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| VOLUME 12, NUMBER 1 | SEPTEMBER 2008 |
Will Direct Access Return Soon?
The CPUC is looking at ways to bring back direct access, perhaps as soon as 2010. Direct access, which allows ratepayers to contract outside the utility for the electricity commodity part of their electric service, has been suspended since 2001. Only a small subset of customers, those who had direct access contracts in 2001, are permitted to sign direct access contracts today. Legislation signed during the height of the energy crisis placed a freeze on new direct access contracts until the Department of Water Resources got out of the energy crisis. The last DWR contracts expire in 2015.
Under the proposed frameworks, the utilities would assume responsibility for these contracts from DWR, thus complying with the statutes that have frozen direct access. Only four existing contracts do not permit these transfers, and DWR is currently seeking to renegotiate them.
Many customer groups are wary of the proposal, which is likely to raise the concerns of legislators as well. A decision by the CPUC is expected next year.
Contact the AECA by E-Mail
Agricultural Energy Consumers Assocation
925 L Street, Suite 800 / Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 447-6206
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