Direct Access Cap for 2013 in California filled in less than 45 Seconds

In an initial report requested by industry groups, the Energy Division of the California Public Utilities Commission released the results of the January 13, 2012 Direct Access enrollment.   This enrollment represents the limited phase-in of direct access stemming from Senate Bill 695.  The results are eyepopping.

A lucky 141 customers jumped from utility service to receiving service from direct access providers, representing just over 1250 GWh of load.  By 9 AM, the utilities had already rejected 12,730 customers. Just 45 seconds into the enrollment period completing the final phase-in of direct access, the annual cap was already completed among all three large investor-owned utilities.  In PG&E's service territory, the cap was filled in 1 second.

However, it appears that both PG&E and SCE did not accept as much load as it should have.  PG&E only accepted load of 356 GWh, while having 392 GWh left of cap room.  Similarly, SCE only accepted load of 680 GWh, while having 1,027 GWh left of cap room.  SDG&E actually accepted slightly more than it should have: 220 GWh while only having 218 GWh of cap room left.

It is unclear how these discrepancies will play out.

Here's the chart from the Energy Division's initial report:

Results of the January 13, 2012 DA Enrollment

All load in annual GWh