PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE State Administrative Procedure Act, NOTICE is hereby given of the following proposed rule:

The Commission is considering a petition filed on January 29, 2021 by Atlantic Energy, LLC for a partial waiver of the Commission's December 12, 2019 Order Adopting Changes to the Retail Access Energy Market and Establishing Further Process.

Partial waiver of the Order Adopting Changes to the Retail Access Energy Market and Establishing Further Process.

To consider whether Atlantic Energy, LLC should be permitted to offer its Smart Home Program product to mass market customers.

The Public Service Commission (Commission) is considering a petition filed on January 29, 2021 by Atlantic Energy, LLC (Atlantic) for a partial waiver of the Commission's Order Adopting Changes to the Retail Access Energy Market and Establishing Further Process, issued on December 12, 2019 in Case 15-M-0127, et al. (December 2019 Order).

The December 2019 Order, among other things, limited the types of products that energy service companies (ESCOs) can offer to New York mass market customers to those products that: (1) include a guaranteed savings over the utility price, as reconciled on an annual basis; (2) are for a fixed-rate commodity product that is priced at no more than 5% greater than the trailing 12-month average utility supply rate; and, (3) are for a renewably sourced electric commodity product that (a) has a renewable mix that is at least 50% greater than the ESCO’s current Renewable Energy Standard (RES) obligation, and (b) the ESCO complies with the RES locational and delivery requirements when procuring Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) or entering into bilateral contracts for renewable commodity supply. Additionally, the December 2019 Order allowed for an additional product to be offered by Agway Energy Services, LLC (Agway) who provides customers with its EnergyGuard service. The December 2019 Order provided a limited opportunity for other ESCOs to petition the Commission for the opportunity to sell a product/service similar to EnergyGuard.

Atlantic seeks approval to offer its Smart Home Program to residential customers. Atlantic asserts that the Smart Home Program provides energy-related benefits to customers at a reasonable cost and in a manner that advances the State’s decarbonization efforts, and thus asks the Commission to waive the December 2019 Order’s product limitations with respect to Atlantic’s Smart Home Program.

According to Atlantic, the Smart Home Program provides customers with value-added commodity services that provide a range of benefits, including reduced personal electric consumption, interactive and educational tools that foster consumer awareness and interest in energy efficiency, and corresponding local distribution system benefits that accrue broadly to distribution utility ratepayers through demand reduction. Customers that enroll in Atlantic’s Smart Home Program would receive a series of smart packages throughout the term of their agreement with Atlantic which contain various devices, including three Wi-Fi-enabled color-changing smart LED bulbs, up to two Wi-Fi-enabled smart cameras, one Bluetooth-enabled speaker bulb, ten energy efficient LED bulbs, three Wi-Fi-enabled smart plugs, and unlimited access to Atlantic’s Smart Phone App that can be used to monitor and control these devices. Atlantic asserts that the benefits provided under the Smart Home Program are closely related to a customer’s electricity usage and are thus energy-related for purposes of evaluating ESCO products. According to Atlantic bundling these products and services with the provision of commodity supply is a critical element to achieving success and engaging customers, both from a business standpoint, as well as an energy policy standpoint, as customers often seek integrated energy solutions.

The full text of the petition and the full record of the proceeding may be reviewed online at the Department of Public Service web page: www.dps.ny.gov. The Commission may adopt, reject or modify, in whole or in part, the action proposed and may resolve related matters.

John Pitucci, Public Service Commission, 3 Empire State Plaza, Albany, New York 12223-1350, (518) 486-2655, email: [email protected]

Michelle L. Phillips, Secretary, Public Service Commission, 3 Empire State Plaza, Albany, New York 12223-1350, (518) 474-6517, email: [email protected]

60 days after publication of this notice.