E-Access Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1936 To promote competition in the area of digital energy management tools, enhance consumer access to electric energy and natural gas information, allow for the development and adoption of innovative products and serv- ices to help consumers, organizations, and governments manage their energy usage, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve electric grid reliability, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 13, 2023 Mr. WELCH (for himself and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Nat- ural Resources A BILL To promote competition in the area of digital energy manage- ment tools, enhance consumer access to electric energy and natural gas information, allow for the development and adoption of innovative products and services to help consumers, organizations, and governments manage their energy usage, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and im- prove electric grid reliability, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:52 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1936.IS S1936 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1936 IS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Access to Consumer 2 Energy Information Act’’ or the ‘‘E-Access Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 4 In this Act: 5 (1) ELECTRIC CONSUMER.—The term ‘‘electric 6 consumer’’ has the meaning given the term in sec- 7 tion 3 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act 8 of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2602). 9 (2) ELECTRIC METER APP STORE.—The term 10 ‘‘electric meter app store’’ means the meter of an 11 electric utility and any accompanying software that 12 allows the electric utility or electric consumers to 13 have software applications execute on the grid edge 14 computer in order to analyze or transmit retail elec- 15 tric energy information or grid edge consumer in- 16 sights. 17 (3) ELECTRIC UTILITY.—The term ‘‘electric 18 utility’’ has the meaning given the term in section 19 3 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 20 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2602). 21 (4) GAS CONSUMER.—The term ‘‘gas con- 22 sumer’’ has the meaning given the term in section 23 302 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 24 1978 (15 U.S.C. 3202). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:52 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1936.IS S1936 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1936 IS (5) GAS UTILITY.—The term ‘‘gas utility’’ has 1 the meaning given the term in section 302 of the 2 Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (15 3 U.S.C. 3202). 4 (6) GRID EDGE COMPUTER.—The term ‘‘grid 5 edge computer’’ means a device, whether part of, or 6 separate from, a meter, that— 7 (A) measures power, voltage, current, or 8 other aspects of electric energy at or near the 9 premises of an electric consumer; and 10 (B) is capable of running 1 or more soft- 11 ware applications to analyze, in real time, any 12 measurement described in subparagraph (A) in 13 order to derive grid edge consumer insights or 14 information about the status or operation of the 15 electric grid. 16 (7) GRID EDGE CONSUMER INSIGHT.—The term 17 ‘‘grid edge consumer insight’’ means— 18 (A) the power, voltage, current, or other 19 aspects of electric energy measured and analyz- 20 able by a grid edge computer; and 21 (B) any calculation, estimate, or inference 22 from a grid edge computer that pertains to, or 23 reflects the characteristics of, the use of electric 24 energy by a particular electric consumer. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:52 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1936.IS S1936 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1936 IS (8) METER.—The term ‘‘meter’’ means a device 1 that measures and records energy usage data at any 2 interval. 3 (9) RETAIL ELECTRIC ENERGY INFORMA- 4 TION.—The term ‘‘retail electric energy informa- 5 tion’’ means— 6 (A) the electric energy usage of an electric 7 consumer over a time interval, as measured and 8 recorded by the applicable meter; 9 (B) the retail electric energy prices and ap- 10 plicable rate applied to the electric energy usage 11 for the time interval described in subparagraph 12 (A) for the electric consumer; 13 (C) the costs of service provided to an elec- 14 tric consumer, as displayed on billing informa- 15 tion provided to that electric consumer at the 16 level of each line item; 17 (D) in the case of nonresidential electric 18 meters, any other electrical information that the 19 meter is programmed to record that is used for 20 billing purposes (such as demand measured in 21 kilowatts, voltage, frequency, current, and 22 power factor); 23 (E) grid edge consumer insights; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:52 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1936.IS S1936 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1936 IS (F) customer-specific information includ- 1 ing, at a minimum— 2 (i) customer name, mailing address, 3 premises address, contact information, 4 payment history, and account number; and 5 (ii) any information that may be nec- 6 essary for participation in, or to determine 7 customer eligibility for, bill payment assist- 8 ance, renewable energy, demand-side man- 9 agement, load management, or energy effi- 10 ciency programs. 11 (10) RETAIL NATURAL GAS INFORMATION.— 12 The term ‘‘retail natural gas information’’ means— 13 (A) the natural gas usage of a gas con- 14 sumer, as measured and recorded by the appli- 15 cable gas utility; 16 (B) the retail natural gas prices and appli- 17 cable rate applied to the natural gas usage de- 18 scribed in subparagraph (A) for the gas con- 19 sumer; 20 (C) the cost of service provided to a gas 21 consumer, as displayed on billing information 22 provided to that gas consumer at the level of 23 each line item; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:52 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1936.IS S1936 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 1936 IS (D) in the case of nonresidential natural 1 gas meters, any other information that the 2 meter is programmed to record that is used for 3 billing purposes; and 4 (E) customer-specific information includ- 5 ing, at a minimum— 6 (i) customer name, mailing address, 7 premises address, contact information, 8 payment history, and account number; and 9 (ii) any information that might be 10 necessary for participation in, or to deter- 11 mine customer eligibility for, bill payment 12 assistance, demand-side management, or 13 energy efficiency programs. 14 (11) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 15 means the Secretary of Energy. 16 (12) STATE ENERGY OFFICE.—The term ‘‘State 17 energy office’’ means the office or agency of a State 18 responsible for developing the State energy conserva- 19 tion plan for the State under section 362 of the En- 20 ergy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6322). 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:52 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1936.IS S1936 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 1936 IS SEC. 3. CONSUMER ACCESS TO ELECTRIC ENERGY AND 1 NATURAL GAS INFORMATION. 2 (a) ELIGIBILITY FOR STATE ENERGY PLANS.—Sec- 3 tion 362(d) of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act 4 (42 U.S.C. 6322(d)) is amended— 5 (1) in paragraph (17), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 6 the semicolon at the end; 7 (2) by redesignating paragraph (18) as para- 8 graph (19); and 9 (3) by inserting after paragraph (17) the fol- 10 lowing: 11 ‘‘(18) programs to promote competition in the 12 area of digital energy management tools— 13 ‘‘(A) to enhance consumer access to, and 14 understanding of, electric energy and natural 15 gas usage and cost information, including, with 16 respect to each particular customer— 17 ‘‘(i) the residential and commercial re- 18 tail electric energy information (as defined 19 in section 2 of the E-Access Act) of that 20 customer; and 21 ‘‘(ii) the retail natural gas information 22 (as defined in that section) of that cus- 23 tomer; 24 ‘‘(B) to facilitate the development and 25 adoption of innovative products and services to 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:52 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1936.IS S1936 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 1936 IS assist consumers in managing energy consump- 1 tion and expenditures; and 2 ‘‘(C) to increase the adoption of measured, 3 performance-based energy efficiency and de- 4 mand response programs, such as a program 5 described in section 50121 of Public Law 117– 6 169 (commonly known as the ‘Inflation Reduc- 7 tion Act of 2022’) (42 U.S.C. 18795); and’’. 8 (b) GUIDELINES FOR ELECTRIC CONSUMER AND GAS 9 CONSUMER ACCESS.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 11 after the date of enactment of this Act and subject 12 to paragraph (2), the Secretary shall issue guidelines 13 that establish model data sharing standards and 14 policies for States to provide electric consumers and 15 gas consumers, and third-party designees of those 16 electric consumers and gas consumers, with access 17 to retail electric energy information and retail nat- 18 ural gas information. 19 (2) CONSULTATION.—Before issuing guidelines 20 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— 21 (A) consult with— 22 (i) State and local regulatory authori- 23 ties; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:52 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1936.IS S1936 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 1936 IS (ii) other appropriate Federal agen- 1 cies, including the National Institute of 2 Standards and Technology and the Federal 3 Trade Commission; 4 (iii) consumer and privacy advocacy 5 groups; 6 (iv) electric utilities and gas utilities; 7 (v) the National Association of State 8 Energy Officials; and 9 (vi) other appropriate entities, includ- 10 ing groups representing public utility com- 11 missions, commercial and residential build- 12 ing owners, residential contractors, and 13 groups that represent demand response 14 and electricity data devices and services; 15 and 16 (B) provide notice and opportunity for 17 comment. 18 (3) STATE AND LOCAL REGULATORY ACTION.— 19 In issuing guidelines under paragraph (1), the Sec- 20 retary, to the maximum extent practicable, shall be 21 guided by actions taken by State and local regu- 22 latory authorities to ensure electric consumer and 23 gas consumer access to retail electric energy infor- 24 mation and retail natural gas information, including 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:52 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1936.IS S1936 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •S 1936 IS actions taken after consideration of the standard es- 1 tablished under section 111(d)(19) of the Public 2 Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 3 2621(d)(19)). 4 (4) CONTENTS.—In carrying out paragraph (1), 5 the Secretary shall include— 6 (A) guidelines specifying that retail electric 7 energy information and retail natural gas infor- 8 mation of an electric consumer or a gas con- 9 sumer should be made available to the electric 10 consumer or gas consumer (or a third-party 11 designee of the electric consumer or gas con- 12 sumer) by the electric utility or gas utility of 13 the electric consumer or gas consumer (or such 14 other entity as may be designated by the util- 15 ity), in consultation with, or with approval 16 from, as applicable, the applicable retail regu- 17 latory authority of the utility; 18 (B) guidelines regarding the timeliness and 19 specificity of retail electric energy information 20 and retail natural gas information to be made 21 available to an electric consumer or a gas con- 22 sumer (or a third-party designee of an electric 23 consumer or a gas consumer), including that 24 the retail electric energy information and retail 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:52 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1936.IS S1936 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •S 1936 IS natural gas information should be made avail- 1 able— 2 (i) in an electronic machine-readable 3 form, without additional charge, in con- 4 formity with nationally recognized open 5 standards and best practices; 6 (ii) via a website or other electronic 7 access authorized by the electric consumer 8 or gas consumer, including at least 24 9 months of historical information; 10 (iii) in as close to real-time as is rea- 11 sonably practicable; 12 (iv) at the level of specificity that the 13 data are transmitted by the meter or grid 14 edge computer, to the extent reasonably 15 practicable; and 16 (v) in a manner that provides ade- 17 quate protections for the security of the in- 18 formation and the privacy of the electric 19 consumer or gas consumer, utilizing recog- 20 nized energy data privacy programs such 21 as the DataGuard Energy Data Privacy 22 Program of the Department of Energy or 23 other programs approved by the Secretary; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:52 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1936.IS S1936 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •S 1936 IS (C) guidelines regarding appropriate na- 1 tionally recognized open standards for data ex- 2 change; 3 (D) guidelines regarding consumer consent 4 requirements to ensure that an electric con- 5 sumer or gas consumer can conveniently and 6 securely authorize a third-party designee to ac- 7 cess the retail electric energy information or re- 8 tail natural gas information of that electric con- 9 sumer or gas consumer, including standardized 10 authorization language to which an electric con- 11 sumer or gas consumer will agree prior to the 12 electric consumer or gas consumer authorizing, 13 or the applicable electric utility or gas utility 14 sharing, retail electric energy information or re- 15 tail natural gas information of that electric con- 16 sumer or gas consumer; 17 (E) guidelines specifying that electric utili- 18 ties and gas utilities should, when a meter is 19 servicing an electric consumer or gas consumer, 20 communicate retail electric energy information 21 or retail natural gas information to the device 22 of the electric consumer or gas consumer or 23 through the network of an electric consumer or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:52 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1936.IS S1936 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 13 •S 1936 IS gas consumer to a third-party designee of the 1 electric consumer or gas consumer; 2 (F) with respect to the terms and condi- 3 tions to be agreed to by a third-party designee 4 of an electric consumer or a gas consum [Text truncated for display. 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