Colorado and the Smart Grid
Keystone Energy Board
Washington, DC
Remarks of
Ron Binz, Chairman
Colorado Public Utilities Commission
October 7, 2010
Caveat
• I am one of three equal commissioners
• My positions are my own
• I am confused by many things and have not
made up my mind on much at all
• I don’t even agree with some of the things I say
• Good advice: don’t believe everything you think
Outline of this presentation
• Status of Boulder Smart Grid City
• Commission Dockets on Smart Grid
– Privacy Docket (09I-593EG)
– Policy Docket (10I-099EG)
– CPC&N for Boulder Smart Grid City
• Colorado PUC Smart Grid Policy Statement
The Setting
• Two regulated electric utilities; 55% of sales
• State RES – 30% by 2020 for IOUs
– Xcel: ~12% renewable energy level now
• Utility CO2 reduction goals (-20% by 2020)
• Clean Air/Clean Jobs Act case underway
• Rates up due to new (fossil) generation facilities
Boulder, Colorado
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Sunshine 
Terminal
 Leggett
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NCAR
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Boulder Smart Grid City Progress
• Infrastructure buildout complete
• 200 Miles of fiber installed
• Substations automated
• 46,000 premises have BPL
• 25,000 AMI meters installed
• 4,700 transformers monitored
• Rate Structure Pilot, In-home
Device Pilot Underway
Boulder SGC Issues -- Upside
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Improved System Telemetry
Anecdotal Improved Operating Efficiency
Improved Outage Response
Improved Customer Satisfaction
60 “Value Propositions” Being Tested
Value as Implementation Pilot
Boulder SGC Issues -- Downside
• Cost Overruns
– From $15 million to $42 million
• System Architecture
– Fiber backhaul capacity
• Customer Education
– Subject of complaints
• Customer Acceptance and Adoption
– Weaker than expected
Boulder SGC – Next Steps
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PUC determination on cost recovery
Results of rate structure pilot
Results of in-home device trial
Results of “value proposition” tests
– Operating efficiency
– Power quality
– Outage control
• Additional customer education
Smart Grid Investigations
• Smart Grid Data Privacy (Docket No. 09I-593EG)
– Docket opened: August 2009
– Solicited public comments: Winter 2009-2010
– Commissioner deliberations and additional comments solicited:
Summer 2010
• Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: October 2010
– Key Issues:
• Protecting consumers from authorized data release
• Clarification: data for billing vs. what goes beyond
• Data access by third parties
• Personally identifiable vs. anonymous data
Smart Grid Investigations
• Smart Grid Policy Issues (Docket No. 10I-099EG)
• Objectives:
– Understand potential benefits of smart grid
technologies
– Provide guidance to utilities and consumers on the
PUC’s preferred policy direction
• Process:
– Commissioner Information Meetings (CIMs)
– Research/literature reviews and analyses
– Review other states’ developments, policies and lessons
learned
Smart Grid Commissioner
Information Meetings
• April: Smart Grid and Responding to Climate
Change
• June: Advanced Metering, Dynamic Pricing
and Consumer Behavior
• July: Smart Grid and Evolving Market
Structures
• August: Smart Grid and Technical
Specifications
Docket: No. 10I-099EG
Defining smart grid technologies
• …technologies designed to result in utility, consumer,
societal, environmental and economic benefits from
eight distinct value streams:
•Improved operational
efficiency
•Improved end-use efficiency
•Demand response enabled
load management
•Improved power quality
•Reduced outages
•Integration of renewable
resources
•Integration of electric vehicles
•Improved customer services
and information: near real time
prices and enviro attributes
Selected Preliminary Findings
• “…smart grid has great potential not only to provide nearterm system benefits but also to support long-term public
policy objectives as well.”
• “…meter-supported time variable rates can benefit electric
systems in terms of more efficient operations and deferring
capital investments in generation. …such rates should be
pursued when and only when clearly beneficial to the
system.”
• “…it would be most appropriate for the Commission to
consider and adopt the NIST Interoperability and Cyber
Security standards as they are released.
Other Issues Addressed in Findings
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Guidance on Benefit/Cost Analyses
Smart Grid as an energy efficiency strategy
Merits of demand response enabled by Smart Grid
Merits of considering disaggregated smart grid
investments
• Discussion of residential rate structures
• Accounting for societal benefits of Smart Grid
Request for Additional Comments
a) Dynamic prices –mandatory or optional for
residential customers (or something in-between)?
b) Implications of targeting smart meters and rates
based on customer characteristics.
c) What regulatory policies are needed to address
SG and reduced revenues for utilities?
d) Issues of SG and low-income customers.
e) Relationship between Smart Meters and DSM
Request for Additional Comments
f) How to factor costs & benefits into smart meter
implementation decisions?
g) SG challenges (consumer education; lost revenue):
how should PUC further investigate?
h) Should PUC adopt the EPRI benefit/cost analysis?
i) How to incorporate future potential benefits in
current PUC decisions.
i) What should be required in a SG application?
Request for Additional Comments
k) When should a SG application require a CPCN ?
l) SG and PHEVs: what is optimal rate design?
Costs & feasibility of direct control?
m) SG and DG integration and storage: which
technologies, standards are necessary?
n) Should Commission adopt NIST Interoperability
& Cyber Security standards as they are released?
Extra Credit: Using the
Colorado PUC E-filing System
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Go to www.dora.state.co.us/puc
Follow links to E-filing system
Select “Search” option
Enter “Proceeding Number”
Smart Grid Privacy Case: 09I-593EG
Smart Grid Policy Case: 10I-099EG
Thanks for the invitation.
I look forward to your questions.