Public Service Commission denies Cooley Cap request for permanent single‑meter waiver

At an open meeting of the Public Service Commission, commissioners voted to deny Cooley Cap Inc.’s request for a permanent waiver of individual electric metering requirements in docket 4220‑EI‑113.

The commission’s chair, Chair Strand, said the commission is currently rewriting the administrative rule that governs individual metering and urged caution so interim decisions do not “create an inconsistent patchwork of waiver requirement and request circumstances” or expose the commission to legal risk. Strand said the existing rule, PSC 113.0803, sets a high bar that the record in this case did not meet and recommended denial. "We need strong, real, actual evidence and justification to grant waivers and that just is not in this record," Chair Strand said.

The denial turned on the rule’s two-part standard for a permanent waiver: that electrical equipment under tenant control be substantially more efficient than required by applicable codes, and that overall electric usage under tenant control be minimal.…