Shared meter electricity bill dispute for commercial property with the That being said, we do not disagree that the utility can rely on reasonable employee documentation to support its decisions. Pursuant to the Commission's directive, the Gas Safety Division reviewed existing regulations and tariff language on meter location. 6 Act 11 of 2012 signed into law on February 14, 2012. The Commission has adopted provisions of the Code of Federal Regulations, which address the safety issues related to meter set location and installation and thus are in conflict with the existing Pennsylvania regulations. Ultimately, Gas Safety concluded that the Commission's existing regulation at 52 Pa.Code 59.18 is vague, inadequate, and out-of-date with respect to the federal standards which the Commission has adopted. The United States Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA) published the final rule establishing integrity management requirements for gas distribution pipeline systems on December 4, 2009. EAP notes that all the large NGDCs have filed individual LTIIPs under Act 11, all of which have been approved by the Commission. If a net metering small commercial, commercial or industrial customers self-generation results in a 10% or more reduction in the customers purchase of electricity through the EDCs transmission and distribution network for an annualized period when compared to the prior annualized period, the net metering small commercial, commercial or industrial customer shall be responsible for its share of stranded costs to prevent interclass or intraclass cost shifting under 66 Pa.C.S. P.U.C., 231 A.3d 1027 (Pa. Cmwlth. Accordingly, Society Hill proposes that subsection (d)(1) of the proposed rule be amended to read, in pertinent part, as follows: We shall adopt PGW's amendment to the regulation at (d)(1)(i)(A) and (B) of the final rulemaking. One alternative is to retrofit existing service lines with Excess Flow Valves (EFV). Utilities also seek clarification whether this regulation, if adopted, would apply to meter sets installed after the effective date of this proposed regulation since a number of new requirements are not requirements of meter sets today. If these circumstances do not exist, then the general rule of paragraph (1) of subsection (a) applies and the meter and regulator shall be located outside and above ground. Year and yearlyThe period of time from June 1 through May 31. The responding NGDCs also addressed the cost of moving meter sets from the inside to the outside. On August 21, 2008, the Commission directed the Bureau of Transportation, Gas Safety Division, to institute an investigation into the issue of gas meter placement and relocation in the context of service disputes between gas distribution companies and their customers. However, consistent with our understanding of where regulators are not required, we shall qualify this paragraph by adding the introductory clause ''[e]xcept for low pressure systems with service line pressure less than 10 psig.''. No statutes or acts will be found at this website. As indicated previously, IRRC also recommended that the PUC publish an advance notice of final rulemaking to allow the public and standing committees the opportunity to review any revisions that the PUC makes to the regulatory language before submittal of a final-form regulation. 1648.7(a) and 1648.3(e)(2)). In support, PGW explains that 99% of PGW's service lines are operated at a low pressure (i.e. (d)The Bureau of Technical Utility Services will review the net metering application, the EDC recommendation and applicant response, and make a determination as to whether the alternative energy system complies with this chapter and the EDCs net metering tariff. As indicated previously, the Commission addressed meter placement and location and general requirements for new service lines. In a May 2020 opinion, [2] Judge Wojcik, writing for a panel of the court, agreed and granted most of the relief requested by Mr. Hommrich, ruling that several of the sections of the Commissions regulations, namely, Sections 75.12, 75.13(a)(1) and the definitions of utility and customer generator and are invalid and unenforceable. The City of Allentown (City) filed comments first asserting that natural gas distribution companies should be required to share the specific location of emergency shut-off valves, meters, and regulators with local emergency services, especially in instances where the service line to a property or customer is being upgraded or newly installed. (c)A retail electric customer may qualify its alternative energy system located within a microgrid for customer-generator status if it satisfies the following requirements: (1)The alternative energy system complies with IEEE Standard 1547.4. (i)A customer-generator that is eligible for net metering owns the alternative energy credits of the electricity it generates, unless there is a contract with an express provision that assigns ownership of the alternative energy credits to another entity or the customer-generator expressly rejects any ownership interest in alternative energy credits under 75.14(d) (relating to meters and metering). Peoples believes the better alternative is to amend the ANOFRO revisions to acknowledge that in certain circumstances, meters may need to be placed in prohibited locationsand to provide the natural gas distribution company with the flexibility to use its expertise in determining whether the meter should be placed inside the structure, or outside of the structure in one of the areas now noted as prohibited. We supported this legislation to implement a distribution system improvement charge (DSIC) based on our belief that gas utilities need to initiate infrastructure replacement programs. Any excess kilowatt hours that are not offset by electricity used by the customer in subsequent billing periods shall continue to accumulate until the end of the year. While state approaches to utility submetering vary, polices may establish provisions for acceptable uses of submetering in properties, create a mechanism for determining customers charges, and determine if building owners may charge customers additional fees. Other Important Parts of the Law Summary of New York a) Refunds State's For the reasons stated therein, we have modified subparagraph (d)(1)(i), which is now identified as (d)(1)(ii). It was also recommended to the Commission to develop design guidelines for the appropriate location of meters and regulators. Columbia submits that it will be forced to redirect resources away from higher priority risks and jeopardize Columbia's ability to meet its Commission approved forecasted LTIIP, and notably, does not take into account that Act 11 was passed after these proposed regulations were initiated. 501, the Commission formally commenced a rulemaking process to amend its existing regulations at 52 Pa.Code 59.18 ''Meter Location.'' PHMC recommends that the regulations direct gas companies to develop guidelines for relocating outside meters in locally designated historic districts, and these guidelines should provide alternatives for typical historic building types (e.g. We shall amend subsection (d) in the final regulation by retaining paragraph (c)(2) from the proposed rulemaking which reads: ''(2) Regulators shall be located outside when a meter is located inside.'' IRRC further believes the proposed regulation includes only meter and regulator locations and does not address several of the other safety concerns identified by the Commission in its Order. When the utility embarks on a major construction project, the utility must be knowledgeable about the building standards. Three gas distribution utilities have high numbers of inside meter sets with inside regulators that are at higher risk for failure because the inside meter and regulator are connected to a steel service line. It means that project developers who focus on net metering projects, i.e., up to 5 MW, are back in business and can develop and participate in those projects as they could pre-2016, that funders can finance those projects, and that utilities and the Commission cannot reject them on the basis that developer is a utility as the Commission vainly attempted to define that term. We agreed it would be inequitable to require these customers to replace their service lines at the customers' expense when the replacement was required by Columbia's main replacement and upgrade project. We do believe, however, that it is necessary to add an additional category in paragraph (d)(1) to inside meter locations. Please have your account number and any needed documents available. PECO states that it already has an effective process for notifying customers of maintenance workPECO sends letters one week in advance of the work beginning. The gas utilities specifically note that federal regulations require utilities to file DIMPs, audited by the Commission, which identify, categorize, and rank risks associated with distribution facilities. The regulation provides a general rule that meters and regulators shall be located outside and aboveground, and that the utility shall provide written notice of a relocation. We believe it is reasonable to establish a specific time period as a minimum amount of time to provide the customer notice of the proposed relocation. Simply put, residential tenants whose utility meters measure consumption inside and outside their homes, have a shared meter. Consideration is also given to inside meter locations that satisfy certain requirements. Therefore, Society Hill submits that only local historic districts have the power to prohibit alteration or demolition of historic properties. 192.383(b) since, as the regulation implicitly recognizes, excess flow valves are not effective on a low-pressure service line which does not operate at a pressure of 10 psig or greater throughout the year. Finally, the specific issues raised by the comments to the specific subsections, paragraphs and subparagraphs of Annex A of the Proposed Rulemaking Order are addressed, discussed, and resolved. The data requests included questions related to the number of inside/outside meter sets, inside regulators, tariff language, inside meter set leak calls, reportable incidents associated with inside meter sets, meter relocation charges, inside leak surveys, and local ordinances requiring certain meter locations. (f)The Bureau of Technical Utility Services will approve or disapprove the net metering application within 5 days of an applicants response to an EDCs recommendation to deny approval, but no more than 30 days after an EDC submits an application with a recommendation to deny approval, whichever is earlier. We do not agree with the alternative proposed by the gas utilities that meters may be located inside within a building if an excess flow valve is installed at the service line tap and the service line pressure is equal to or greater than 10 psig. 7277, 7448. . Electric distribution systemThat portion of an electric system which delivers electricity from transformation points on the transmission system to points of connection at a customers premises. The Secretary shall submit this Final Rulemaking Order, Attachment One and Annex A to the Governor's Budget Office for review of fiscal impact. Laws Article 2, Residential Gas, Electric and Steam Utility Service; Section 52, Gas, Electric and Steam Service to Tenants Provided Through Shared Meters. Although that comment is consistent with 49 C.F.R. 192.383(b), we do not believe that it is necessary to cite the Federal regulation as proposed in the ANOFRO. Moreover, Society Hill suggests that a pictorial representation of the meter and related equipment, demonstrating its size and character in readily understandable form accompanies the notice. Again, we agree with National Fuel, as we have with the other utilities, that meter replacement should be coordinated with larger infrastructure improvement projects. In addition, although we agree that there could be factors that may result in opportunities for People's to accelerate installations, we assume these are sporadic and that generally the utility will have an infrastructure replacement construction schedule more than 30 days out.