The Administrative Law Judge in Colorado hearing the SmartGridCity Certificate for Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) docket has filed his recommended decision that the PUC grant the CPCN with full recovery of the $44.5 million for the project. The parties to the case (i.e. the intervenors already involved in the docket) have 20 days to file exceptions to the recommended decision. The Commissioners have until December 15th to accept, reject, or modify the recommended decision.
This is a major step forward for Xcel's embattled SmartGridCity project but, as noted above, is not yet the final decision. Despite criticism of cost overruns and poor project management Xcel 's arguments have prevailed - in part because Colorado's government is stongly supportive of clean energy and smart grid initiatives. The judge's order states that Xcel Energy "is granted a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity for the SmartGridCity (SGC) project subject to the following conditions:
a. [Xcel} shall maintain access to and protection of information about customers and/or their usage of service that is available as a result of the SGC project. Such information shall not be used (alone or in concert with information from other sources) by [Xcel], its partners, or its contractors for any purpose other than the SGC project, until such time as the Commission permits otherwise by subsequent order or rulemaking; and
b. [Xcel] shall create a tracker mechanism for intellectual property/patents rights acquired that arise out of the SGC project."
It's notable that the PUC imposed these two conditions focused on consumer information privacy and intellectual property protection - signaling it's concerns and likely treatment of future smart grid proceedings. Privacy in particular is a growing concern among regulators, policy makers and consumer advocacy groups. Without adequate privacy protections in place smart grid projects will continue to face regulatory resistance.
