Deregulated accounts

In a deregulated energy market, you receive bills from two vendors for the same meter: the Local Distribution Company (LDC), which delivers the commodity to your building, and a separate supplier, which charges you for the energy itself. In EnergyCAP, both vendors need their own account, and both accounts are linked to the same meter. This lets you track what you pay to each vendor separately while reporting on combined cost and usage at the meter level.

If you receive a single consolidated bill from one vendor, you only need one account and this setup does not apply. See Summary accounts if your vendor sends one bill covering multiple service addresses.

Historically, natural gas and electricity were supplied and delivered by the same local utility company. The energy industry began moving toward deregulation in the mid-1980s, giving organizations the ability to choose their own energy supplier while the LDC continued to own and operate the delivery infrastructure.

Deregulation unbundled supply from delivery.

Types of deregulated accounts

EnergyCAP can accommodate two types of deregulated accounts:

• Separate LDC and supplier bills received each month. This usually means two separate accounts with a single meter.
• A consolidated bill which typically results in the creation of one account.

LDC

LDC stands for Local Distribution Company.

This is your utility company, or the grid, to which your building is connected. For example, SCE, PG&E, APS, SDG&E, FPL, JCP&L, etc.

Supplier

When you take advantage of a deregulated customer choice program, the supplier is who you pay for the generation of the commodity delivered to you by the LDC. The supplier typically receives the consumption data directly from the LDC; no separate supplier meter is required. The supplier normally invoices you using the same start/end meter reads as the LDC.

Two accounts and one meter

You receive one bill from the LDC and one from the supplier. Each bill is tracked separately in EnergyCAP for reporting. For example, you may want to know the total dollars paid to each vendor.

Avoid double counting

Choose the correct role for your deregulated account. For supply vendors, the line type for use is typically informational.

Configure one meter with two accounts

1. Configure the meter.
2. Add a linked account.
   Choose the vendor role when adding the new account. You have three options when linking an account and meter. When it is deregulated you can select a vendor role of Distribution or Supply.
   
   
3. On the meter's Properties tab add the second linked account and remember to select the appropriate vendor role.