and removal, maintenance, testing and calibration, data
collection, and data management.
(6) Meter tampering--In areas where
competitive metering has been introduced, meter tampering, bypass, or diversion
is defined as tampering with a settlement and TDU billing meter or equipment,
bypassing the same, or other instances of diversion, such as physically
disorienting the meter; attaching objects to the meter to divert or bypass
service; inserting objects into the meter; and other electrical and mechanical
means of tampering with, bypassing, or diverting electrical service.
(7) Testing--Activities as defined in §
25.124 of this title (relating to
Meter Testing).
(c)
Meter ownership. A commercial or industrial retail customer may choose a meter
owner. The meter owner may be, at the option of the retail customer:
(1) the retail customer;
(2) a retail electric provider
(REP);
(3) the TDU; or
(4) other person authorized by the
customer.
(d) Data
ownership. The current retail customer shall own all meter data related to the
premise occupied by that customer, regardless of whether the meter owner is the
customer, the owner of the premise, or a third party. A third-party owner of
the meter shall have access to the meter data. To the extent that data
integrity is not compromised, the current retail customer shall have the right
to physical access to the meter to obtain such meter data when technically
feasible. The current retail customer shall have the right and capability,
including necessary security passwords, to assign access to meter data related
to the premise occupied by that customer.
(e) Metering equipment.
(1) No later than 60 days after the effective
date of this section, ERCOT shall develop a process to establish, and
periodically revise, a list of meters that shall be considered qualifying
competitive meters for the purposes of this section. Each qualifying
competitive meter shall meet commission-approved standards and shall be capable
of providing the data necessary for billing in accordance with the TDU's
delivery tariff and for settlement in accordance with the settlement agent's
protocols.
(2) Requests for
installation or removal shall be made to the TDU pursuant to the TDU's
tariff.
(f) Conformance
with metering standards.
(1) A meter that
fails to meet commission-approved standards for accuracy shall not be placed in
service or left in service. A meter found to violate these standards shall be
adjusted or replaced in accordance with this subsection at the time the
violation is discovered.
(2) Meters
shall be adjusted as closely as practicable to the condition of zero
error.
(3) If a meter owned by the
TDU is found not to meet commission-approved standards for accuracy, the TDU
shall install a replacement meter in accordance with its tariffs.
(4) If a meter that is not owned by the TDU
is found not to meet commission-approved standards for accuracy, the TDU shall
install a temporary replacement meter. The temporary replacement meter shall be
capable of providing the data necessary for billing in accordance with the
TDU's tariff, and shall also provide settlement data in accordance with the
settlement agent's protocols. The TDU shall notify the customer and the meter
owner that the meter does not meet commission-approved standards for accuracy
and shall take reasonable measures to safeguard the meter until the meter owner
takes possession of it. The meter owner shall be responsible for the associated
charges, in accordance with the TDU's tariff.
(g) Testing of meters. Costs for meter tests
requested by the customer, REP, competitive meter owner, or TDU shall be the
responsibility of the requesting party in accordance with the TDU's tariff,
except that when a request is made to test a meter that is subsequently found
not to meet commission-approved standards for accuracy, the cost of the meter
test shall be the responsibility of the meter owner.
(1) Upon request for a meter test by a retail
customer, a REP shall request that a meter be tested in accordance with the
TDU's applicable tariff.
(2) A REP
may request that a meter be tested in accordance with the TDU's applicable
tariff.
(3) A meter owner other
than the retail customer may request that a meter be tested in accordance with
the TDU's applicable tariff.
(4) If
the TDU suspects a meter malfunction, it shall promptly test the meter in
accordance with its tariff.
(5)
Following the completion of any meter test, the TDU shall promptly advise the
requestor, and the retail customer's REP of the date of removal of the meter,
the date of the test, the result of the test, and who made the test.
(h) Use of meter data for
settlement and TDU billing.
(1) Both the TDU
and the REP shall have the right and capability, including necessary security
passwords, to access meter data for the purpose of rendering a bill, complying
with settlement rules of an independent organization, and for load research and
load profiling purposes. The TDU is responsible for the security of the data
used for settlement and TDU billing and shall maintain the meter programming
password capable of altering such billing parameters.
(2) No entity other than the TDU shall have
the right, capability, or meter programming password to alter the data
collected by the meter for the purpose of TDU billing.
(3) A TDU's requirements for load research
shall not have the effect of limiting the type or frequency of meter data
available to an end-use customer.
(i) Competitive metering service credit. A
TDU shall file with the commission a tariff that provides a competitive
metering service credit to the REP of a customer that selects a meter owner
other than the TDU. Such tariff shall be accompanied by workpapers
demonstrating the derivation of the credit.
Notes
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