The California Public Utilities Commission has issued a draft resolution adopting utilities’ advice letters that include revisions to Rule 21 and associated documents necessary to implement the interconnection “cost envelope” pilot program established by the CPUC last July. The “cost envelope” pilot is a five-year pilot framework to provide developers with interconnection cost certainty. The “cost envelope” model provides that a developer’s responsibility for inaccurate interconnection cost estimates is capped at 25% (over or under) of the estimate provided by the utility.

The draft resolution incorporates some revisions to the utilities’ initial advice letters. Among these changes are a determination that revisions to cost estimates, if necessary, should be provided within the same 20-day period allotted for initial estimates for fast-track applications. The draft resolution also directs utilities to provide information that will allow the CPUC to review the level of detail provided in cost estimates.