Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that expands the use of solar power.

Highlights:

• Authorizes the Office of Regulatory Staff to recommend cost allocations and design revisions that seek to ensure an equal distribution of system costs and benefits between consumers who utilize solar energy resources and consumers that do not (Sec. 1).

• Specifies that the recommended ratemaking revisions will focus on achieving the following goals, including, but not limited to (Sec. 1):

• Accurate pricing for electricity consumed or generated by utility customers; or

• Customer flexibility to use differing technologies as they become available;

• Defines “Onsite Distributed Energy Resource”as a distributed energy resource facility that generates electricity from a renewable energy resource along with the following, including, but not limited to (Sec. 2)

• Located on a single premise owned, operated, or leased by the customer; and

• Intended to offset part or all of the customer’s own electrical energy.

• Defines “customer-generator” as the user of an onsite distributed energy resource that generates electricity from a renewable energy resource and is enrolled in a net energy metering service (Sec. 3).

• Defines “net metering” as using metering equipment to measure the difference between the electrical energy supplied to a customer-generator by an electrical utility and the electrical energy exported by the customer-generator to the electricity provider (Sec. 2).

• Specifies that an electrical utility company may set a one time cost-based interconnection application fee at no more than $250 for a generation facility with a capacity of 20 kilowatts or less (Sec. 2).

• Requires applications for interconnection from net energy metering customer-generators received after December 31, 2020 or after the 2 percent cap is met to continue to proceed under the statewide net metering program (Sec. 4).

Full Bill Text