1 BEFORE the PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION STATE of NEW YORK in the Matter of Eligibility for Energy Service Companies Proceeding O

BEFORE THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION STATE OF NEW YORK

) In the Matter of Eligibility for ) Case No. 15-M-0127 Energy Service Companies ) ) Proceeding on the Motion of the Commission ) Case No. 12-M-0476 to Assess Certain Aspects of the Residential ) and Small Non-Residential Retail Energy ) Markets in New York State ) ) In the Matter of Retail Access Business Rules ) Case No. 98-M-1343 )

PETITION OF INTERSTATE GAS SUPPLY, INC. AND ACCENT ENERGY MIDWEST GAS, LLC DBA IGS ENERGY AND ACCENT ENERGY MIDWEST II, LLC DBA IGS ENERGY FOR EXPEDITED DECLARATORY RULING AND/OR WAIVER AUTHORIZING A CARBON-NEUTRAL NATURAL GAS PRODUCT AND A HOME WARRANTY SERVICE PRODUCT

Interstate Gas Supply, Inc., Accent Energy Midwest Gas, LLC dba IGS Energy, and Accent

Energy Midwest II, LLC dba IGS Energy (collectively, “IGS Energy”) respectfully request that the New York Public Service Commission (“Commission”) issue an expedited declaratory ruling pursuant to Rule 8.1 of its Procedural Rules, 16 N.Y.C.R.R. § 8.1, finding that the IGS Energy

Carbon-Neutral Natural Gas Product and Home Warranty Service Product, described in this petition, meet the requirements for Energy-Related Value Added (“ERVA”) services. The

Commission should further determine that IGS Energy may serve mass-market customers on this

ERVA-authorized service without the additional requirement of pairing the product with a compliant guaranteed savings or fixed-rate offering tied to the utility’s trailing 12 month average price as required by the Commission’s Order Adopting Changes to the Retail Access Energy

Market and Establishing Further Process issued in these proceedings on December 12, 2019 (the

“Order”).

In the alternative, pursuant to 16 N.Y.C.R.R. § 3.3(c) and for the reasons stated herein, IGS

Energy asks the Commission to grant an expedited waiver of the requirements outlined in the

Order, allowing IGS Energy to serve its Carbon-Neutral Natural Gas product and Home Warranty

Service Product to mass-market customers without the requirements of guaranteed savings or a fixed-price that is based on the utility’s 12 month trailing average price.

BACKGROUND

Several years ago the Commission instituted Case 14-M-0101, the Proceeding on Motion of the Commission in Regard to Reforming the Energy Vision.1 In that matter the Commission identified six policy objectives aimed at improving system efficiency, customer choice, and greater penetration of clean generation and energy efficiency technologies with appropriate regulatory incentives. Among these specific policy objectives is the reduction of carbon emissions.2

Building on these stated objectives, the Commission and the State of New York have been clear that customers making the elective choice to purchase clean energy are the “most valuable asset” in reaching the State’s environmental targets.3 The Commission, in its Order, did provide some guidance for ESCOs with respect to offering clean electric products, however, guidance for innovative and clean natural gas-related products was not included. In fact, while the Commission

1 See Case 14-M-0101, Order Instituting Proceeding, Issued and Effective April 25, 2014.

2 Id. at p. 2.

3 Order at p. 76 (internal references omitted).

gave great latitude to ESCOs serving renewable electric products in its Order, it did not create any avenues for ESCOs to offer a natural gas product with environmentally-beneficial attributes.4

IGS Energy believes that giving customers the ability to purchase a green natural gas product provides immense value, for both the customers and for the environment. Many mass market customers utilize natural gas for heating their homes, warming their water, cooking their food, and everything in between. Customers should have the choice and the ability to purchase a product that offsets the negative externalities associated with fossil fuels.

IGS Energy has continually delivered high quality service to customers within the State of

New York and across other restructured markets including Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, Maryland,

Illinois, and Massachusetts for over 25 years. More recently through its subsidiary Scana Energy

Marketing LLC, IGS Energy provides natural gas service in the states of Georgia, North Carolina,

South Carolina, Tennessee and Florida. IGS Energy would like to continue to compete for customers’ business through the delivery of innovative products and services, and serve New York customers as we have been for over a decade. While IGS Energy is aligned with New York’s vision of delivering cleaner, lower emitting, and more innovative energy services, if the Commission does not permit IGS Energy the flexibility to offer products consistent with the manner described in this petition, IGS Energy will likely have no option but to exit the New York retail market and deploy its capital in states that are more supportive of retail energy competition and the beneficial products and services that IGS Energy offers its customers.

IGS Energy proposes that the Carbon-Neutral Natural Gas Product described within this petition be approved to give mass market customers much-needed and currently unavailable choice

4 See, e.g., Order at pp. 75-82, allowing ESCOs to serve a renewable electric product to mass market customers with no price parameters provided the product exceeds the ESCOs Tier 1 LSE obligation by at least 50%. 3

when it comes to the consumption of natural gas. IGS Energy requests that the Commission approve the product in an expedited manner by either issuing a declaratory judgement confirming that the described product meets the requirements outlined in the Order or through the grant of a waiver of those requirements specifically for the Carbon-Neutral Natural Gas Product described below.

In addition, IGS Energy’s Home Warranty Service Product is nearly identical to the already approved ERVA product offered by Agway Energy Services, LLC (“Agway”). Since IGS Energy can offer a near-identical product, IGS Energy requests that the Commission issue a declaratory judgement confirming that its Home Warranty Service Product meets the requirements outlined in the Order or through the grant of a waiver of the requirements provided in the Order.

ANALYSIS

I. IGS ENERGY’S CARBON-NEUTRAL NATURAL GAS PRODUCT

The Carbon-Neutral Natural Gas product is designed to be an understandable, effective, and economically feasible way for consumers to effortlessly offset their everyday carbon emissions arising from burning natural gas. A majority of New York consumers utilize natural gas for heating their homes during the winter and almost a quarter of consumers utilize it for heating water.5 In most cases, natural gas is the only available fuel for heating appliances without costly retrofitting. Additionally, natural gas provides incredible benefits to consumers in the form of low- cost instant heat and more reactive cooking surfaces.

The process of burning natural gas creates carbon dioxide (“CO2”). Yet it is unlikely and, in many cases, nearly impossible for even the most motivated consumer to go “cold turkey” on

5 https://www.eia.gov/consumption/residential/data/2015/c&e/pdf/ce5.4.pdf 4

natural gas. IGS Energy’s Carbon-Neutral Natural Gas Product allows consumers the ability to offset some of the negative environmental impacts created by their need to keep their home warm or dry their clothes with a product that provides immediate and recognizable benefits. Such a product should be considered an ERVA service.

According to United States

Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) calculations, each Mcf of burned natural gas is equal

6 to the release of .0549 metric tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.

6 https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gases-equivalencies-calculator-calculations-and-references

IGS Energy proposes to offer this product as a fixed price product that is not tied to the 5% cap based on the utility’s 12 month trailing average price, and on a variable rate basis with no guarantee of savings. As the Commission acknowledged in the Order, there is a cost premium to providing renewable energy in excess of the State’s requirements under the CES.9 There is similarly a premium for a green gas product offering such as IGS Energy’s Carbon-Neutral Natural Gas

Product. Similar to renewable electric products, customers will be able to gauge whether or not they are receiving the value they desire by reviewing the on-bill price comparison. As this product is analogous to a renewable electric product, IGS Energy believes that this product should be offered to customers on the same basis and under the same conditions as outlined in the Order.

The beauty of IGS Energy’s proposed Carbon-Neutral Natural Gas product is that it is simple, effective, easy to explain to customers, and relies on publicly available information. To the extent required by the Commission, IGS Energy can provide an annual report to Staff regarding retirement of VERs in an appropriate third-party tracking system.

9 See Order, p. 81. 6

IGS Energy respectfully submits that the Commission should approve the Carbon-Neutral

Natural Gas product because it provides an eloquently simple solution to the carbon emission reduction problem facing the State of New York, the country, and the entire planet.

A. THE COMMISSION SHOULD ISSUE A DECLARATORY RULING APPROVING THE CARBON-NEUTRAL NATURAL GAS PRODUCT

The Commission has the authority to issue a declaratory ruling pursuant to Section 8.1 of the Commission’s Procedural Rules. IGS Energy’s Carbon-Neutral Natural Gas product will provide unique benefits to customers that are currently unavailable within the marketplace. The

Commission recognized the benefit in allowing the creation of certain renewable electricity products without tethering them to the pricing restraints adopted in the Order and IGS Energy would ask that the Commission grant similar treatment to natural gas-based product that support the State’s efforts in combating climate change. In other words, the Commission should allow IGS

Energy to offer this product on the same basis as a renewable electric product.

Interested parties must be given the opportunity to file comments on a declaratory ruling request within 21 days according to Rule 8.2(c). This petition has been served on all parties to the captioned proceedings and thus the requirements of Sections 8.2(b) have been satisfied.

B. IN THE ALTERNATIVE, THE COMMISSION SHOULD GRANT A WAIVER OF THE ORDER AUTHORIZING IGS ENERGY TO OFFER ITS CARBON- NEUTRAL GAS PRODUCT AS AN ENERGY RELATED VALUE ADDED PRODUCT

This petition is submitted in response to the Commission’s guidance as contained in the

Order to submit a waiver explaining the benefits its products provide to customers.10 IGS Energy has demonstrated that its Carbon-Neutral Natural Gas product can benefit consumers directly and promote and support the State’s laudable environmental policies. The Commission can, and

10 Id., pp. 53-4. 7

should, approve the Carbon-Neutral Natural Gas product as an ERVA without the need for a new notice or comment period.

Under Commission precedent this waiver should be granted without the need for an additional comment period. By utilizing the States Administrative Procedure Act (“SAPA”) notices previously issued in the captioned proceedings, the Commission can expeditiously bring new products and services to the consumers of New York. 11 IGS Energy notes that the

Commission did not issue a separate notice with respect to the waiver it granted Agway for its

EnergyGuard service in the Order, and believes that no separate SAPA notice is necessary for its proposed product as IGS Energy’s request for approval was filed in the captioned proceedings and is directly related to the issues raised in the Commission’s previous SAPA notices.

II. IGS ENERGY’S HOME WARRANTY SERVICE PRODUCT

The Commission recognized that home warranty products, such as Agway’s

“EnergyGuard” provide “a unique benefit” that qualifies as an ERVA service.12 Specifically, this

“service covers the cost of most parts and repairs to the residential customer’s air conditioning unit, up to $1,000 annually, as well as the additional cost for electrical wiring repairs, up to $1,000 annually.”13 As the Commission cited in the Order, EnergyGuard is described as “‘similar to a pre-paid maintenance contract,’” which Agway argued provides its customers with “‘valuable and essential peace of mind.’”14 Consequently, the Commission concluded that “Agway may continue

11 Id.

12Id., p. 54

13 Id., p. 52.

14 Id.

to offer EnergyGuard . . . .” without complying with the pricing requirements imposed on other

ESCOs.15

IGS Energy provides its Home Warranty Service Product to over 100,000 residential and small commercial customers across the country. This innovative product is offered to customers bundled with retail electricity or retail natural gas commodity service. We offer a myriad of plans to our highly satisfied customer base, including inside/outside utility line protection, HVAC system protection, and comprehensive complete home protection with individual annual protection limits up to a combined annual limit of $34,500.

Moreover, IGS Energy’s Heating and Cooling product provides an annual protection limit of $2,000. IGS Energy envisions offering its Home Warranty bundled with fixed and variable rate retail natural gas and retail electricity offerings. As this proposed product is an ERVA, the fixed price offering should not be tied to the utility’s trailing 12 month average, and a variable product offering should not have to guarantee savings to customers. Customers can use the on-bill comparison to determine if they are receiving the “value” for which they bargained.16

IGS Energy has a developed a proven track record of customers satisfaction in the provision of this service.

Our home warranty contractors are licensed, bonded, and thoroughly screened. Although IGS Energy has

15 Id., pp. 53-54.

16 See id., p. 82. 9

yet to offer this product in NY, IGS Energy may enter the home warranty service market in this state to the extent that this petition is granted and IGS Energy believes there is a stable regulatory environment conducive to investment in capital, time, and resources necessary to develop a local service network.

A. THE COMMISSION SHOULD ISSUE A DECLARATORY RULING APPROVING THE HOME WARRANTY SERVICE PRODUCT

The Commission has the authority to issue a declaratory ruling pursuant to Section 8.1 of the Commission’s Procedural Rules. IGS Energy’s Home Warranty product provides unique benefits to customers and has a proven history of customer satisfaction. The Commission recognized the benefit in allowing the creation of certain renewable electricity products and

Agway’s EnergyGuard without tethering them to the restraints adopted in the Order and IGS

Energy would ask that the Commission grant similar treatment here – that IGS may offer this product as a variable-rate product with no guarantee of savings or as a fixed price product that is not capped at 5% over the utility’s trailing 12 month average price.

B. IN THE ALTERNATIVE, THE COMMISSION SHOULD GRANT A WAIVER OF THE ORDER AUTHORIZING IGS ENERGY TO OFFER ITS HOME WARRANTY SERVICE PRODUCT AS AN ENERGY RELATED VALUE ADDED PRODUCT

This petition is submitted in response to the Commission’s guidance as contained in the

Order to submit a waiver explaining the benefits its products provide to customers.17 Like Agway’s

EnergyGuard, IGS Energy has demonstrated that its Home Warranty Service product can benefit

17 Order, slip op. at 53-4. 10

consumers directly; therefore, the Commission should approve it as an ERVA without the need for a new notice or comment period.

Commission did not issue a separate notice with respect to the waiver it granted Agway for its

EnergyGuard service in the Order, and believes that no separate SAPA notice is necessary for its proposed product as IGS Energy’s request for approval was filed in the captioned proceedings, is directly related to the issues raised in the Commission’s previous SAPA notices, and seeks to offer a product that is essentially identical to an already approved ERVA offering..

CONCLUSION

WHEREFORE, for the above-stated reasons Interstate Gas Supply, Inc., Accent Energy

Midwest Gas, LLC, and Accent Energy Midwest II, LLC respectfully request the Commission grant an expedited declaratory ruling or in the alternative a waiver of the Order allowing IGS

Energy to offer the described Carbon-Neutral Natural Gas product and Home Warranty Service products, under the rules reserved for ERVA products, under the terms outlined within this petition.

Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Joseph Oliker______Joseph Oliker (NY Reg. # 4704409) Email: [email protected] Counsel of Record Interstate Gas Supply, Inc. 6100 Emerald Parkway Dublin, Ohio 43016

18 Id. 11

Telephone:(614) 659-5000 (willing to accept service via e-mail)

Interstate Gas Supply, Inc. Accent Energy Midwest II, LLC dba IGS Energy Accent Energy Midwest Gas, LLC dba IGS Energy

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I certify that this Petition of Interstate Gas Supply, Inc., Accent Energy Midwest Gas, LLC dba IGS Energy, and Accent Energy Midwest II, LLC was filed electronically on May 7, 2020 in Case Nos. 15-M-0127, 12-M-0476, and 98-M-1343.

/s/ Joseph Oliker______Joseph Oliker