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The Consumer Electronics Association (“CEA”) respectfully submits this response to the Department of Energy’s (“DOE”) Request for Information on Implementing the National Broadband Plan by Empowering Consumers and the Smart Grid: Data Access, Third Party Use, and Privacy (“RFI”).1 CEA is the principal U.S. trade association of the consumer electronics and information technology industries. CEA’s approximately 2,000 member companies include leading manufacturers and providers of consumer- and utility-facing smart grid products and services.

CPower is one of the world’s largest providers of demand-side management services to end-users in the United States and beyond. We believe we are the largest non-utility aggregator of short-notice demand response (under ten-minutes) in the world, and we provide short-notice demand response services in the broadest possible array of geographies (in every available region of the United States, and in Ontario, the United Kingdom, and beyond).

Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC (Oncor) is a regulated electric transmission and distribution utility that serves the north-central, eastern and western parts of Texas, including the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth. Oncor operates the largest electric transmission and distribution system in Texas, delivering power to over 3 million homes and businesses and operating approximately 117,000 miles of distribution and transmission lines in Texas. Oncor operates in a unique market in which only competitive Retail Electric Providers (REPs) who are not utilities sell electricity to end-use consumers, and the transmission and distribution utilities (who are not REPs) deliver that electricity to consumers pursuant to tariffs and terms of service governed by the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT). While the PUCT regulates certain aspects of REPs’ operations by establishing consumer protection requirements, it does not regulate the price of electricity charged by the REPs, nor does it regulate what services the REP may choose to offer.

National Rural Electric Cooperative Association comments on Implementing the National Broadband Plan by Studying the Communications Requirements of Electric Utilities to Inform Federal Smart Grid Policy

Silver Spring Networks comments on DOE NBP RFI: Data Access

San Diego Gas & Electric Company (“SDG&E”) submits these comments in response to the above-enumerated Request for Information noticed by the Department on May 11, 2010. SDG&E is a regulated electric and gas utility operating pursuant to authorities granted to it by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the State of California. SDG&E serves 3.4 million consumers in the San Diego and southern Orange County areas of California via 1.4 million electric meters and 830,000 gas meters. SDG&E’s sister company, the Southern California Gas Company, is the nation’s largest gas-distribution utility, serving another 20.3 million consumers in a 20,000 square-mile area via 5.7 million gas meters.

AT&T Inc., on behalf of itself and its affiliates (“AT&T”), respectfully submits these comments in response to the Department Of Energy‟s Request for Information (“RFI”) on the communications requirements of utilities. AT&T supports DOE‟s efforts and coordination with various Federal, State and private initiatives to implement the Smart Grid. We appreciate the opportunity to inform federal Smart Grid policy by participating in DOE‟s examination of the communications requirements of electric utilities deploying Smart Grid capabilities in their networks.

As the Department of Energy (DOE) correctly notes, Smart Grid technology holds significant promise in improving “the reliability, availability, and efficiency of the electric system.” The benefits of developing and deploying Smart Grid technology include reduced energy costs, increased security, enhanced durability, and lower greenhouse gas emissions. But effective communications networks and services are critical to the success of Smart Grid technology. For Smart Grids to function properly, vast amounts of information must be transmitted and processed to and from consumers and electricity producers and distributors, with high levels of security as that data transmission and processing takes place.

The United States Telecom Association (USTelecom)1 is pleased to comment on the Request for Information (RFI) of the Department of Energy (DOE) in its proceeding requesting input from the public regarding current and potential practices and policies to empower consumers through access to detailed energy information in electronic form. USTelecom strongly supports DOE’s efforts to ensure widespread adoption, use and innovation in the Smart Grid technologies and services marketplace. A central tenet for achieving this outcome is to ensure, as DOE stated, that Smart Grid technology “adequately respects consumers’ reasonable—and often widely differing—expectations of privacy.”3 Consumers will more readily accept and adopt Smart Grid technology if they have assurances that their privacy is being protected and that they understand and can exercise a reasonable degree of control over the use of the personal data that is collected.

Comments from Baltimore Gas & Electric on DOE Request for Information—Implementing the National Broadband Plan by Empowering Customers and the Smart Grid: Data Access, Third Party Use, and Privacy