California Utilities Still Freeloading on Independent Power Producers - Part II

Two years ago, I wrote California Utilities Still Freeloading on Independent Power Producers, which you really should read because it is a riveting story about corporate greed. I left this opening for a sequel:

One small bright spot on the horizon: "If the CEC authorizes retroactive RPS certification of net surplus generators, the utilities may retroactively pay the renewable attribute adder to its eligible customers." Which means that I may get some additional compensation someday--maybe.

 That was two years ago. I had completely forgotten about being ripped off for $136 by Southern California Edison (SCE). The worst kind of pickpocket is one that is richer than you, and gets the government to hold you down while they do it.


A couple of days ago, on a routine trip to the post office, what appeared in the post office box but an ominous 8 1/2 x 11 envelope from Southern California Edison. This "routine trip" ended up with my son on the back of the bike, the mail in my back pocket, and a package bungeed to the back of the child seat.

It also ended with me a bit worried. I couldn't wait to open the SCE envelope to see what bad news it contained. At a minimum, I was still on their mailing list, which didn't make any sense since we sold that house two years ago. At most, there would be some confusion between my account and the current owner that I'd have to sort out. I really didn't want to deal with this.

Later that evening, I tore open the envelope and found a "Net Surplus Compensation Rate Selection Form". My name and address was labeled "Customer Information (as it appears on your monthly SCE statement)".

Well, clearly they needed to remove me from their database, since I was no longer a customer and didn't get a monthly statement. I read on: "Southern California Edison has enrolled your account in the ..." I put the letter down. I don't have an account anymore! Why are they sending me stuff all of a sudden, after 2 years? I set it aside, intending to send it back to them, and to ask them to take my name off their mailing list.

Saturday morning rolled around. My family was still sleeping, and I was awake, so I pulled the SCE correspondence from the pile on my desk. I read the form I was supposed to fill out more carefully. The first thing I noticed, aside from the entire context of the form being a current account and a currently operating system (which did not apply to me), was that the compensation rate for surplus electricity generation was specific. It was based on "electricity prices from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m." Hmm, I don't think I've seen that before. Daytime electricity rates are more than what I was paid, I think, a long long time ago.

That was my first clue. Maybe this was relevant to me? Perhaps there is something retroactive about this?

I read the attached letter, which was behind the form that clearly didn't apply to me--the form that had my "customer information" peeking out the glassine window on the envelope. The letter referenced a 2009 state law (AB 920 of Oct. 11, 2009) and a 2011 California Public Utilities Commission decision (Decision 11-06-016 of June 9, 2011).

Nope, doesn't seem to apply to me. All those things happened while my account was still active. Luckily, I kept reading. Buried in the end of the third paragraph:

In accordance with AB 920 and the CPUC Decision, you are eligible to receive compensation for your net surplus energy credits in 2011. Your account is already enrolled in the NSC program, but you may now select how you will receive that compensation.

Wow. Could it be true? Instead of digging for the two-year-old records in the box on the top shelf of the closet, I re-read my blog post, California Utilities Still Freeloading on Independent Power Producers, and got to the last paragraph I quoted at the top.

This was it! This was the retroactive adder authorization of the CEC! I never thought I'd get excited about a retroactive adder authorization before.

So the government, after holding me down and letting the pickpocket do its dirty work, chased the pickpocket, caught it, and said, "um, we really think you should give that guy his money back." But the letter didn't cite any government actions since 2011. Did SCE just take 2 years to process this? And when they sent the letter, did they hope I would toss it, or ignore it? That could easily have happened, since the sentence saying it applied to my 2011 account credit was hidden at the end of the third paragraph on the second page of their correspondence.

Even when they do the right thing, they do it in a way that looks like more corporate shennanigans.

So, to figure out how big a difference this makes in my refund, the letter said "The NSC Rate will be posted electronically on a monthly basis at www.sce.com/AboutSCE/Regulatory/tariffbooks/ratespricing/nscr.htm." I tried typing it in my browser three times, and got each time:

SCE - Error - Page Not Found

Oh boy. That would have been too easy. "Will be" posted doesn't mean it "is" posted, I guess. Then I tried "For more detailed information you may review the rate schedule at www.sce.com/scheduleNEM." I tried it twice. No luck.

With some more research, I'm sure I could find this out, but for now I'll just send the form back and see what happens. Who knows, maybe in two more years I'll get a check.

Look for part III of this saga then.