Staff of the New York PSC have issued proposed guidelines for utilities to follow as they file their distributed system implementation plan, as utilities take on the role of distributed system provider under REV

The guidelines include what utilities should address with respect to customer data.

Specifically, the utilities plans should among other things:

• Explain plans to expand the collection of granular usage data and how to make it available to consumers.

• Explain plans to enhance the ability of utility customers to obtain information regarding their energy usage.

• Identify and explain how vendors can obtain customer specific information from the utility, with authorization from the customer:

• Describe the process(es), protocol(s) and practice(s) for customers to share information with third parties they designate and how the data is transmitted to authorized third parties

• Describe the extent to which existing data transfer processes and protocols can accommodate increasingly granular customer usage data transmitted at more frequent intervals. Explain whether an alternative national standard protocol should be explored to accommodate the need to transmit such granular data, if acceptable, and identify plans to move toward that new standard.

• Describe plans to enhance the ability of customer-specific information to be provided to third parties with customer authorization, using industry-standard protocols.

• Describe required enhancements to privacy and security requirements and practices to accommodate increased data sharing that will accompany a movement to DSP markets.

• Describe, in detail, plans to achieve enhanced consumer engagement, particularly in the time before the implementation of the digital market platform or web-based market is implemented

Staff also asked for comment on the following:

• What should the Commission direct, beyond current requirements, in order to improve customer and authorized third-party access to the most granular data in as near real-time as possible, and

• Specifically, what should the Commission direct in order to enhance Electronic Data Interchnage (EDI) to facilitate customer and third-party access to standardized, machine-readable consumption data with industry leading protocols and practices?