Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

BILL AS INTRODUCED                                                          H.631
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                                       H.631
 Introduced by Representatives Stebbins of Burlington, Campbell of St.
                 Johnsbury, Patt of Worcester, and Torre of Moretown
 Referred to Committee on
 Date:
 Subject: Utilities; energy consumption; data access; energy storage
 Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to establish a
 structure for accessing energy consumption data from Vermont utilities and for
 establishing an energy storage program.
    An act relating to access to utility energy consumption data and
    establishment of an energy storage program
 It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont:
 Sec. 1. 30 V.S.A. § 256 is added to read:
 § 256. ENERGY CONSUMPTION; DATA ACCESS
    (a) Findings. The General Assembly finds:
         (1) Optimizing energy use through whole-building utility data access is
 in the public interest because it provides consumers, building owners, utilities,
 and states with significant economic benefits.
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       (2) Implementing building energy use data access legislation catalyzes
 the development of a strong market for building energy services that will
 positively impact Vermont’s economy through significant job growth.
       (3) Improving the energy use efficiency of the existing building stock is
 a key strategy to help preserve the affordability of rental housing.
       (4) Energy use reductions stemming from data access can result in direct
 cost savings to customers and also in peak load reductions that benefit all
 ratepayers.
       (5) Data access programs allow utilities to maximize the value of their
 energy use efficiency portfolio by engaging customers and directing them to
 energy efficiency programs and by enabling utilities to target low-performing
 buildings.
       (6) Implementing building data access enables building owners in
 Vermont to qualify for certain federal and other incentives to help them
 improve their assets.
       (7) Energy use data access is the foundation of a successful efficiency
 strategy and enables building owners to track energy use performance over
 time, set performance goals, and justify cost-effective energy use upgrades.
       (8) Absent whole-building energy data access legislation, building
 owners lack an efficient, defined process to obtain energy performance of their
 buildings in a manner that protects customer confidentiality.
                                                                        VT LEG #372817 v.2
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    (b) Definitions. As used in this section:
       (1) “Account holder” or “customer” means the person authorized to
 access or modify utility account details.
       (2) “Aggregated usage data” means an aggregation of covered usage
 data, where all data associated with a qualified building or qualified property,
 including data from both tenant meters and owner meters, are combined into
 one collective data point per utility data type, per time period, and where any
 unique identifiers or other personal information are removed or dissociated
 from individual meter data. The utility shall provide all necessary data points
 for qualified data recipients to comply with reporting requirements to which
 they are subject, including any such data the utility possesses.
       (3) “Aggregation threshold” means three or more unique nonresidential
 qualified accounts or five or more unique qualified accounts of a property or
 building during the period for which data is requested.
       (4) “Benchmarking tool” means the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager
 web-based tool, or any prudent and cost-effective alternative tool approved by
 the Commission that:
          (A) enables the periodic entry of a building’s energy usage data and
 other descriptive information about a building; and
          (B) rates a building’s energy efficiency against that of comparable
 buildings nationwide.
                                                                        VT LEG #372817 v.2
     BILL AS INTRODUCED                                                           H.631
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       (5) “Covered usage data” means electric, gas, district energy, water, and
 delivered-fuel data collected from one or more utility meters that reflects the
 quantity and time period of utility usage with respect to a building or property,
 or portion thereof.
       (6) “Data recipient” means:
          (A) an owner of the property or building;
          (B) an owner of a portion of a property with regard to covered usage
 data only for the utility consumption it or its tenants, if any, pay for and
 consume in the owned portion;
          (C) a tenant with regard to covered usage data only for the utility
 consumption it or its subtenants, if any, pay for and consume in the space
 leased by the tenant;
          (D) the board in the case of a condominium or cooperative ownership
 of the property or building; or
          (E) an agent authorized to receive the covered usage data by any of
 the above.
       (7) “District energy” means steam, hot water, chilled water, and other
 heat or heat rejection services, or both, delivered through fixed pipes to
 multiple properties.
       (8) “Property” means:
          (A) a single tax parcel;
                                                                         VT LEG #372817 v.2
     BILL AS INTRODUCED                                                         H.631
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          (B) two or more tax parcels held in the cooperative or condominium
 form of ownership and governed by a single board of managers; or
          (C) two or more co-located tax parcels owned or controlled by the
 same entity.
       (9) “Qualified account” means a utility account that serves some or all
 of a building or property for which covered usage data is requested and that, as
 affirmed by the data recipient, was not controlled by the data recipient or its
 subsidiary during the time period for which covered usage data is requested.
       (10) “Qualified building” means a building that meets the aggregation
 threshold.
       (11) “Qualified data recipient” means data recipient with respect to a
 qualified property or qualified building.
       (12) “Qualified property” means a property that meets the aggregation
 threshold.
       (13) “Qualified utility” means a large, medium, or small qualified
 utility, further defined as follows:
          (A) “Large qualified utility” means a utility that has:
              (i) 100,000 or more active accounts, customers, or commercial or
 industrial service connections in the State; or VT LEG #372817 v.2
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             (ii) more than 50 active accounts, customers, or commercial or
 industrial service customers in the State and has over $500,000,000.00 in
 annual revenue from within the State.
          (B) “Medium qualified utility” means a utility that does not qualify
 as a large qualified utility and that has:
             (i) 10,000 or more active accounts, customers, or commercial or
 industrial service connections in the State; or
             (ii) more than 50 active accounts, customers, or commercial or
 industrial service customers in the State and has $40,000,000.00–
 $500,000,000.00 in annual revenue from within the State.
          (C) “Small qualified utility” means a utility that does not qualify as a
 large or medium qualified utility and that has:
             (i) more than 1,000 active accounts, customers, or commercial or
 industrial service connections in the State; or
             (ii) more than 20 active accounts, customers, or commercial or
 industrial service customers in the State and has $10,000,000.00 or more in
 annual revenue from within the State.
       (14) “Utility” means a person that distributes and sells electricity;
 natural gas; delivered fuel, such as fuel oil, propane, kerosene, and coal; or
 district energy for use in buildings.
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       (15) “Utility data type” means one of the following four types: electric,
 gas, district energy, or delivered fuel.
    (c) Data access procedures. On or before October 1, 2024, the Commission
 shall open a proceeding and establish by rule or order procedures to implement
 the requirements of this section. The Commission shall consider industry best
 practices in developing the rule or order. The procedures shall require that:
       (1) A utility shall retain all consumption data for a period of not less
 than two years.
       (2) A qualified utility shall retain monthly consumption data used for
 billing for a period of not less than 15 years.
       (3) A utility shall honor an account holder’s request to transmit the
 account holder’s covered usage data held by the utility to any entity designated
 by the account holder.
       (4) A qualified data recipient with respect to a qualified building or a
 qualified property may request that a qualified utility provide aggregated usage
 data for the qualified building or the qualified property. Aggregated usage data
 shall include identifiers of all meters associated with the aggregate data and
 any other information needed for data quality assurance.
       (5) A utility shall deliver data requested under this subsection according
 to schedules set by the Commission.
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     BILL AS INTRODUCED                                                         H.631
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       (6) The account holder request process and the utility delivery of
 requested data shall be convenient and secure.
    (d) Stakeholder process. Within 100 days after opening the proceeding
 required by subsection (c) of this section, the Commission shall initiate or
 participate in a stakeholder process to inform its fulfillment of the requirements
 of this section. The stakeholder process shall:
       (1) Be completed in not more than 18 months.
       (2) Include stakeholder workshops organized and facilitated in a way
 that encourages representation from diverse stakeholders and ensures equitable
 opportunities for participation. Stakeholders shall not need formal intervention
 or legal representation to participate in the workshops. As used in this
 subsection, “stakeholders” include companies, data recipients, tenants,
 environmental groups, consumer advocates, tenant advocates, housing
 advocates, local communities, and other interested members of the public.
       (3) Include opportunities for dialogue and written comments.
       (4) Solicit stakeholder comment on a preliminary draft proposal
 prepared by the Commission or by other stakeholders, as appropriate.
    (e) Public data. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary,
 aggregated usage data shall not be deemed customer utility usage information,
 personally identifiable information, critical energy infrastructure information,
 or confidential information and shall not be subject to protections as such.
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    (f) Nonqualified utility data access. Any covered usage data that a utility
 provides to a data recipient under this section shall be:
       (1) Available to be requested online and in printable paper form. A
 nonqualified utility may provide only paper request forms upon a showing of
 hardship. A utility’s validation of the requestor’s identity shall be consistent
 with, and not more onerous than, the utility’s then-current practices.
       (2) Provided to the data recipient in a time frame, frequency, format, and
 delivery method prescribed by the Commission.
    (g) Qualified utility data access. Any covered usage data that a qualified
 utility provides to a data recipient under this section shall:
       (1) be provided to the data recipient within:
          (A) 90 days after receiving the data recipient’s valid written or
 electronic request if the request is received on or before July 1, 2025; or
          (B) 30 days after receiving the data recipient’s valid written or
 electronic request if the request is received after July 1, 2025;
       (2) subject to subsection (k) of this section, include at least the most
 recent 48 consecutive months of covered usage data prior to the initial date the
 data was requested, regardless of whether the data recipient had a business
 relationship with the building or property during that time period;
                                                                         VT LEG #372817 v.2
     BILL AS INTRODUCED                                                          H.631
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       (3) include all necessary data points for data recipients to comply with
 reporting requirements to which they are subject, including any such data that
 the utility possesses;
       (4) be directly uploaded to the data recipient’s benchmarking tool
 account, delivered in a spreadsheet in a standard format consistent with the
 benchmarking tool, or delivered in another format approved by the
 Commission, depending on utility size, and within a time frame prescribed by
 the Commission that reflects utility size and capability;
       (5) be provided to the data recipient according to a schedule set by the
 Commission, but not less than monthly;
       (6) be provided until the data recipient revokes the request for usage
 data or is no longer a data recipient or is no longer a qualified data recipient
 with respect to aggregated usage data;
       (7) be accompanied by a list of all meters associated with the coverage
 usage data, including aggregated usage data, and shall be accompanied by any
 other information the Commission deems necessary, including for data quality
 assurance; and
       (8) be provided at no cost to the data recipient.
    (h) Data validity and usefulness. To ensure the validity and usefulness of
 covered usage data, a utility shall provide the best available consumption and
 other information, consistent with the utility’s records as presented to the VT LEG #372817 v.2
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 account holder on the utility’s customer portal and on the account holder’s
 bills.
    (i) Data revisions and notifications. The Commission shall establish by
 rule or order procedures for data recipients to request and receive timely
 revisions correcting erroneous covered usage data. Once covered usage data
 has been entered into the benchmarking tool, it shall not be deleted or altered
 by utility systems, except as is necessary to correct errors or reflect re-bills.
 Whenever previously provided covered usage data is changed to correct errors,
 notification shall be provided to the data recipient.
    (j) Customer authorization. On or before October 1, 2024, the Commission
 shall adopt a standard form for customers to authorize the sharing of their
 covered usage data. For properties that do not meet the aggregation threshold
 and therefore require customer authorization, the utility shall provide covered
 usage data to data recipients upon customer authorization, which:
          (1) may be provided in a form approved by the Commission;
          (2) may be provided in a lease agreement provision; and
          (3) remains valid until the customer revokes it, regardless of how the
 authorization is provided.
    (k) Access to and sharing of data. Access to covered usage data under this
 section shall be subject to any rules adopted by the Commission pursuant to
 this section. In addition:
                                                                          VT LEG #372817 v.2
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       (1) A utility shall provide to a data recipient unaggregated data
 regarding usage by an account holder that has vac