Testimony of JBS Energy on SDG&E's Advanced Metering Infrastructure Application

Date of Filing/Decision

Aug 14 2006
AttachmentSize
UCANamitestJBS.pdf1.42 MB
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Table of Contents


Chapter 1: Policy Overview - William B. Marcus ....................................................7

I. Introduction .......................................................................................................7

II. SDG&E’s AMI Program Is Not Cost-Effective............................................8

I. How SDG&E’s AMI Program Is Worse than the PG&E Program that

the Commission Previously Approved.......................................................15

II. Policy Issue: Dysfunctional or Disintegrated Resource Planning Can

Lead to a Poor Outcome.................................................................................17

III. UCAN’s Recommendations to Address Peak Loads Without SDG&E’s

AMI Program ...................................................................................................22

Chapter 2: SDG&E’s Business Case Analysis and Operational Cost

Effectiveness Issues Jeff Nahigian ..............................................................26

I. Summary of Findings.....................................................................................26

II. SDG&E’s Business Case Analysis...............................................................27


A. SDG&E’s 34-Year Evaluation Period is Not Appropriate .......................................27

B. This The Commission Approved PG&E’s AMI Without Concern For A

Terminal Value................................................................................................................29

C. SDG&E’s AMI Cost Effectiveness Under The Commission’s Required

Framework for AMI Business Case Analysis............................................................30


III. Benefits That Should Be Excluded From SDG&E’s Business Case

Analysis.............................................................................................................33


A. Avoided Demand Response Programs ......................................................................33


1. Avoided Demand Response Benefits Constitute the Second Largest Single

Operational Benefit to SDG&E’s AMI Business Case...................................................33

2. The Commission’s Requirements on a Framework For AMI Business Case

Analysis Do Not Recognize Avoided Demand Response Programs As An

AMI Benefit ........................................................................................................................34

3. If The Commission Does Not Entirely Exclude This Benefit From The

Business Case Analysis, Dollar Values Should Be Adjusted Downward To

Reflect Recorded Program Expenditures .......................................................................35

4. SDG&E’s Forecast of 2008 Demand Response From Its Demand Response

Programs Provides More Demand Response Than SDG&E Forecasts To

Achieve From its Advanced Meter Deployment By 2038............................................37


B. The Commission Should Reject SDG&E Attempts to Quantify Benefits

Associated With Reduced Electric and Gas Theft, Improved Meter Accuracy

and Other Billing Exceptions........................................................................................40


1. Energy Theft and OBR Benefits .......................................................................................41

2. The Commission’s Framework for Business Case Analysis Classifies

Energy Theft Benefits Non Quantifiable ........................................................................41


UCAN SDG&E AMI Testimony iii


3. SDG&E’s presentation in this case ignores the earlier framework and now

proposes to quantify energy theft which is classified by the Commission as

a “non quantifiable” benefit.............................................................................................42

4. Current Utility Revenue Requirements Include a Component for

Recovering Energy Theft ..................................................................................................42

5. AMI’s Ability to Eliminate Or Materially Reduce Energy Theft is Not Well

Understood........................................................................................................................42

6. Southern California Edison’s Preliminary Business Case Analysis Found

That AMI Would Make It Harder To Identify Energy Theft.......................................45

7. The Commission’s Authorization of PG&E’s AMI Deployment Did Not

Consider Energy Theft Benefits.......................................................................................46

8. SDG&E Expresses Considerable Uncertainty That Energy Theft Benefits

May Not Be Positive..........................................................................................................46


C. If The Commission Approves SDG&E’s Recommendation to Quantify Meter

Accuracy Benefits It Should Adjust That Benefit Calculation Downward.........47


1. Classification of Meter Accuracy Benefits is Unclear ...................................................48

2. Meter Accuracy and Energy Theft Benefits Are Based On Outdated Data...............49

3. SDG&E’s Calculation of Meter Accuracy Benefits........................................................50


D. Exclude SB-3 Gas Benefits For Energy Theft and Gas Meter Error.......................51

E. The Commission Should Exclude Benefits Associated With Billing Exceptions

That SDG&E’s Testimony Treats As A Non-Quantifiable Benefit.......................52

F. Benefits Not Considered In The Commission’s Framework For AMI Business

Case Analysis...................................................................................................................52

G. Demand Response Benefits From Customers Larger than 200 kW Must Be

Excluded From This Proceeding...................................................................................55


IV. SDG&E’s Summer Air Conditioner Saver Program ................................57


1. Background on the Comverge Contract.........................................................................57

2. The Commission Should Reject SDG&E’s Proposal To Significantly Reduce

the Cost Effectiveness of its Summer AC Saver Program............................................59


Chapter 3: Analysis of Demand Response from Residential Customers --

Gayatri M. Schilberg ......................................................................................61

I. Introduction and Summary...........................................................................61

II. Residential Demand Response is Dramatically Overestimated............65


A. Long-Term Participation is Overestimated................................................................65


1. Lack of Consent to Participate .........................................................................................65

2. Small Financial Savings will Not Sustain Participation ...............................................69

3. Other Notification Issues..................................................................................................79

4. SDG&E’s Demand Response Participation will not be Double that of PG&E..........80


B. Quantification of Demand Response is Overestimated..........................................81


1. Duplication with the A/C Saver Program.....................................................................81

2. Reference Level Methodology is Undefined and Unworkable...................................83

3. The SPP Methodology is Inappropriate to Estimate Demand Response for

SDG&E’s Program.............................................................................................................90

4. Inner Summer Elasticities.................................................................................................97

5. Persistance ..........................................................................................................................98

6. Impact on Demand Response of Lower Avoided Capacity Costs..............................99


C. Summary of Quantification ........................................................................................101


UCAN SDG&E AMI Testimony iv


D. Partial Deployment.......................................................................................................102


III. Transmission and Distribution Benefits..................................................104


A. The Context: Residential Load Shape .......................................................................104

B. Lower T&D Benefits.....................................................................................................106


1. Exclusion of Large C&I...................................................................................................107

2. Downward Adjustment of Residential Demand Response.......................................107

3. Adding to the Distribution Peak ...................................................................................107


Chapter 4: Economic Analysis of Demand Response William Marcus...........109

I. Avoided Capacity Costs...............................................................................110


A. Why It Is Critical to Net Out Energy Savings from the Cost of a Combustion

Turbine Powerplant......................................................................................................110

B. Combustion Turbine Costs .........................................................................................114

A. Implications of Lower Capacity Value .....................................................................117


II. Reserve Savings Are Uncertain..................................................................117

III. Inconsistencies Between SDG&E’s Cost-Effectiveness Analysis and

the Standard Practice Manual.....................................................................119


A. Cost Effectiveness Test Structure...............................................................................119


Qualifications ................................................................................................................... i

I. William B. Marcus ...........................................................................................ii

II. Gayatri Schilberg ........................................................................................... iii

III. Jeffrey A. Nahigian.........................................................................................iv

Attachments ...................................................................................................................... i

I. Attachment 1A: Comparison of PG&E and SDG&E AMI Programs ....ii

I. Attachment 2A – San Diego Gas and Electic Company’s December

2005 Report on Interruptible and Outage Programs .................................. i

II. Attachment 2B - Evaluation of the California Statewide 20/20 Demand

Reduction Programs ........................................................................................ii

III. Attachment 2C -OFGEM CONSULTATION ON DOMESTIC

METERING INNOVATION....................................................................... iii

IV. Attachment 2D – SDG&E Comments on BCA..........................................iv

V. Attachment 4A – PG&E Phase 2 Testimony ............................................... v

Appendix – Data Responses Relied Upon ................................................................vi

I. Responses to DRA Data requests ................................................................vi

II. Responses to UCAN Data Requests............................................................vi

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