An Act To Direct the Public Utilities Commission to Implement a Statewide, Multi-use Online Energy Data Platform
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 1666
Committee: Energy, Utilities and Technology
Sponsors: KESSLER, BERRY, CUDDY, GROHOSKI, WOOD
Amends: 35-A MRSA §123

Legislative Document
No. 1666
H.P. 1237
House of Representatives, May 5, 2021
An Act To Direct the Public Utilities Commission to Implement a 
Statewide, Multi-use Online Energy Data Platform
Received by the Clerk of the House on May 3, 2021.  Referred to the Committee on 
Energy, Utilities and Technology pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to 
Joint Rule 401.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative KESSLER of South Portland.
Cosponsored by Representatives: BERRY of Bowdoinham, CUDDY of Winterport, 
GROHOSKI of Ellsworth, WOOD of Portland.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  35-A MRSA §123 is enacted to read:
§123.  Statewide, multi-use online energy data platform
The commission shall establish and operate a statewide, multi-use online energy data 
platform, referred to in this section as "the platform," that provides natural gas utility and 
investor-owned transmission and distribution utility customers with safe, secure access to 
information about their energy usage and that allows for the aggregation of and removal of 
personally identifiable information from community-level energy data. In establishing the 
platform, the commission shall review similar online energy data platforms established by 
other states. 
1.  Platform requirements.  The platform must:
A.  Consist of a common base of energy data for use in a wide range of applications 
and for a wide range of business purposes;
B.  Adhere to specific and well-documented standards for data accuracy, retention, 
availability, privacy and security;
C.  Provide a user-friendly interface;
D.  Adhere to a common statewide logical data model that defines the relationships 
among the various categories of data included in the platform;
E.  Allow for the sharing of an individual utility customer’s energy data with 3rd parties 
only with the express consent of the utility customer; and
F.  Protect utility customers from unauthorized disclosure of personally identifiable 
information and ensure customer privacy rights.
2.  Platform creation and operation; assessment.  The commission may hire an 
outside entity to create and operate the platform. All costs to create and operate the platform 
are funded through an assessment on the ratepayers of natural gas utilities and investor-
owned transmission and distribution utilities and are to be collected by the utilities. The 
commission shall determine the amount of the assessment on a yearly basis. All amounts 
collected under this subsection must be transferred to the commission. The funds collected 
from utilities under this subsection are just and reasonable costs for rate-making purposes 
and must be reflected in the rates of natural gas utilities and investor-owned transmission 
and distribution utilities. If a consumer-owned transmission and distribution utility elects 
to participate in sharing data, the ratepayers of that consumer-owned transmission and 
distribution utility are subject to an assessment under this subsection, the amount of which 
must be determined by the commission.
3.  Participating utilities.  A natural gas utility and an investor-owned transmission 
and distribution utility shall participate in data sharing pursuant to this section.  A 
consumer-owned transmission and distribution utility may elect to participate in data 
sharing pursuant to this section. If a consumer-owned transmission and distribution utility 
elects to participate, that utility is subject to all the requirements of this section. 
4.  Rules.  The commission shall adopt rules to implement this section. The rules must 
include specific requirements to protect a utility customer’s privacy and define the 
acceptable methods for a customer to give express consent to allow the customer's energy 
usage data to be shared with 3rd parties. The rules must identify those 3rd parties that will 
be permitted to access the data on the platform. Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection 
are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
Sec. 2.  Platform certification; rules.  When initially adopting rules pursuant to 
the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35-A, section 123 for the establishment of a statewide, 
multi-use online energy data platform, the Public Utilities Commission shall ensure those 
rules allow that platform to meet the requirements for certification from the Green Button 
Alliance and to support the Energy Service Provider Interface of the North American 
Energy Standards Board and the Green Button "Connect My Data" standard of the Green 
Button Alliance. In developing those rules, the commission shall seek input from natural 
gas utilities and investor-owned and consumer-owned transmission and distribution 
utilities, the Office of the Public Advocate, the Governor’s Energy Office, the Efficiency 
Maine Trust and municipalities.
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Public Utilities Commission to establish and operate a statewide, 
multi-use online energy data platform that will provide natural gas and electric utility 
customers with safe, secure access to information about their usage and allow for the 
aggregation of and removal of personally identifiable information from community-level 
energy data.  It allows the commission to hire an outside entity to create and operate the 
platform and specifies that the costs of the creation and operation of the platform are funded 
through an assessment on the ratepayers of natural gas and investor-owned transmission 
and distribution utilities. It allows a consumer-owned transmission and distribution utility 
to elect to share data through the platform subject to the same requirements placed on 
natural gas and investor-owned transmission and distribution utilities. It requires the 
commission to adopt routine technical rules, which must include provisions to protect the 
privacy of utility customers. It requires when rules are initially adopted that the commission 
ensure that the platform created is able to meet the requirements for certification from the 
Green Button Alliance and supports the Energy Service Provider Interface of the North 
American Energy Standards Board and the Green Button "Connect My Data" standard of 
the Green Button Alliance. Lastly, it requires in developing the rules that the commission 
seek input from all natural gas and investor-owned and consumer-owned transmission and 
distribution utilities, the Office of the Public Advocate, the Governor’s Energy Office, the 
Efficiency Maine Trust and municipalities.