I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5696 

To amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to provide 

electric consumers the right to access certain electric energy information. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 1, 2010 

Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts (for himself, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. POLIS of Colorado, Mr. INSLEE, and Ms. DEGETTE) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 

to provide electric consumers the right to access certain 

electric energy information. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Electric Consumer 

5 Right to Know Act’’ or the ‘‘e–KNOW Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) According to the Energy Information Ad9 ministration, United States consumers spent over 


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1 $360,000,000,000 each year on electricity as of 

2 2008 and an estimated 250 gigawatts of new gener3 ating capacity will need to be added in the United 

4 States over the next 25 years to maintain grid integ5 rity in the face of increasing electricity demand. 

6 (2) Recent studies demonstrate that consumers 

7 change their energy consumption behavior in re8 sponse to feedback regarding prices and patterns of 

9 use and that improved access to usage and price in10 formation can result in dramatic reductions in elec11 tricity demand and billions of dollars in cost savings. 

12 (3) Across the United States, utilities are de13 ploying millions of ‘‘smart’’ electricity meters, which 

14 record more detailed electricity usage information 

15 than conventional meters and in most cases have the 

16 capacity to communicate such information to utility 

17 or on-site networks, as a means of improving the ef18 ficiency and reliability of the electric grid. 

19 (4) The full benefit of ‘‘smart’’ meters will be 

20 realized only if the consumers served by such meters 

21 have secure access to the enhanced information re22 corded by such meters, on a near real-time basis 

23 wherever feasible. 

24 (5) Whether a consumer is served by a ‘‘smart’’ 

25 meter or a conventional meter, secure access to 


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1 usage and price information on past electricity con2 sumption, in a machine-readable format, can play a 

3 critical role in enabling consumers and energy serv4 ice companies to identify opportunities for greater 

5 efficiency and cost savings in electricity usage. 

6 (6) Although Congress, in the Energy Inde7 pendence and Security Act of 2007, amended the 

8 Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to re9 quire State public utility commissions and nonregu10 lated utilities to consider providing consumers with 

11 increased access to electricity usage and price infor12 mation, only a handful of States have adopted poli13 cies to require such access. 

14 (7) Consumers should have the right to timely 

15 access to the information that utilities record and 

16 collect from them regarding their electricity usage, 

17 and to information on the prices applied to that 

18 usage. 

19 (8) Improved access to information will em20 power consumers to better manage their electricity 

21 use and to reduce costs and will foster the develop22 ment of a vibrant, innovative market for products 

23 and services to assist consumers in doing so. 

24 (9) In providing consumers access to electricity 

25 usage information, whether directly or through an 


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1 authorized third party, it is imperative that the pri2 vacy of consumers and the security of their usage in3 formation be fully protected. 

4 SEC. 3. ELECTRIC CONSUMER RIGHT TO ACCESS ELECTRIC 

5 ENERGY INFORMATION. 

6 (a) ELECTRIC CONSUMER RIGHT OF ACCESS.—Title 

7 II of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 

8 is amended by adding after section 214 the following new 

9 section: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 215. ELECTRIC CONSUMER RIGHT TO ACCESS ELEC11 TRIC ENERGY INFORMATION. 

12 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

13 ‘‘(1) FEDERAL SMART GRID SUPPORT.—The 

14 term ‘Federal smart grid support’ means any grant 

15 provided under section 1306 of the Energy Inde16 pendence and Security Act of 2007 or any grant, 

17 contract, loan, loan guarantee, or other financial as18 sistance provided to any smart grid project under 

19 any other program administered by the Secretary. 

20 ‘‘(2) FREE OF CHARGE.—The term ‘free of 

21 charge’ means, with respect to electric consumer or 

22 authorized third party access to retail electric energy 

23 information, that no fee is charged for such access. 

24 Such term shall not be construed to imply that any 


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1 costs of providing such access are not recovered or 

2 recoverable through generally applicable rates. 

3 ‘‘(3) NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED STANDARD.— 

4 The term ‘nationally recognized standard’ means a 

5 standard that is recognized under the process coordi6 nated by the Director of the National Institute of 

7 Standards and Technology under section 1305 of the 

8 Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. 

9 ‘‘(4) NEAR REAL-TIME.—The term ‘near real10 time’ means, with respect to communication of elec11 tric energy usage information by a smart meter, 

12 within 1 minute of the time at which such informa13 tion is recorded by the meter. 

14 ‘‘(5) RETAIL ELECTRIC UTILITY.—The term 

15 ‘retail electric utility’ means the electric utility that 

16 measures, records, and collects information on an 

17 electric consumer’s electric energy usage for billing 

18 purposes. 

19 ‘‘(6) RETAIL ELECTRIC ENERGY INFORMA20 TION.—The term ‘retail electric energy information’ 

21 means the following: 

22 ‘‘(A) USAGE INFORMATION.—An electric 

23 consumer’s electric energy consumption, meas24 ured in kilowatt-hours. 


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1 ‘‘(B) PRICING INFORMATION.—The rate 

2 applied to electric energy consumed by the elec3 tric consumer. 

4 ‘‘(7) SMART GRID FUNCTIONS.—The term 

5 ‘smart grid functions’ has the meaning given such 

6 term in section 1306(d) of the Energy Independence 

7 and Security Act of 2007. 

8 ‘‘(8) SMART GRID PROJECT.—The term ‘smart 

9 grid project’ means a project that includes imple10 mentation, by a retail electric utility, of smart grid 

11 functions. 

12 ‘‘(9) SMART METER.—The term ‘smart meter’ 

13 means a device used by a retail electric utility at the 

14 residence or facility of an electric consumer that is 

15 capable of measuring electric energy usage in inter16 vals of 1 hour or shorter and of communicating elec17 tric energy usage information by means of an elec18 tronic machine-readable signal in near real-time. 

19 ‘‘(10) THIRD PARTY.—The term ‘third party’ 

20 means, with respect to any transaction involving re21 tail electric energy information, a person or entity 

22 other than— 

23 ‘‘(A) the electric consumer to which such 

24 retail electric energy information pertains; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) the retail electric utility providing 

2 electric service to such electric consumer. 

3 ‘‘(b) CONSUMER RIGHT OF ACCESS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each electric consumer in 

5 the United States shall have the right to access (and 

6 to authorize 1 or more third parties to access), from 

7 such consumer’s retail electric utility, the retail elec8 tric energy information of such electric consumer in 

9 electronic machine-readable form, in conformity with 

10 applicable nationally recognized standards, free of 

11 charge, and in a manner that is timely and that pro12 vides adequate protections for the security of such 

13 information and the privacy of such electric con14 sumer. 

15 ‘‘(2) GRANULARITY OF INFORMATION.—The 

16 right to access retail electric energy information 

17 under paragraph (1) shall include the right to access 

18 retail electric energy information— 

19 ‘‘(A) in the case of an electric consumer 

20 served by a smart meter, measured at intervals 

21 not less frequent than the intervals at which 

22 usage information is recorded by such smart 

23 meter; and 

24 ‘‘(B) in the case of an electric consumer 

25 not served by a smart meter, measured at interVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:39 Jul 07, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5696.IH H5696

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1 vals of a frequency prescribed by the State reg2 ulatory authority or other entity with authority 

3 to set retail rates for the relevant retail electric 

4 utility, provided that in no event shall such fre5 quency be less than monthly. 

6 ‘‘(3) TIMELINESS AND MODE OF ACCESS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) WEB PRESENTMENT.—The right to 

8 access retail electric energy information under 

9 paragraph (1) shall include— 

10 ‘‘(i) in the case of an electric con11 sumer served by a smart meter, the right 

12 to access retail electric energy information 

13 not more than 24 hours after electric en14 ergy consumption is recorded, through an 

15 Internet Web site operated by the retail 

16 electric utility or by such other entity as 

17 the retail electric utility or the relevant 

18 State regulatory authority may designate; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(ii) in the case of an electric con21 sumer not served by a smart meter, the 

22 right to access retail electric energy infor23 mation as expeditiously as possible after 

24 the time electric energy consumption is re25 corded, through an Internet Web site operVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:39 Jul 07, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5696.IH H5696

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1 ated by the retail electric utility or by such 

2 other entity as the retail electric utility or 

3 the relevant State regulatory authority 

4 may designate. 

5 ‘‘(B) DATA EXPORT.—Where requested by 

6 the electric consumer, the right to access retail 

7 electric energy information under paragraph (1) 

8 shall include the right to receive, or to authorize 

9 a third party to receive, such electric con10 sumer’s retail electric energy information— 

11 ‘‘(i) through electronic mail or other 

12 appropriate means of export from the re13 tail electric utility’s data storage system; 

14 ‘‘(ii) in a machine-readable electronic 

15 format consistent with any applicable na16 tionally recognized standard; and 

17 ‘‘(iii) on a 1-time or recurring basis. 

18 ‘‘(C) DIRECT METER ACCESS.—In the case 

19 of an electric consumer served by a smart 

20 meter, the right of access to retail electric en21 ergy information under paragraph (1) shall in22 clude the right to access retail electric energy 

23 usage information and such other electric en24 ergy usage information as the smart meter is 

25 capable of recording (such as demand measured 


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1 in kilowatts, voltage, frequency, current, and 

2 power factor)— 

3 ‘‘(i) directly from the smart meter at 

4 any time; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) using 1 or more smart meter6 compatible devices that conform with na7 tionally recognized standards. 

8 This subparagraph shall not apply in the case 

9 of an electric consumer served by a smart meter 

10 installed prior to the date that is 2 years after 

11 the date of enactment of this section that is not 

12 capable of such on-site communication. 

13 ‘‘(4) HISTORICAL INFORMATION.—The right to 

14 access retail electric energy information under para15 graph (1) shall include the right to access— 

16 ‘‘(A) at minimum, monthly aggregate in17 formation for at least the most recent 13 

18 months; and 

19 ‘‘(B) such other retail electric energy infor20 mation as the retail electric utility retains, in 

21 accordance with any applicable requirements 

22 under State law. 

23 The requirements under this paragraph shall not 

24 apply to direct access to electric energy usage infor25 mation from a smart meter. 


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1 ‘‘(5) THIRD PARTY USE OF INFORMATION.—A 

2 third party authorized by an electric consumer to ac3 cess such consumer’s retail electric energy informa4 tion shall not use such information for any purpose 

5 other than the provision of services by such third 

6 party to the electric consumer, and shall not disclose 

7 such information to any other party, unless such au8 thorized third party has received the informed, writ9 ten consent of the electric consumer for such use or 

10 disclosure. 

11 ‘‘(c) MODEL RULE.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

13 the date of the enactment of this section, the Com14 mission shall, after consultation with State regu15 latory authorities, national organizations rep16 resenting nonregulated utilities, the Secretary of En17 ergy, the Director of the National Institute for 

18 Standards and Technology, and other appropriate 

19 Federal agencies, and after notice and opportunity 

20 for comment, issue a model rule prescribing min21 imum standards for implementation of the electric 

22 consumer right to access retail electric energy infor23 mation under subsection (b)(1). 

24 ‘‘(2) PRIOR STATE ACTION.—In formulating the 

25 model rule under paragraph (1), the Commission 


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1 shall, to the extent practicable, preserve the integrity 

2 of and be guided by actions already taken by State 

3 regulatory authorities to ensure electric consumer 

4 access to retail electric energy information, including 

5 actions taken after consideration of the standard 

6 under section 111(d)(19). 

7 ‘‘(3) STATE CONSIDERATION.—Each State reg8 ulatory authority and each nonregulated utility shall 

9 consider adoption and implementation of the na10 tional model rule issued under paragraph (1) (or a 

11 comparable rule or policy), as provided under section 

12 111(d)(20). 

13 ‘‘(d) FEDERAL SMART GRID SUPPORT PROGRAMS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) CONSIDERATION AS A FACTOR.—Begin15 ning on the date that is 1 year after the model rule 

16 under subsection (c) is issued, the Secretary, in de17 termining whether to award Federal smart grid sup18 port to a retail electric utility, shall give preference 

19 to any applicant that has implemented policies for 

20 electric consumer access to retail electric energy in21 formation at least as stringent as those prescribed 

22 by the model rule issued under subsection (c). 

23 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.—Notwithstanding any 

24 other provision of law, beginning on the date that is 

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1 section (c) is issued, no retail electric utility shall be 

2 eligible to receive Federal smart grid support unless 

3 such utility has implemented policies for electric con4 sumer access to retail electric energy information at 

5 least as stringent as those prescribed by the model 

6 rule issued under subsection (c). 

7 ‘‘(e) BACKSTOP STATE ENFORCEMENT.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date that 

9 is 3 years after the date the model rule under sub10 section (c) is issued, if the attorney general of a 

11 State, or another official or agency of a State with 

12 competent authority under State law, has reason to 

13 believe that any retail electric utility in the relevant 

14 State is not complying with the minimum standards 

15 set forth in the model rule issued under subsection 

16 (c) (or standards of comparable or greater strin17 gency with respect to consumer access to retail elec18 tric energy information), the attorney general, offi19 cial, or agency of the State, as parens patriae, may 

20 bring a civil action against such retail electric utility, 

21 on behalf of the electric consumers receiving retail 

22 service from such retail electric utility, in a district 

23 court of the United States of appropriate jurisdic24 tion, to compel compliance with such standards. 


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1 ‘‘(2) COSTS AND FEES.—In any civil action 

2 under paragraph (1), if the party bringing the action 

3 is successful in enforcing the standards identified by 

4 the model rule issued under subsection (c), the court 

5 may award to such party the costs of the action to6 gether with reasonable attorney’s fees, as determined 

7 by the court. 

8 ‘‘(3) SAFE HARBOR.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No civil action may be 

10 brought against a retail electric utility under 

11 paragraph (1) if the Commission has deter12 mined that such retail electric utility, or the 

13 State regulatory authority that regulates such 

14 electric utility, has adopted a policy that is at 

15 least as stringent, with respect to electric con16 sumer access to retail electric energy informa17 tion, as the model rule issued under subsection 

18 (c). 

19 ‘‘(B) COMMISSION REVIEW.—Not later 

20 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 

21 section, the Commission shall, after notice and 

22 opportunity for comment, issue an order estab23 lishing procedures for making determinations 

24 under subparagraph (A). Such order shall pro25 vide that, where a State regulatory authority or 


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1 a retail electric utility certifies and adequately 

2 documents to the Commission that it has adopt3 ed a policy that is at least as stringent, with re4 spect to electric consumer access to retail elec5 tric energy information, as the model rule 

6 issued under subsection (c), the Commission 

7 shall make a determination under subparagraph 

8 (A) within 90 days of receipt of such certifi9 cation. 

10 ‘‘(4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Except as pro11 vided in paragraph (1) of this subsection, nothing in 

12 this section shall be construed to create a private 

13 right of action. 

14 ‘‘(f) COST RECOVERY.—A retail electric utility shall 

15 not be denied the opportunity to recover prudently in16 curred incremental costs of complying with the require17 ments of this section, in accordance with any applicable 

18 State or Federal law.’’. 

19 (b) STATE CONSIDERATION OF MODEL RULE.— 

20 (1) CONSIDERATION.—Section 111(d) of the 

21 Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 

22 U.S.C. 2621(d)) is amended by adding at the end 

23 the following: 

24 ‘‘(20) CONSUMER ACCESS TO RETAIL ELECTRIC

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1 viding retail electric service to an electric consumer 

2 shall provide such consumer with access to informa3 tion regarding such consumers electric energy usage, 

4 and prices applicable to such usage, in accordance 

5 with the model rule issued by the Commission under 

6 section 215(c).’’. 

7 (2) TIMING.—Section 112(b) of the Public Util8 ity Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 

9 2622(b)) is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(7)(A) As soon as practicable after the 

12 issuance by the Commission of the model rule under 

13 section 215(c), each State regulatory authority (with 

14 respect to each electric utility for which it has rate15 making authority) and each nonregulated utility 

16 shall commence the consideration referred to in sec17 tion 111, or set a hearing date for consideration, 

18 with respect to the standard established by para19 graph (20) of section 111(d). 

20 ‘‘(B) Not later than 1 year after the date of the 

21 issuance by the Commission of the model rule under 

22 section 215(c), each State regulatory authority (with 

23 respect to each electric utility for which it has rate24 making authority) and each nonregulated utility 

25 shall make the determination, referred to in section 


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1 111 with respect to the standard established by 

2 paragraph (20) of section 111(d).’’. 

3 (3) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—Section 112(c) of 

4 the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 

5 (16 U.S.C. 2622(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘(19)’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘(20)’’. 

7 (4) PRIOR STATE ACTIONS.—Section 112 of the 

8 Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 

9 U.S.C. 2622) is amended by adding at the end the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(g) PRIOR STATE ACTIONS.—Subsections (b) and 

12 (c) of this section shall not apply to the standard estab13 lished by paragraph (20) of section 111(d) in the case of 

14 any electric utility in a State if, before the issuance of 

15 the model rule under section 215(c)— 

16 ‘‘(1) the State has implemented for such utility 

17 the standard concerned (or a comparable standard); 

18 ‘‘(2) the State regulatory authority for such 

19 State or relevant nonregulated electric utility has 

20 conducted a proceeding to consider implementation 

21 of the standard concerned (or a comparable stand22 ard) for such utility; or 

23 ‘‘(3) the State legislature has voted on imple24 mentation of such standard (or a comparable stand25 ard) for such utility.’’. 


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1 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con2 tents for the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 

3 1978 is amended by adding after the item relating to sec4 tion 214 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 215. Electric consumer right to access electric energy information.’’. 

Æ 


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