Petition of Massachusetts Electric Company and Nantucket Electric Company each d/b/a National Grid for Approval of An Alternative Basic Service Procurement and Pricing Plan.
On December 20, 2022, Massachusetts Electric Company and Nantucket Electric Company each d/b/a National Grid Basic Service (“National Grid” or “Company”) filed a petition with the Department of Public Utilities (“Department”) for approval of an alternative basic service procurement plan for the Company’s General Service – Demand G-2 customers and General Services – Time-of-Use G-3 customers (“Industrial customer group”) for the period February 1, 2023, through April 30, 2023. The Department docketed this matter as D.P.U. 22-BSF-D4.
Pursuant to Pricing and Procurement of Default Service, D.T.E. 99-60-B (2000) and Default Service Procurement, D.T.E. 02-40-C (2003), the Department requires electric distribution companies to procure 100 percent of their large commercial and industrial (“C&I”) basic service load requirements on a quarterly basis. Consistent with these requirements, on December 14, 2022, the Company concluded a request for proposal (“RFP”) process to solicit 100 percent of its basic service load requirements for its Industrial customer group for the three-month basic service period February 1, 2023 through April 30, 2023. The RFP process failed to secure basic service supply for the Industrial customer group.
Accordingly, the Company has proposed an alternative basic service procurement and pricing plan to serve the Industrial customer group. The Company proposes to self-supply the Industrial group by assuming the responsibility for managing the load asset for these customers in the ISO New England spot market. The Company proposes to set the monthly basic service rate for the affected customers by estimating cost elements of self-supply. Under the Company’s proposal, any under- or over-recovery of costs would be collected through the Company’s basic service adjustment provision, set forth in M.D.P.U. No. 1457.
The Department will accept written comments on the Company’s petition. Written comments must be filed with the Department no later than close of business (5:00 p.m.) on January 6, 2023. To the extent a person or entity wishes to submit comments in accordance with this Notice, electronic submission, as detailed below, is sufficient.
All comments must be submitted to the Department in .pdf format by e-mail attachment to dpu.efiling@mass.gov and patrick.m.houghton@mass.gov. All comments also must be sent to counsel for National Grid, Meabh Purcell, Esq., by email attachment to Meabh.purcell@nationalgrid.com. The text of the e-mail must specify: (1) the docket number of the proceeding (D.P.U. 22-BSF-D4); (2) the name of the person or company submitting the filing; and (3) a brief descriptive title of the document. The electronic file name should identify the document but should not exceed 50 characters in length. Importantly, all large files submitted must be broken down into electronic files that do not exceed 20 MB.
Ordinarily, all parties would follow Sections B.1 and B.4 of the Department’s Standard Ground Rules (D.P.U. 15-184-A, App. 1 (March 4, 2020)) regarding the filing of documents. However, at this time, all filings will be submitted to the Department only in electronic format, consistent with the Department’s June 15, 2021 Memorandum addressing continued modified filing requirements. Until further notice, parties must retain the original paper version of the filing and the Department will later determine when the paper version must be filed with the Department Secretary.
At this time, a paper copy of the filing will not be available for public viewing at the Company’s offices or the Department. The filing and other documents submitted in electronic format will be posted as soon as practicable at on the Department’s website through our online File Room at: https://eeaonline.eea.state.ma.us/DPU/Fileroom/dockets/bynumber (enter “22-BSF-D4”). To request materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities (Braille,large print, electronic files, audio format), contact the Department’s ADA coordinator at DPUADACoordinator@mass.gov.
Any person desiring further information regarding the Company’s filing should contact counsel for National Grid, Meabh Purcell, Esq. at Meabh.purcell@nationalgrid.com. Any person desiring further information regarding this notice may contact Patrick Houghton, Hearing Officer, Department of Public Utilities, at patrick.m.houghton@mass.gov.
Click Here for more information.
