Bill Text: NJ S1759 | 2022-2023 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Directs BPU to establish certain standards concerning electric public utility use of customer energy usage data.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-02-28 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Environment and Energy Committee [S1759 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2022-S1759-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator BOB SMITH
District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)
Senator LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Directs BPU to establish certain standards concerning electric public utility use of customer energy usage data.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning customer energy usage data privacy and supplementing Title 48 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):
"Advanced metering infrastructure" or "AMI" means an integrated system of smart meters, communications networks, and data management systems that enables two-way communication between an electric public utility and customers that can be processed in real-time.
"Anonymized data" means a data set containing individual sets of information where all identifiable characteristics and information including, but not limited to, name, address, or account number, are removed so that one cannot reasonably re-identify any individual customer within the data set.
"Authorized third party" means a third party to which an electric public utility has disclosed a customer's CEUD with the customer's informed consent.
"Board" means the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities or any successor agency.
"Customer" means a person or entity, or their authorized agent, who is an end-user of electricity distributed by an electric public utility in this State and whose CEUD is collected through AMI.
"Customer energy usage data" or "CEUD" means any data concerning a customer's electricity usage that is generated by advanced metering infrastructure and collected by an electric public utility, which includes, but is not limited to, kilowatts, kilowatt/hours, or any other data that the meter collects, such as voltage, current, rate, or billing cycle.
"Data portability" means a feature that allows a customer to obtain their CEUD in a customer-accessible local file, in a standardized, electronic, machine-readable format.
"Disclosure" means the sale, sharing, offering, or theft by any means of a customer's CEUD to or by a third party.
"Electric public utility" means a public utility, as that term is defined in R.S.48:2-13, that transmits and distributes electricity to end users within this State and that uses AMI to collect CEUD.
"Informed consent" means the authorization provided by a customer who has received sufficient information from the electric public utility to ensure the customer has full knowledge and understanding of how and to whom the customer's CEUD is disclosed to third parties.
"Interval usage" means the granular, incremental power quality and energy usage data measured in watts.
"Plan" means the data access plan required pursuant to section 3 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
"Third party" means any entity or person that is not the electric public utility that initially collected a customer's CEUD through AMI.
2. A customer shall have full ownership and complete control of the customer's CEUD. An electric public utility shall disclose a customer's CEUD only to an authorized third party, except as provided in subsection a. of section 4 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill). An electric public utility shall use CEUD only to provide electric public utility service in the ordinary course of business and according to law.
3. a. Within 90 calendar days of the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the board shall establish Statewide standardized privacy requirements that each electric public utility shall be required to adopt as part of the data access plan required by subsection b. of this section. The standardized privacy requirements shall include provisions:
(1) committing the electric public utility to protect CEUD from unauthorized disclosure or destruction by using reasonable security procedures and practices;
(2) requiring each electric public utility, in the event of an unauthorized disclosure of CEUD, to notify all customers, the board, and, if appropriate, law enforcement of the event; and
(3) any other CEUD privacy and transparency requirements the board deems appropriate.
b. Within 90 calendar days of the issuance of the Statewide standardized privacy requirements established by subsection a. of this section, the board shall require each electric public utility to file with the board, in a form and manner to be determined by the board, a data access plan. The plan shall require each electric public utility to address CEUD disclosure, access, and privacy, and billing reconciliation procedures. Each plan shall require an electric public utility to develop practices and procedures that shall ensure:
(1) customers have real-time or near real-time access to their ongoing and historical CEUD, made available on a digital platform no later than 24 hours after the CEUD was collected by the AMI, in a form that allows for data portability;
(2) customers are provided with sufficient information, including, but not limited to, the names of third parties and the intended use of CEUD by third parties, to provide informed consent in writing authorizing a third party to receive the customer's CEUD, except that the customer shall have the ability deny consent and to revoke informed consent at any time;
(3) an electric public utility contractually requires authorized third parties that have access to CEUD to abide by the provisions of this section;
(4) the use of CEUD shall assist the State in achieving the clean energy goals provided in the Energy Master Plan;
(5) the use of CEUD improves the reliability of electricity distribution by increasing system and customer transparency, improving efficiency of distribution system planning, and accelerating outage recovery;
(6) an electric public utility collects five-minute interval usage data that shall be made available to the customer pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection;
(7) AMI and CEUD shall improve the efficiency of rates charged to customers, including rate design and billing accuracy; and
(8) any other information the board deems appropriate.
c. The board shall have 30 calendar days to review and approve a plan submitted by an electric public utility. A plan shall be deemed approved by the board if the board fails to approve or reject a plan within 30 calendar days of the date of submission.
4. a. The provisions of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall not preclude an electric public utility from:
(1) using CEUD for analysis, reporting, or program management if it is anonymized data; or
(2) disclosing CEUD as required or permitted under State or federal law or by an order of the board.
b. The provisions of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall not apply if a customer chooses to disclose the customer's CEUD to a third party that is not subject to the provisions of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
5. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes certain principles and requirements concerning the collection and use of customer energy usage data (CEUD), as defined in the bill, that are collected through advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), commonly referred to as "smart meters."
This bill establishes that a customer, as defined in the bill, is to have full ownership and complete control of their CEUD. An electric public utility is to only disclose a customer's CEUD to an authorized third party, except as provided in the bill. An electric public utility is to use CEUD only to provide electric public utility service in the ordinary course of business and according to law.
The bill requires that, within 90 calendar days from the effective date of this bill, the board is to establish Statewide standardized privacy requirements that each electric public utility is to be required to adopt as part of the data access plan (plan) required by the bill. The standardized privacy requirements are to include provisions:
1) committing the electric public utility to protect CEUD from unauthorized disclosure or destruction by using reasonable security procedures and practices;
2) requiring each electric public utility, in the event of an unauthorized disclosure of CEUD, to notify all customers, the BPU, and, if appropriate, law enforcement of the event; and
3) any other CEUD privacy and transparency requirements the BPU deems appropriate.
This bill provides that, within 90 calendar days of the issuance of the Statewide standardized privacy requirements required by the bill, the BPU is to require each electric public utility to file with the BPU, in a form and manner to be determined by the BPU, the plan. The plan requires each electric public utility to adopt CEUD disclosure, access, and privacy, and billing reconciliation procedures. Each plan is required to ensure:
1) customers have fair, real-time or near real-time access to their ongoing and historical CEUD, made available on a digital platform no later than 24 hours after the CEUD was collected by the AMI, in a form that allows for data portability;
2) customers are provided with sufficient information, including, but not limited to, the names of third parties and the intended use of CEUD by third parties, to provide informed consent in writing authorizing a third party to receive the customer's CEUD, except that the customer shall have the ability deny consent and to revoke informed consent at any time;
3) an electric public utility contractually requires authorized third parties that have access to CEUD to abide by the provisions of this section;
4) the use of CEUD by an electric public utility or authorized third party shall assist the State in achieving the clean energy goals provided in the Energy Master Plan;
5) the use of CEUD by an electric public utility improves the reliability of electricity distribution by increasing system and customer transparency, improving efficiency of distribution system planning, and accelerating outage recovery;
6) an electric public utility collects five-minute interval usage data that shall be made available to the customer pursuant to the bill;
7) AMI and CEUD shall improve the efficiency of rates charged to customers, including rate design and billing accuracy; and
8) any other information the BPU deems appropriate.
The bill provides that the BPU is to have 30 calendar days to review and approve a plan submitted by an electric public utility. A plan is to be deemed approved by the BPU if the BPU fails to approve or reject a plan within 30 calendar days of the date of submission.
The provisions of the bill are not to preclude an electric public utility from:
1) using CEUD for analysis, reporting, or program management if it is anonymized data; or
2) disclosing CEUD as required or permitted under State or federal law or by an order of the BPU.
The bill is not to apply if a customer independently chooses to disclose the customer's CEUD to a third party that is not subject to the provisions of the bill.
