The passage of SB 695 means that Direct Access will be reinstated for retail companies, allowing them to choose who supplies their energy needs. Total Direct Access load is capped in each utility service territory, which means that non-residential customers who do not make it in before the cap is reached may not participate. The load caps for each territory are as follows:
Southern California Edison Co. 11,710,000 MWh
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. 9,520,000 MWh
San Diego Gas & Electric Co. 3,562,000 MWh
This bill allows smaller utility companies to compete for your business, which is usually done through competitive pricing.
The California Public Utilities Commission is working on the basis of a phase-in period, with 35% of the total room under the cap being available from reopening of Direct Access through December 31, 2010. The second full calendar year will allow up to 70% of the available room, the third year 90%, and up to 100% in the final year of the phase-in period. At this point, the cap will be monitored on a continuous basis. If additional room under the cap becomes available, new requests can be submitted for Direct Access service. This may happen if a DA customer decides to return to utility service.
The CPUC order goes in to effect on April 16th, so it is important that non-residential consumers sign up as soon as possible. Five business days after this date, the Open Enrollment window starts, meaning customers may submit a Notice of Intent in order to obtain room under the cap for any accounts that are to be served through Direct Access. The reason you should get in as early as possible is that acceptance will be made on a first come, first served basis. These Notices of Intent will be processed every day so that it can easily be ascertained whether the cap has been met.
The second year of the phase in starts on January 15, 2011. Non-residential consumers should be aware that requests are to be submitted 6 months in advance, meaning they must be sent in by July 15th of this year.
Customers who submit a Notice of Intent have 60 days to ensure that a request for service has been submitted to Direct Access to serve their accounts. Those customers whose Notice of Intents were accepted but who fail to enroll in DA within the 60 day period after being notified they were accepted will be taken off, and customers who are on the waiting list will be notified.
No longer are California businesses forced to use the utility services provided. Now, having a choice of who provides you electricity means substantial savings on electricity costs. This is stimulating for the economy, and good for the market place in general in California.
