Tell the State to Save Electricity and Help Consumers
Click here to view recent Bryn Mawr College graduate Sarah Golobish’s report: Energy Efficiency & Conservation: Federal and State Policy Impacting PA
Pennsylvania will soon enter into the next phase of a statewide program to reduce electricity consumption and as a consumer, you can make your voice heard. This program requires large electricity utilities to create plans to reduce electricity use and air pollution, saving consumers money.
Smart meters are a new technology at the center of efforts to reduce electricity demand. For smart meters to create savings for consumers, utilities and customers must have the latest information about electricity usage and be given clear incentives for reducing electricity consumption.
Clean Air Council urges Pennsylvania electric utilities to commit to “Time of Use” pricing where residents can pay less for electricity during times of low demand. This dynamic pricing structure is facilitated by the use of smart meters and gives residents the option to purchase cheaper electricity while reducing peak demand.
The Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is in the process of finalizing the implementation of the 4th phase of Act 129. This will set targets for utility energy efficiency for the next five years. The implementation order outlining the specifics of the proposed plan can be found here.
Please follow these instructions for submitting a comment to the PUC and continue reading to view Clean Air Council’s suggested comment.
PUC Commenting Info:
o Create an account with the PUC’s eFiling system (link: https://www.puc.state.pa.us/efiling/NewUser.aspx)
o Sign in to the system and submit your comment with the cover sheet. Note that the system does not work with certain web browsers and the commission recommends using Google Chrome or Firefox.
After you create your login, you must select “existing case” from the efiling dropdown menu and after selecting “existing case” you will have the opportunity to enter the docket number: M-2020-3015228
Then you will be directed to the “Upload Files” page. Visit this page to view Clean Air Council’s sample comment with the required cover letter. You must download this document and enter your personal information within the included cover letter. Then save the document as a PDF on your device and upload it to the PUC website. You must save this document as a PDF file in order to upload it to the PUC website. Under document type, select “Comments”.
Thank you for your patience in this complex, state-required commenting process. Please contact Russell Zerbo at rzerbo@cleanair.org with questions.
Important Information:
– Docket No. M-2020-3015228
– Comments due April 27th 2020
Suggested Comment:
“The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission’s (PUC) proposed plan for Phase IV of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Program, created by Act 129 of 2008, sets important electricity reduction targets for the next few years; however, it fails to motivate utilities to use all tools at their disposal to reach these targets. Specifically, the plan fails to incentivize the use of dispatchable demand response (DDR) programs which incentivize conservation through increased access to electricity usage data using smart meters (see p.26 of the Implementation Order).
Given that energy demand changes throughout the day, demand response programs look to strategically move some of the demand or load on the electricity grid to the periods where demand is low. For example, customers might run their dishwashers during the day rather than right after dinner. Reducing peak demand is key to ensuring that older, dirtier, reserve power plants don’t need to come back online during periods of high demand. Additionally, reducing periods of high demand can help to reduce stress on aging grid infrastructure and prevent blackouts.
While the DDR study commissioned by the PUC didn’t show solid benefits across the board, the commission should be encouraging utilities to pursue these programs seriously. This is especially important given the roll out of customer-funded smart meters, which facilitate demand response programs yet are not being sufficiently used by utilities. As noted by the PUC, “higher incentive levels produce increased estimates of participation and peak demand reduction.” (pp. 29 of the Implementation Order)
By the end of 2023, all customer’s of Pennsylvania’s 7 largest electricity distribution systems will be required to have functioning smart meters and will be charged a monthly fee. In order for smart meters to create savings for consumers beyond their costs, utilities and customers must have the latest information about electricity usage and be given clear incentives for reducing electricity consumption during periods of high demand.
To that end, I urge Pennsylvania electric utilities to further commit to “Time of Use” pricing where residents can pay less for electricity during times of low demand. This dynamic pricing structure is facilitated by the use of smart meters and gives residents the option to purchase cheaper electricity while reducing peak demand.
Please increase the deployment and usage of smart meters in order to most effectively reduce peak demand electricity consumption, saving consumers money on electricity and reducing the air pollution associated with electricity generation. Thank you for your time.”
Clean Air Council thanks recent Bryn Mawr College graduate Sarah Golobish for her dedicated work on this effort. View more of her work on energy efficiency here.
