ORDER NO. 99-378

ENTERED JUNE 09 1999

This is an electronic copy. Appendices and footnotes may not appear.

OF OREGON

UE 102

DISPOSITION: ORDER NO. 99-033 AMENDED TO ADOPT DEFINITIONS OF CUSTOMERS ELIGIBLE FOR DIRECT ACCESS AND CUSTOMERS ELIGIBLE FOR PORTFOLIO SERVICE.

In Order No. 99-033, our order approving an alternative plan for restructuring Portland General Electric (PGE), we decided that most commercial and all industrial customers would be eligible for direct access. We determined, however, that commercial customers with demand of 30 kW or less should not be eligible. Our decision was based on the difficulty of distinguishing between residential customers and commercial customers who have low demand. We provided that Staff and the other parties should work together to develop a sound definition that would make that distinction and report the results to us.

On April 28, 1999, Staff reported to the Commission that it and several other parties had conferred on this matter and had arrived at the definitions set out in the Staff Report, which is attached to this order and incorporated herein as Appendix A. Instead of attempting to define "residential" and "commercial," the proposed definitions define "Direct Access-Eligible Customer" and "Portfolio-Eligible Customer." The definition of Portfolio Eligible Customer is very similar to PGE's tariff description of residential service. The definition of Direct Access-Eligible Customer simply includes all those customers not eligible for portfolio service. The parties believe these definitions will provide a practical way of distinguishing between residential and commercial customers for the purposes of determining eligibility for direct access. All parties to the proceeding were provided an opportunity to comment on the proposed definitions. No comments were filed.

The Commission has examined the definitions and concludes that they provide a sound manner of implementing our decision in Order No. 99-033 regarding eligibility for direct access and portfolio service. As Staff notes in its report, the possible incentives for qualifying for either of these types of utility service make it impossible to predict what problems may arise in the actual application of these definitions. However, we believe they are a sound basis for making the distinction between the classes of customers and we adopt them. We amend Order No. 99-033 to adopt those definitions.

If abuses or other problems develop in connection with these definitions, we will reopen this proceeding and address them.

ORDER

IT IS ORDERED that Order No. 99-030 is amended to adopt the definitions set out in Appendix A to this order.

Made, entered, and effective ________________________.

A party may request rehearing or reconsideration of this order pursuant to ORS 756.561. A request for rehearing or reconsideration must be filed with the Commission within 60 days of the date of service of this order. The request must comply with the requirements in OAR 860-014-0095. A copy of any such request must also be served on each party to the proceeding as provided by OAR 860-013-0070(2). A party may appeal this order to a court pursuant to ORS 756.580.