Industry groups seek
consensus
Regulators support non-industry stakeholder effort
CUBR
The history of the
issue goes further back, but the issue started heating up last year.
In 1999, the Coalition for Uniform Business Rules (CUBR), representing
primarily retail energy marketers, developed a set of proposed business
rules.
The CUBR website
contains their documents and more information on the effort. [See
www.cubr.org.]
EEI-CUBR sponsor
collaborative process
CUBR and the Edison
Electric Institute (EEI) agreed to meet in a series of workshops to determine
whether a consensus could be reached between marketers and electric utilities.
The National Energy Marketers Association and the Electric Power Supply
Association are also sponsoring organizations. Five meetings were
held in late 1999 and a second series of meetings are underway. While
the meetings are open and a broad spectrum of stakeholders have been invited
to participate, initially marketers and utilities have participated most
vigorously.
The UBP
Interim Report and comments submitted to Ubpnet are available for
review on the Ubpnet site.
The EEI hosts a website
and several mail lists for the EEI-CUBR consensus building effort. Information
about ways to participate in this industry-led effort and information
about upcoming meetings can be found on the website. [See www.ubpnet.org.]
NARUC
Also in 1999, the
National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) initiated
a study of uniform business practices and of the industry-led UBP processes
and recommendations. NARUC has hired the Center for the Advancement
of Energy Markets (CAEM) to assist them in preparing the study.
Among the goals of
the NARUC project is the providing of an opportunity for under-represented
stakeholders, not actively participating in the EEI/CUBR process, to raise
concerns about the process and/or the resolution of issues. CAEM
is conducting a survey of stakeholders to promote awareness of UBP issues
and to collect stakeholder viewpoints.
The development of
business practices is a critical part of opening up retail markets. Many
of the practices govern the relationship between the supplier and the
distribution company and have little consequence for consumer, efficiency,
or environmental interests. Other of the practices will be more significant.
The challenge to those who are not expert in this area is to isolate those
proposed practices that have an impact on their particular interests.
NARUC has identified
the following types of groups that could be affected and so should be
consulted in the process:
- State commissions
- Residential, commercial,
and industrial consumers
- Low income and
elderly
- Environmental
and Energy Efficiency advocates
- State and Federal
Legislators
- Federal agencies
such as DOE, FERC, DOJ, FTC and EPA
If you would like
to know more about participating in our stakeholder outreach efforts,
please contact CAEM President Ken Malloy. [See our Contact
page, or send an email.]
State commission
efforts
In addition to the
NARUC efforts, several state utility commissions have been promoting uniform
business practices within their jurisdictions, and efforts have been made
to coordinate business practice efforts with neighboring states.
The New York Public
Service Commission maintains a collection of uniform business practices
files on its website at www.dps.state.ny.us/ubr.htm.
The Pennsylvania
Public Utilities Commission lists its files related to electronic
data interchange issues, at http://puc.paonline.com/electric/data_exchange.asp.
The Public Utility
Commission of Ohio maintains schedules and documents related to business
practices at www.puc.state.oh.us/consumer/restructuring/industry.html.
GISB
The Gas Industry
Standards Board has been producing wholesale business standards for the
natural gas industry since 1994. Currently, GISB is facilitating
an open discussion on the possible creation of standards organizations
for the wholesale electric industry and the emerging retail gas and electric
market.
GISB has organized
three meetings on the topic in Washington, D.C. Documents related
to these meetings can be found at www.gisb.org/doemtg.htm.
The GISB homepage is www.gisb.org.
And...
Other efforts are
underway to examine uniform business practices and related issues in retail
energy restructuring. We are seeking more uniform business
practice related links for our forthcoming UBP On-line Resources page.
Please e-mail recommended links to the Webmaster.
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