Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 38, September 20, 2024
(a) Application. The provisions of this
section are applicable to residential electric water heaters and electric
central air conditioners.
(b) Peak
Load Cycling Program. The utility shall carry out a peak load cycling program,
if such a program has been found to be cost effective for the utility. Under
this program, the utility shall offer to install remote load switches in those
identified residences in the utility's service area which contain electric
water heaters or central air conditioners. The switches shall allow the utility
to cycle any of these electric appliances.
(c) Program Implementation. The utility's
peak load cycling program shall consist of three phases as follows:
(1) Peak Load Cycling Plan Development Phase.
The purpose of this phase is to allow the utility to develop a Peak Load
Cycling Plan which will accomplish the program goals set forth in subsection
(d) below. The requirements for the plan are specified in subsection (e) below.
The utility may conduct experimental Peak Load Cycling Programs prior to
approval of its Peak Load Cycling Plan by the Commission. Any such program
shall, to the maximum extent feasible, be consistent with the provisions of the
Peak Load Cycling Plan which is being developed by the utility or which has
been submitted pursuant to Section
1621(d). Any
expenditure which the utility makes in connection with any such experimental
program prior to the approval of its Peak Load Cycling Plan shall be subject to
the approval of the utility's rate-approving body.
(2) Testing and Evaluation Phase. The purpose
of this phase is to allow the utility to conduct detailed testing and
evaluation of alternative technologies for peak load cycling, of customer
acceptance of peak load cycling, and of the benefits of peak load cycling in
terms of reduced peak demand, at a low level of implementation. The testing and
evaluation phase shall commence as soon as the Commission has approved the
utility's Peak Load Cycling Plan and the utility's rate-approving body has
approved program-related tariffs and a method for recovering the cost of the
program. Once this phase has commenced, it shall last for 28 months.
(3) Systemwide Implementation Phase. The
purpose of this phase is to achieve the maximum feasible level of system load
reduction in the utility's peak load cycling program. This phase shall commence
after the Commission takes action pursuant to subsection (h) below.
While the utility is carrying out these phases of its peak
load cycling program, it shall cooperate on an ongoing basis with the
Commission Staff in evaluating the relative merits of alternative hardware
systems, in determining the optimal approaches for obtaining maximum customer
participation in peak load cycling programs, and in improving and refining
methodologies for calculating the cost-effectiveness of peak load cycling
programs and other load management programs.
(d) Program Goal. The utility's peak load
cycling program shall be designed and carried out t achieve the following
goals:
(1) By the end of the testing and
evaluation phase, the utility shall have installed remote load switches on
approximately 8 percent of the total of all identified residential central air
conditioners in the utility's service area, except that a utility may install
switches on a greater or lesser percentage of those appliances, if, in its peak
load cycling plan, the utility provides information which demonstrates that a
program goal of more or less than eight percent will be more cost-effective for
the utility to implement, and if the Commission approves the utility's plan.
The utility shall maintain a level of implementation according to an approved
Peak Load Cycling Plan.
(2) By the
end of the testing and evaluation phase, the utility shall have installed
remote load switches on a sufficient number of residential electric water
heaters in the utility's service area to allow the Commission to determine
whether it would be cost-effective for the utility to implement a peak load
cycling program for residential electric water heaters on a system-wide basis.
The utility shall indicate the number of residential electric water heaters
which will be subject to this experimental program in its peak load cycling
plan as well as the test program methodology for determining cost
effectiveness. In carrying out its peak load cycling program for such
appliances, the utility shall maintain the level of implementation set forth in
its peak load cycling plan.
(e) Peak Load Cycling Plan. No later than
eight months after this article becomes effective, the utility shall submit a
Peak Load Cycling Plan. This Plan shall show how the utility intends to meet
the goal set forth in subsection (d) above. This plan shall, as a minimum,
include the following elements of a peak load cycling program.
(1) Objectives--The plan shall describe, in
detail, the utility's objectives in pursuing the peak load cycling program. The
Plan shall include an assessment of the impact of the peak load cycling program
on system reliability, need for new capacity, fuel efficiency, and overall
costs.
(2) Organization--The plan
shall describe how the utility will organize and manage the peak load cycling
program. It shall include organization charts, qualifications for each position
and the reporting relationship of the effort to the President or General
Manager of the utility. The plan shall describe how the utility intends to
recruit and hire the personnel needed to staff the proposed
organization.
(3) Schedule and
Budget--The plan shall include a detailed schedule for each of the program
elements during the testing and evaluation phase. The schedule shall indicate
each task required to complete each element, the level of effort assigned to
each task, and the beginning and ending dates of each task. The plan shall
include the utility's detailed budget for carrying out all elements of the peak
load cycling program. It shall display dollars budgeted over time, by task, for
personnel, equipment, and outside contractors.
(4) Customer Identification--The plan shall
describe how the utility intends to identify those residences in its service
area which are equipped with electric water heaters and central
air-conditioners. The plan shall also set forth the utility's determinations as
to which segment or segments of its customers, and which locations will be
selected for inclusion in the testing and evaluation phase of the utility's
peak load cycling program. Such determinations shall be based on an analysis of
the mix of appliances and those locations for which the peak load cycling
program carried out during the testing and evaluation phase will provide the
most cost-effective reductions in peak system load. This analysis shall utilize
a sampling technique which assumes that the results of the testing and
evaluation phase will serve as an adequate basis for identifying the probable
effects of systemwide implementation. The results of this analysis shall be
submitted with the plan.
(5)
Customer Acceptance--The plan shall describe how the utility intends to assess
customer attitudes toward participation in the peak load cycling program. It
shall describe how the utility will use this information to tailor both the
peak load cycling program and the public education element to encourage
customer participation. The plan shall describe how the utility intends to
estimate the various levels of customer participation that will occur with
various levels of interruptible tariff. This element of the plan shall draw
upon the experiences of other utilities in similar programs as well as any
primary research that the utility may propose.
(6) Interruptible Tariffs--The plan shall
describe how the utility intends to develop and propose interruptible tariffs
which will encourage its residential customers to participate in the peak load
cycling program. The value of the customer incentives contained in such tariffs
shall not exceed the et cost savings to the utility from the customer's
participation in the program. These tariffs shall prescribe alternative rates
which correspond to different cycling schedules. In addition, the plan shall
indicate how the utility, during the testing and evaluation phase, intends to
investigate and evaluate alternative methods for recovering the costs
associated with the installation of remote load switches on a systemwide basis.
Interruptible tariffs which are offered to customers who participate in the
program should reflect the differences, in terms of costs to the utility, of
any such alternative methods. When the utility submits its Peak Load Cycling
Plan, it shall also include its proposed interruptible tariff
schedule.
(7) Public Education--The
plan shall describe how the utility will inform the public about the peak load
cycling program.
(8) Equipment
Selection--The plan shall describe how the utility intends to select the
equipment needed to carry out the peak load cycling program. It shall describe
how the utility will review and evaluate the various types of equipment that
are available and how a selection will be made. It shall describe how the
utility intends to stay abreast of the state-of-the-art and incorporate
technological improvements and cost reductions into its equipment system as
these become available. The plan shall describe the steps that the utility will
take to assure that the selected equipment is delivered in time to meet
specified program goals.
(9)
Customer Sign-Up--The plan shall describe the procedures which the utility
intends to utilize to solicit customer participation in the peak load cycling
program. The plan shall describe how these procedures are reasonably related to
the specified program goals.
(10)
Equipment Installation and Maintenance--The plan shall describe how the utility
intends to install and maintain equipment (including remote load switches) in
an economical and professional manner that causes minimum inconvenience and
disruption to customers.
(11)
Program Operations--The plan shall describe how the utility intends to use
remote load switches to meet the purposes in Section
1621(a). It shall
describe how the switches will coordinate with system dispatching procedures
and equipment. The plan shall describe how the utility intends to respond to
customer questions, problems, or complaints about the program.
(12) Program Evaluation--The plan shall
describe how the utility intends to evaluate, on an ongoing basis, the quality
and performance of each element of the peak load cycling program. It shall
describe how evaluations will be made and the results fed back into each
element to improve the program on a regular basis. The plan shall include an
outline of the reporting formats that the utility intends to use for progress
reports to the Commission, and it shall show how the Commission will be
notified, in a timely manner, of unexpected delays or difficulties in
implementing the program.
(13)
Other Information--The plan shall include any other information that the
utility deems appropriate for Commission consideration in relation to the peak
load cycling program.
Review and approval of Peak Load Cycling Plans shall be
carried out in accordance with the provisions of Section
1621(d).
The utility's peak load cycling program shall be carried
out in accordance with the provisions of an approved Peak Load Cycling Plan. No
later than one month after the Commission has approved a utility's Peak Load
Cycling Plan, the utility shall ask its rate-approving body to grant the
proposed interruptible tariffs and to approve a method for recovering the costs
of the program.
(f) Progress Reports. Within 18 months and
within 30 months after the testing and evaluation phase commences pursuant to
Section 1622(c)(2), the
utility shall submit Progress Reports to the Executive Director. These Reports
shall specify the number of appliances subject to this standard, the number of
appliances with remote load switches, and the number of appliances on each peak
load cycling schedule, and it shall include an evaluation of the technical
performance of the remote load switches, an evaluation of the observed impacts,
if any, of the use of these switches on utility system operations and on the
appliances to which they are connected. These Reports shall indicate the impact
of this program on the utility's load duration curve for the previous 12-month
period. For each day of the previous year, these reports shall also indicate at
what times, how often, and for how long the utility used remote load switches.
The second of the two Progress Reports shall recommend to the Commission how
the utility's peak load cycling program should be modified, for the purposes of
systemwide implementation, in terms of hardware systems, alternative tariff
schedules, the mix of appliances subject to this standard, the implementation
schedule, long-term program goals, and any other appropriate considerations.
The second Progress Report shall also analyze the anticipated impact of
systemwide implementation of peak load cycling on the utility's resource
plan.
(g) Executive Director's
Report. Within two months of receipt of the utility's second Progress Report,
the Executive Director shall submit to the Commission a Report on that
utility's peak load cycling program, which contains the following information:
(1) The Executive Director's evaluation of
the information contained in the utility's two Progress Reports, including the
recommendations set forth in the second Progress Report; and
(2) The Executive Director's recommendations
with respect to the expanded implementation or termination of remote load
switching for each of the two kinds of appliances which are subject to this
standard.
(h) Long Range
Programs. Within two months after it receives the Executive Director's Report
on a utility's peak load cycling program, the Commission shall hold a public
hearing to review the utility's two Progress Reports and the Executive
Director's Report. Following this hearing, the Commission shall undertake one
or more of the following actions:
(1) Expand
the level of implementation of remote load switching for one or both of the
kinds of appliances subject to this standard to a level which the Commission
determines to be feasible and cost-effective;
(2) Terminate the remote load switching
program for one or both of these kinds of appliances; or
(3) Undertake such additional actions which
the Commission determines to be necessary and practical to implement the
utility's peak load cycling program.
(i) Compliance. A utility shall be in
compliance with this standard if:
(1) The
Commission has approved the utility's Peak Load Cycling Plan;
(2) The utility is conducting a peak load
cycling program in conformance with the provisions of its approved Peak Load
Cycling Plan and the provisions of subsection (d) above; and
(3) The utility submits all reports required
by this section in a timely manner.
1. Change
without regulatory effect amending subsections (g)(1)-(2) filed 8-24-2022
pursuant to section
100, title 1, California Code of
Regulations (Register 2022, No. 34).
Note: Authority cited: Sections
25213
and
25218(e),
Public Resources Code. Reference: Section
25403.5,
Public Resources Code.
