The Commission issued an Order approving a $27 million increase in Consumers annual electric revenues. The Commission also decided a number of retail choice-related issues that were raised in the proceeding by NEM. Despite the ALJ's recommendation that Consumers be required to implement an electric POR program, the Commission declined to do so. Instead, the Commission stated that, "the concept for such a program should be investigated more thoroughly in the future." The Commission decided that Consumers should be required to retain its structured (consolidated) billing option and that current residential notice and 2-year minimum stay provisions associated with choice customers return to utility service should be changed to require a twelve-month minimum stay. The Commission declined to reestablish the choice education funding mechanism for electric utilities but did commit that it should stand ready to through its website, consumer alerts, mailers, news releases and community forums to provide choice information to the public. The Commission directed Consumers to include in its tariff a provision requiring the utility to give suppliers with all current balancing and energy delivery requirements data when a supplier newly enters the competitive market and to all suppliers when the requirements change. The full text of the Consumers Electric Order is available on the NEM Website.

Earlier this year, New York Governor Paterson created the State Energy Planning Board by Executive Order. The Board is charged with developing a State Energy Plan that is due in final form by June 30, 2009, and that will be open for comment. The State Energy Plan is supposed to address long range energy policy objectives and strategies for achieving them. Ten-year demand forecasts and supply requirements for electricity, natural gas, coal and petroleum products are to be developed. The Plan is also to make a comparison of electric and natural gas utility rates charged to different customer classes versus rates charged by states competing with New York State for business. Energy price projections are also to be included in the plan.

The Board has released a Draft Work Scope for the 2009 New York State Energy Plan. It sets forth areas for proposd technical assessments and issue briefs.

Proposed technical assessments would include energy efficiency, renewable energy, electricity, natural gas, petroleum, coal, demand forecasts and price forecasts.

Proposed issue briefs would include meeting future energy needs; energy infrastructure needs; siting new energy infrastructure; energy costs and economic development; health impacts of energy use; environmental justice; meeting transportation needs and alternative transportation options; climate change; environmental impact and regulation of energy systems; and regional energy issues.

The Board is accepting comment on the Draft Work Scope. Comments are due July 8, 2008.

The full text of the Executive Order Creating the State Energy Planning Board and the Draft Scope of the 2009 New York State Energy Plan are attached and posted on the NEM Website.

In the Commission’s Final Policy Statement on Default Service and Retail Electric Markets it, “identified a number of issues where opportunities exist to enhance customer choice and facilitate the development of retail markets. Robust, effective markets are [a] vital element of any post-rate cap price mitigation strategy.” As a result, the Commission announced the formation of a Retail Markets Working Group to examine such issues including information and data access, rate and bill ready billing, purchase of receivables, referral programs, supplier tariffs, and retail choice ombudsmen.

NEM's Comments recommend that: 1) Consumer information and data should be available to appropriate parties in a timely, accurate, low-cost and easily usable format; 2) In a competitive marketplace, consumers should be permitted a choice of billing options (marketer consolidated, utility consolidated, dual bill). The availability of rate and bill ready billing will enhance the availability of consumer billing options from their supplier of choice; 3) As long as a utility remains in the competitive commodity market, the efficient use of its legacy billing infrastructure through the implementation of a purchase of receivables program to the benefit of all consumers is and should be considered a best practice; 4) Marketer referral programs should be implemented by the utilities on a continued basis as a low risk option through which consumers can learn about and participate in energy choice; 5) The adoption of uniform supplier tariffs supports competitive suppliers ability to enter multiple utility service territories on a low cost, efficient basis; and 6) A retail choice ombudsman should be instituted at each utility and at the Commission as an integral element of facilitating retail market development. The full text of NEM's Comments is available on the NEM Website.