II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3487 

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

electric consumers the right to access certain electric energy information, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 15, 2010 

Mr. UDALL of Colorado introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 

to provide electric consumers the right to access certain 

electric energy information, and for other purposes. 

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 that— 


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1 (1) improving consumers’ understanding of 

2 electric energy use will help consumers efficiently 

3 manage personal energy use; 

4 (2) consumers have a right of access to the 

5 electric energy information of the consumers; 

6 (3) the right to access should be provided based 

7 on information requirements rather than dependent 

8 on specific technology so that all platforms can com9 pete and innovation will be fostered; 

10 (4) utilities should provide that usage data 

11 based on the best capabilities of the metering tech12 nology currently deployed in respective service areas 

13 of the utilities or, on upgrade, based on standards 

14 recognized by the National Institute of Standards 

15 and Technology; 

16 (5) consumers should have the ability to access 

17 unaudited usage information from sources inde18 pendent of the electric meters of the consumers 

19 (such as home energy management systems) and 

20 from sources independent of the utilities of the con21 sumers; and 

22 (6) consumers should retain the privacy of the 

23 electric energy information of the consumers. 


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1 SEC. 3. ELECTRIC CONSUMER RIGHT TO ACCESS ELECTRIC 

2 ENERGY INFORMATION. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Public Utility Reg4 ulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 824 et seq.) is 

5 amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 215. ELECTRIC CONSUMER RIGHT TO ACCESS ELEC7 TRIC ENERGY INFORMATION. 

8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 ‘‘(1) RETAIL ELECTRIC ENERGY INFORMA10 TION.—The term ‘retail electric energy information’ 

11 means— 

12 ‘‘(A) the electric energy consumption of an 

13 electric consumer over a defined time period; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(B) the retail electric energy prices or 

16 rates applied to the electricity usage for the de17 fined time period described in subparagraph (A) 

18 for the electric consumer. 

19 ‘‘(2) SMART METER.—Except as provided in 

20 subsection (e), the term ‘smart meter’ means the 

21 meter used by an electric utility that— 

22 ‘‘(A)(i) measures electric energy consump23 tion by an electric consumer at the home or fa24 cility of the electric consumer in intervals of 1 

25 hour or less; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) is capable of sending electric energy 

2 usage information through a communications 

3 network to the electric utility; or 

4 ‘‘(B) meets the guidelines issued under 

5 subsection (h). 

6 ‘‘(b) CONSUMER RIGHT.— 

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

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

9 to authorize 1 or more third parties to access) retail 

10 electric energy information of the electric consumer 

11 in an electronic form, in conformity with nationally 

12 recognized open standards, free of charge, and in a 

13 manner that is timely and convenient and that pro14 vides adequate protections for the security of the in15 formation and the privacy of the electric consumer. 

16 ‘‘(2) PROVIDER OF INFORMATION.—The infor17 mation shall be provided by the retail electricity pro18 vider of the consumer or such other entity as may 

19 be designated by the authority responsible for regu20 lating the retail sale and delivery of electricity to the 

21 consumer. 

22 ‘‘(c) INFORMATION.—The right to access retail elec23 tric energy information under subsection (b) includes, at 

24 a minimum— 


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1 ‘‘(1)(A) in the case of an electric consumer that 

2 is served by a smart meter, the right to access retail 

3 electric energy information— 

4 ‘‘(i) in machine readable form, not more 

5 than 24 hours after consumption has been re6 corded; or 

7 ‘‘(ii) in accordance with the guidelines 

8 issued under subsection (h); or 

9 ‘‘(B) in the case of an electric consumer that is 

10 not served by a smart meter, the right to access re11 tail electric energy information in machine readable 

12 form as expeditiously after the time of collection as 

13 is reasonably practicable and as prescribed by the 

14 entity with jurisdiction over metering and retail elec15 tric service of the consumer; and 

16 ‘‘(2) except as otherwise provided in subsection 

17 (d)— 

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

19 that is served by a smart meter, data at a gran20 ularity that is— 

21 ‘‘(i) not less granular than the inter22 vals at which the data is recorded and 

23 stored by the meter in use at the premise 

24 of the electric consumer; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) in accordance with the guidelines 

2 issued under subsection (h); 

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

4 that is not served by a smart meter, data at 

5 granularity equal to the data used for billing 

6 the electric consumer, or as prescribed by the 

7 entity with jurisdiction over metering and retail 

8 electric service for the electric consumer. 

9 ‘‘(d) RETENTION.—An electric consumer shall have 

10 the right to access the retail electric energy information 

11 of the consumer, through the website of the retail electric 

12 provider or other electronic access authorized by the elec13 tric consumer, for a period of at least 13 months after 

14 the date on which the data is recorded, unless a different 

15 period is prescribed by the entity with jurisdiction over 

16 metering and retail electric service for the customer. 

17 ‘‘(e) DIRECT METER ACCESS.—In the case of an elec18 tric consumer that is served by a smart meter capable of 

19 communicating energy usage information to a device or 

20 network of an electric consumer or a device or network 

21 of a third party authorized by the consumer, the consumer 

22 shall, at a minimum, have the right to access (and to au23 thorize 1 or more third parties to access) usage informa24 tion in read-only format directly from the smart meter if 

25 access does not interfere with or compromise the integrity, 


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1 security, or privacy of the operations of a utility and the 

2 electric consumer, in accordance with the guidelines issued 

3 by the Commission under subsection (h). 

4 ‘‘(f) COST RECOVERY.—A utility providing retail 

5 electric energy information in accordance with otherwise 

6 applicable regulation of rates for the retail sale and deliv7 ery of electricity may recover in rates the cost of providing 

8 the information, if the cost is determined reasonable and 

9 prudent by the entity with jurisdiction over metering and 

10 retail electric service for the consumer. 

11 ‘‘(g) ADDITIONAL AVAILABLE INFORMATION.—The 

12 right to access electric energy information shall extend to 

13 usage information generated by devices in or on the prop14 erty of the consumer that is transmitted to the retail elec15 tric provider. 

16 ‘‘(h) GUIDELINES FOR ELECTRIC CONSUMER AC17 CESS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

19 after the date of enactment of this section, the Com20 mission shall (after consultation with State and local 

21 regulatory authorities, including the National Asso22 ciation of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, the 

23 Secretary of Energy, other appropriate Federal 

24 agencies, including the National Institute of Stand25 ards and Technology, consumer advocacy groups, 


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1 utilities, and other appropriate entities, and after 

2 notice and opportunity for comment) issue guidelines 

3 that establish minimum national standards for im4 plementation of the electric consumer right to access 

5 retail electric energy information under subsection 

6 (b). 

7 ‘‘(2) STATE AND LOCAL REGULATORY AC8 TION.—In issuing the guidelines, the Commission 

9 shall, to the maximum extent practicable, preserve 

10 the integrity of and be guided by actions taken by 

11 State and local regulatory authorities to ensure elec12 tric consumer access to retail electric energy infor13 mation, including actions taken after consideration 

14 of the standard under section 111(d)(17). 

15 ‘‘(3) CONTENT.—The guidelines shall provide 

16 guidance on issues necessary to carry out this sec17 tion, including— 

18 ‘‘(A) the timeliness and granularity of re19 tail electric energy information; 

20 ‘‘(B) appropriate nationally recognized 

21 open standards for data; 

22 ‘‘(C) definitions of the terms ‘smart me23 ters’ and ‘near real-time’; and 


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1 ‘‘(D) protection of data security and elec2 tric consumer privacy, including consumer con3 sent requirements. 

4 ‘‘(4) REVISIONS.—The Commission shall peri5 odically review and, as necessary, revise the guide6 lines to reflect changes in technology and the market 

7 for electric energy and services. 

8 ‘‘(i) ENFORCEMENT.— 

9 ‘‘(1) ENFORCEMENT BY STATE ATTORNEYS

10 GENERAL.—If the attorney general of a State, or 

11 another official or agency of a State with competent 

12 authority under State law, has reason to believe that 

13 any electric utility that delivers electric energy at re14 tail in the relevant State is not complying with the 

15 minimum standards established by the guidelines 

16 under subsection (h), the attorney general, official, 

17 or agency of the State, as parens patriae, may bring 

18 a civil action against the electric utility, on behalf of 

19 the electric consumers receiving retail service from 

20 the electric utility, in a district court of the United 

21 States of appropriate jurisdiction, to compel compli22 ance with the standards. 

23 ‘‘(2) SAFE HARBOR.— 

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

25 brought against an electric utility under paraVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:55 Jun 15, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3487.IS S3487

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1 graph (1) if the Commission has, during the 2- 

2 year period ending on the date of the deter3 mination, determined that the electric utility, or 

4 the regulatory authority that regulates the elec5 tric utility, adopted and implemented policies, 

6 requirements, and measures, as necessary, that 

7 comply with the standards established by the 

8 guidelines under subsection (h). 

9 ‘‘(B) PROCEDURES.—The Commission 

10 shall establish procedures to review the policies, 

11 requirements, and measures of State regulatory 

12 authorities and electric utilities to assess, and 

13 issue determinations with regard to, compliance 

14 with the standards. 

15 ‘‘(3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection takes 

16 effect on the date that is 2 years after the date the 

17 guidelines under subsection (h) are issued.’’. 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con19 tents for the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 

20 1978 is amended by adding at the end of the items relat21 ing to title II the following: 

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

Æ 


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