I hope you had a great Thanksgiving.

PG&E and the other investor owned utilities submitted their responses to the various parties’ protests on the 19th of November. Their responses – here is PG&E’s – essentially asked the CPUC to disregard our protests. On the 20th, the CPUC suspended the tariffs for 120 days and promised to get in touch regarding next steps.

The 120 day period seems unnecessarily long. We think, but don’t know for sure – the CPUC hasn’t responded to my request for information – that the CPUC may be trying to coordinate their response to the tariff issue with another matter that requires their immediate attention.

One of the requirements of AB 327, which passed earlier this year, was for the CPUC to determine by March 2014 how to deal with current and future (through July 1, 2017) net energy metering (NEM) customers. In his signing statement, Governor Brown specifically asked the CPUC to ensure that these customers are protected.

On November 27th, the day before Thanksgiving, the CPUC asked for opening comments about the NEM transition to be submitted by Friday, December 6. A short while ago, in response to requests from Vote Solar and others, the CPUC agreed to extend the deadline by one week. The CPUC is interested in opinions on a few questions listed on pages 3 and 4 of their November 27th ruling. Please review these questions and let me know what you think.

I am going to suggest, in response to their questions, that all NEM agreements signed by July 1, 2017 remain valid through June 30, 2047. Also, that these customers be given the option, but not be required, to transition to new NEM agreements when those become available.

More on the tariff issue when I have more news…