conmssionens STATE OF ARYLAND DOUGLAS R. M. NAZARIAN HAROLD D. WILLIAMS SUSANNE BROGAN LAWRENCE BRENNER THERESE M, GOLDSMITH PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION September 20, 2010 Louis Wilen 17101 MacDuff Avenue Olney, Maryland 20832 Dear Mr. Wilen: At the evening hearing for public comment in connection with the Potomac Electric Power Company’s (“Pepco” or Company”) application for a rate increase (Case No. 9217) held on May 6, 2010, you brought to the Public Service Commission’s (“Commission”) attention that you were unable to remotely program a thermostat installed in your home by Pepco,! as advertised by Pepco in its associated literature on its website, The Company, in its letter dated July 2, 2010 to the Commission (a copy enclosed (Enclosure 1)), explained that it expected that the function to remotely program the thermostats would be available when it began the installation of the thermostats, and initiated its marketing/education campaign on that basis. Due to unexpected technical issues, there was a delay in the launch of the function, but the Company apparently did not take the necessary steps to advise customers of this delay ~ which resulted in your frustration that you were unable to program your thermostat as you had been promised by the Company. According to the Company, it has modified its website to reflect that the ability to remotely program the thermostat is “under construction.” The Company also reported that technical issues have been resolved, and testing with a group of volunteers began on April 20, 2010 and was completed on May 7, 2010. Pepco also indicated that a further multiple-user testing would be conducted, and when successfully completed, a soft launch of the remote programming feature would be implemented. After monitoring the soft launch for approximately two weeks, and if no issues arose with the technology, Pepco would begin a proactive communication of the remote programming capability to its customers. On July 20, 2010, the Commission sent a letter to Pepco to clarify Pepco’s proposed “next steps.” (A copy of the Commission's letter is enclosed (Enclosure 2)). On August 20, 2010, the Company responded to the Commission’s letter indicating that the multiple-user test was being conducted during the week of August 23, 2010. (A copy of the Company's August 20" letter is enclosed (Enclosure 3)). If the testing was successful, the Company would begin ' The thermostat is offered by Pepco as part of its Energy Wise Rewards™ Program (a part of its approved EmPower Maryland Energy Efficiency Act of 2008 programs). WILLIAM DONALD SCHAFFER TOWER + 6ST. PAUL STREET + BALTIMORE, MARYLAND 21202-6806 s10-767-8000 Toll Free: 1-800492.084 «FAX: 41033-6495 MORS: 1-800-735-2258 (TTY Voice) = Website: wpe sae musMr. Louis Wilen September 20, 2010 Page 2 the soft launch within 30 days. The Company indicated that the soft launch participants would include “current ‘My Account’ customers who are participants in the Energy Wise Rewards™ program” and that the eligible customers would be “notified via an additional option on the navigation panel of the “My Account’ page.” The Commission has contacted the Company to obtain an update on whether the multiple-end user testing was successful and, if so, when the soft launch of the program would begin. The Company reported that it conducted the multiple-user test on August 26, 2010 and again during the week of August 30, 2010. The testing, however, did not meet the Company's expectation and was not deemed “successful.” On September 10, 2010, the Company met with its vendor to discuss the results of the testing and the Company's observations. The vendor was directed to review the results to identify the issues with the function and to develop resolutions for these issues. On September 15, 2010, the Company escalated the problem to the senior management of the vendor and has requested the vendor provide a project plan and a timeline for resolution of the issues. The Commission will continue to monitor the progress of the Company in implementing this function and will provide you the additional information as it is provided to the Commission. ‘The Commission appreciates your alerting the Commission to this issue. By Direction of the Commission, Executive Secretary Enclosures ce: Ron Decker, Chief Staff Counsel Obi Linton, Director of Office of External Relations Paula Carmody, People’s Counsel William O'Brien