The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has established a series of requirements for ESPs. These include:

Complete SCE establishment package, which includes the following:

Under Dual Billing, SCE and ESPs provide separate bills to end-use customers for their respective charges. Each is responsible for calculating their respective charges, preparing and sending their own bill to the customer, and for receiving and processing the customer’s payments.

The ESP and SCE have a set of specific charges each must calculate based on the same usage data for a single customer in a given billing period. After calculating its charges, an ESP must prepare and send the charges to SCE in electronic (bill-ready) form by the second business day, following Meter Data Management Agent (MDMA) posting rules. SCE will consolidate the ESP’s and SCE’s charges to create a single bill to present to the end-use customer.

The ESP and SCE have a set of specific charges each must calculate based on the same usage data for a single customer in a given billing period. After calculating its charges, SCE must prepare and send the charges to the ESP in electronic (bill-ready) form. The ESP will consolidate both SCE’s and its own charges to create a single bill to present to the end-use customer.

SCE continues to own and operate the regulated distribution lines in its franchise territory and is responsible for the reliable and safe delivery of electricity to end-use customers. SCE provides energy suppliers, retailers, and aggregators with necessary resources, including distribution services, and dependable and impartial information to ensure that energy suppliers have the necessary resources for participation in the DA market. As part of its distribution role, SCE continues to provide the following services to customers:

• Meter Services (ownership, installation, removal, calibration, testing, and maintenance)
• Meter Reading and Usage Data Management

Under Direct Access, ESPs have the option of providing metering services to customers for whom they are providing electricity. These services include provision of the meter, ownership of the meter, meter testing for adherence to manufacturer’s specifications, meter installation, meter calibration, meter testing for proper installation and functionality, meter maintenance, and meter reading. In order to provide meter services, a Meter Service Provider (MSP) must be certified by the CPUC.

For metering information, visit the Meter Data Management Agent webpage.