Section 8381 Of Chapter 5. Privacy Protections For Energy Consumption Data From California Public Utilities Code >> Division 4.1. >> Chapter 5.
8381
. (a) For purposes of this section, "electrical consumption
data" means data about a customer's electrical usage that is made
available as part of an advanced metering infrastructure, and
includes the name, account number, or residence of the customer.
(b) (1) A local publicly owned electric utility shall not share,
disclose, or otherwise make accessible to any third party a customer'
s electrical consumption data, except as provided in subdivision (e)
or upon the consent of the customer.
(2) A local publicly owned electric utility shall not sell a
customer's electrical consumption data or any other personally
identifiable information for any purpose.
(3) The local publicly owned electric utility or its contractors
shall not provide an incentive or discount to the customer for
accessing the customer's electrical consumption data without the
prior consent of the customer.
(4) A local publicly owned electric utility that utilizes an
advanced metering infrastructure that allows a customer to access the
customer's electrical consumption data shall ensure that the
customer has an option to access that data without being required to
agree to the sharing of his or her personally identifiable
information, including electrical consumption data, with a third
party.
(c) If a local publicly owned electric utility contracts with a
third party for a service that allows a customer to monitor his or
her electricity usage, and that third party uses the data for a
secondary commercial purpose, the contract between the local publicly
owned electric utility and the third party shall provide that the
third party prominently discloses that secondary commercial purpose
to the customer and secures the customer's consent to the use of his
or her data for that secondary commercial purpose prior to the use of
the data.
(d) A local publicly owned electric utility shall use reasonable
security procedures and practices to protect a customer's unencrypted
electrical consumption data from unauthorized access, destruction,
use, modification, or disclosure, and to prohibit the use of the data
for a secondary commercial purpose not related to the primary
purpose of the contract without the customer's consent.
(e) (1) This section shall not preclude a local publicly owned
electric utility from using customer aggregate electrical consumption
data for analysis, reporting, or program management if all
information has been removed regarding the individual identity of a
customer.
(2) This section shall not preclude a local publicly owned
electric utility from disclosing a customer's electrical consumption
data to a third party for system, grid, or operational needs, or the
implementation of demand response, energy management, or energy
efficiency programs, provided, for contracts entered into after
January 1, 2011, that the utility has required by contract that the
third party implement and maintain reasonable security procedures and
practices appropriate to the nature of the information, to protect
the personal information from unauthorized access, destruction, use,
modification, or disclosure, and prohibits the use of the data for a
secondary commercial purpose not related to the primary purpose of
the contract without the customer's prior consent to that use.
(3) This section shall not preclude a local publicly owned
electric utility from disclosing electrical consumption data as
required under state or federal law.
(f) If a customer chooses to disclose his or her electrical
consumption data to a third party that is unaffiliated with, and has
no other business relationship with, the local publicly owned
electric utility, the utility shall not be responsible for the
security of that data, or its use or misuse.