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The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) published notice of proposed rules AMI data access standards

Among other things the BPU summarized the proposed rules as follows:

• Establishes the guidelines for what is considered “AMI Data”, establishes the Green Button Data Standard, and differentiates between validated and non-validated data. 
• Creates a clear distinction between parameters measured on the customer side of the meter, which belong to the customer, and data obtained on the system side of the meter, which is intended for use by the electric utilities to facilitate system operation. The Green Button Standard establishes a uniform format used industry wide and prevents the implementation of a different, proprietary standard that could limit access and competition. The distinction between validated and non-validated data is important as they represent two separate data streams. Non-validated data is obtained directly from the meter via short range communication that provides data in close to real-time. Validated data is sent from the meter to the electric utility and goes through a process to ensure the readings are correct for billing purposes. Validated data is sharable only after the validation process occurs and lags the time of the readings by 24 to 48 hours.
• Establishes the data collection interval requirements for validated data and how quickly it will be made available after collection. The rule further establishes the requirement for a customer owned, energy monitoring device to act as the interface with the meter for access to non-validated AMI data. This method was chosen as an added layer of security in keeping a separation of the meter from a direct connection to the customer’s internet and also provides a near real time data stream for the customer’s direct use. Due to range limitations of the protocol utilized by AMI meters for non-validated data, the rule explains that connectivity may be limited if too far away or in a multi-unit dwelling.
• Establishes that the customer owns their own usage data measured by the AMI meter and the right to share or revoke access to that data with third parties. The rule further requires the Green Button Data Standard as the primary data format and data sharing method to be used for validated data. Green Button Connect My Data® and Green Button Download My Data® are the industry standard methods of allowing customers to easily and securely share their energy usage data with authorized third parties.
• Establishes the appropriate uses of AMI Data by the electric utilities. The rule requires utilities to bill customers with AMI meters on actual usage, not estimates. It also prevents the EDCs from selling any customer’s AMI data. The rule further requires the utilities to share anonymized AMI Data with academic institutions for the purpose of researching energy usage and clean energy adoption.
• Establishes a common release form for third parties to obtain authorization from customers to receive customer AMI Data. This process is intended to only allow legitimate third parties to obtain access to AMI Data. By standardizing the form and process across the utilities, third parties can easily obtain authorization from each of the utilities with the same documentation. An additional provision ensures that customers and the proper authorities are notified in the event that of an unintended release of customer information.
• Requires the utilities to provide non-discriminatory access to AMI data. The purpose of these provisions is to encourage competition between all parties to provide a diverse selection of products and tools to customers. In addition, the provisions require notification of changes to data streams which may disrupt an application’s functionality, prohibits utilities from reverse engineering third party applications and provides a system for third party developers to notify the utility of bugs or technical issues.

EX24090717
(Proceeding to consider adoption of new AMI data access standards.)