NRDC Slammed for Backing Efficiency Payments to Utilities

A national environmental group was accused of using questionable data to back investor-owned utilities’ claims that they’re “entitled” to $152 million from ratepayers for meeting set energy efficiency goals “We need to be very careful about paying out shareholder incentives,” warned Diana Lee, Division of Ratepayer Advocates attorney. “It is more important to get the numbers right, even if it means a couple of months of delay” in possible incentive payments to utilities. The Natural Resource Defense Council urged regulators to give Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison interim shareholder incentives for efficiency gains before the end of this year. DRA said the environmental group “too heavily relied on utility-data to be accurately characterized as independent,” in an October 22 letter to California Public Utilities commissioner Dian Grueneich and administrative law judge David Gamson. “DRA’s characterization of our analysis is not accurate,” Audrey Chang, NRDC’s California climate change program director, replied October 28. She said her organization was committed to reaching a settlement on the interim payment issue, but reiterated that PG&E and Edison “demonstrated a robust entitlement to interim awards for performance-based incentives.” The crux of the matter is that the CPUC concurs with utilities that Wall Street requires interim payments to shareholders for claimed cuts in energy use not be repaid, even if later proven to be too high. The underlying CPUC proceeding involves the merit of interim payments to utility shareholders for energy efficiency gains between 2006 and 2008. The utilities want a quick payout. The ratepayer advocate organizations note that claimed incentives may be excessive and that the commission’s Energy Division has not yet fully evaluated the outcome of the utility energy efficiency programs for the period. In mid-September, DRA, The Utility Reform Network, and Community Environmental Council jointly protested the utilities’ attempt to seek a second modification of the triennial energy efficiency framework to avoid delays in award payouts for claimed efficiency. The proposed modification would reverse provisions “to protect ratepayers interests” and allow use of an “outdated metric that would overstate the utilities energy savings,” they argued last month. The advocates assert that the utilities may not be entitled to any interim payments. NRDC disagreed, urging regulators to distribute the claimed incentives to “send a crucial signal to all involved about the commission’s commitment to link utility earnings to energy efficiency performances.” Under the triennial energy efficiency proceeding launched last year--and before the CPUC’s long-term efficiency proceeding--utilities are allowed to reap two interim payments based on set formulas. Subsequently, there is supposed to be a true up to address discrepancies between actual energy savings and interim awards.

Over 11K Stories!

| Independently Powered Energy News

NRDC Slammed for Backing Efficiency Payments to Utilities

vdharadmin

Related Posts

California Public Utilities Commission Okays Local Supply Reserves

Bills Pass that Move the Needle on Non Fossil Energy Pass

Legislation to Cut Carbon & Ratepayer Bills Pass

Energy Ballots in $Billions