Custom Impact WO033
Research Plan Addendum V –
Treatment of M&V Points that
Overlap with WO002
2010-2012 Impact Evaluation
Submitted to:
Energy Division
California Public Utilities Commission
505 Van Ness Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94102
Submitted by:
Itron, Inc.
1111 Broadway, Suite 1800
Oakland, CA 94607
and
KEMA, Inc.
155 Grand Avenue, Suite 500
Oakland, CA 94612
April 24, 2013
Table of Contents
1 Research Plan Addendum V ................................................................................ 1
1.1 Overview of WO002 Efforts and Relationship with WO033 M&V ................... 1
1.2 WO033 M&V .................................................................................................. 2
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Table of Contents
Research Plan Addendum V
This document is an addendum to the Custom Impact Research Plan that addresses M&V points
that overlap with the WO002 Ex Ante Review (EAR) project points and findings.
1.1 Overview of WO002 Efforts and Relationship with WO033 M&V
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) Energy Division (ED) staff and its
consultants review under WO002 selected Investor Owned Utility (IOU) custom program
applications before the projects proceed to measure installation. These reviews involve a careful
examination of the proposed IOU measure eligibility and ex-ante impact estimates. Among the
various aspects the EAR process examines are the project type, baselines, project and measure
costs, measure eligibility, adherence to CPUC policies and guidance, program rules, incentive
calculations, impact calculations, acceptable estimation methods, IOU pre- and/or post- retrofit
M&V, and program influence.
The reviews take three main forms:

Ex Ante Reviews (EARs). These assessments entail the review of the IOU and Third
Party custom measure documents as a project progresses from the initial application
pipeline, i.e., project development, to its completion and final savings claim. The EAR
process “freezes” the final, ED reviewed and approved, project ex ante savings, fully
affecting the final IOU incentives.

Early Opinion Requests (EORs). These assessments entail a review of the IOU project
documents from the initial pipeline applications. The Early Opinion assessments provide
guidance that could affect the IOU ex ante savings estimates, but freezing of savings is
not always undertaken. Most of the Early Opinion assessments occurred before the
formal EAR process was fully established. In addition to Early Opinion assessments,
Tool Reviews (TRs) of specific IOU and/or Third Party impact estimation tools may be
conducted. ED TR reviews are designed to ensure that IOU tools yield acceptable savings
impacts.

Prospective Reviews (PRs). These assessments consist of instances where a project was
selected for an ex-ante review, but ED subsequently learns that the IOU has signed a final
customer agreement and committed the final ex-ante savings and incentives. Under these
circumstances, the EAR process only examines the project documentation for aspects and
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Research Plan Addendum V
2010-2012 Custom Impact Evaluation Research Plan –Draft
recommendations that may affect similar projects in the future, largely to provide specific
prospective guidance to all the IOUs. The review refrains from “freezing” and approving
the final ex ante savings claim in these cases. While the ED assessment in such cases
does not affect the project claim directly, the review serves to inform and build ED policy
for like projects and situations in the future.
For points that are claimed for savings under WO033 and that were formerly Ex-Ante Review
points or Early Opinion Requests, a census is undertaken for the ex post M&V effort. These
points are directly affected by the WO002 review process. Relevant M&V data, approach,
findings and results will be extracted from the WO002 efforts and used to derive the WO033
impact results. Where possible, the WO002 assigned engineer should be assigned to each
WO033 project to ensure continuity in the project analysis.
For points that are claimed for savings under WO033 and that were Prospective Review points,
no special sampling is performed under WO033. The M&V data, approach, and findings that
emerge from the WO002 PRs are expected to be incorporated into the WO033 efforts. In
particular, the ED guidance that emerges from the WO002 PR efforts will be incorporated into
the relevant WO033 guidance.
The ED policies and guidance that evolve from the WO002 recommendations may include use of
particular modeling approaches, baseline determination, industry standard practice research
results, appropriate treatment of project and measure costs, etc. This is especially relevant for
projects that involve either identical or very similar measures to those evaluated under WO002.
The WO033 team will identify the selected projects in their sample to the WO002 leads, the
CPUC ED and their consultants. The review types, i.e., EAR, EOR, TR, and PR, and final dates
should likewise be provided to the WO033 team and lead engineers. In most cases, these points
would remain in the IOU sample, unless it was evident that the savings claim was affected by
WO002 efforts directly. Typically, the EAR process does not conduct field verifications when
finalizing the assessments.
1.2 WO033 M&V
For any given WO033 M&V project assignment, including those that overlap directly or
indirectly with the WO002 efforts, the engineer should develop, for that sample point, a thorough
and defensible estimate of savings, while limiting expenses and adhering to ED policy and
guidance. For sample points where WO002 already expended resources and closely examined
the project and determined the final ex ante savings estimates, the findings and results shall
inform the WO033 follow-up M&V efforts. The objective is to maintain consistency between
the two efforts and at the same time complement the ex ante review effort with the benefits of an
ex post follow-up.
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Research Plan Addendum V
2010-2012 Custom Impact Evaluation Research Plan –Draft
For all overlapping points, if the WO033 identified measures are the same as those evaluated
during the WO002 effort, all the necessary IOU project documentation may already be available,
and it may be possible to reduce IOU data requests for such projects. The WO033 M&V effort
will:

Undertake a quick review of the WO002 issued dispositions to identify the issues the
reviews found within the project and the finalized savings;

Review the IOU submitted documents, calculations and reports as necessary;

Interview the assigned WO002 engineer and obtain recommended items that an ex post
M&V effort should entail, including field verifications and measurements that ED may
have requested but the IOUs either omitted or scaled back, and identify any items with
the WO002 reviewer that could further inform the WO002 disposition;

Determine whether the IOU tracking system data used inWO033 for the IOU claimed
savings matches the WO002 approved final savings;

Formulate the Site Specific M&V Plan (SSMVP) incorporating potential WO002
disposition follow-up recommendations; and

Once field verification and ex post savings are established, undertake the usual
discrepancy review in WO033 between the IOU submitted ex ante claims and the ex post
verified savings, and include recommendations for the WO002 Ex Ante Review process
to improve upon and minimize identified discrepancies.
In general, the WO002 review and disposition will guide and inform the WO033 evaluation
effort. In the case of a WO002 Prospective Review, the disposition will help identify the
significant issues that were found, but the WO033 evaluation will not have any ED approved
final savings, and feedback to the WO002 process in these cases may be minimal. If the WO033
review identifies any significant issue with either a WO002 disposition or recommended
guidance, the WO033 and WO002 reviewers will jointly present the issue to the WO033 and
WO002 evaluation teams, the ED project managers and their consultants, and recommend a
mutually agreed resolution.
The process for completing the site specific project impact evaluation is to be identical to other
WO033 project evaluations, including submittal of LRAs and SSMVPs, approval of these
documents when reviewed externally, site recruiting, site visits, which may be limited to
verification and a reduced number of collected parameters dependent upon the robustness of
IOU-based project inputs, completion of an FSR, and calculation of impacts, if needed, and a
gross realization rate.
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Research Plan Addendum V