Bill Text: CT HB05350 | 2018 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: An Act Concerning Shared Solar Facilities And Municipal Airports.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-03-29 - Motion Failed (JF) [HB05350 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2018-HB05350-Introduced.html

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General Assembly		Raised Bill No. 5350
February Session, 2018		LCO No. 1963
		*01963_______ET_*
Referred to Committee on ENERGY AND TECHNOLOGY
Introduced by:
(ET)

AN ACT CONCERNING SHARED SOLAR FACILITIES AND MUNICIPAL AIRPORTS.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2018) (a) As used in this section:

(1) "Authority" means the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, as defined in section 16-1 of the general statutes, as amended by this act;

(2) "Bill credit" means the credit to a subscriber calculated pursuant to subsection (k) of this section;

(3) "Electric distribution company" has the same meaning as provided in section 16-1 of the general statutes, as amended by this act;

(4) "Host subscriber" means a municipal airport;

(5) "Individual billing meter" means an individual electric meter or a set of electric meters, when such meters are combined for billing purposes, within the service territory of the subscriber's electric distribution company;

(6) "Municipal airport shared solar facility" means electricity derived from solar power that is a Class I renewable energy source, as defined in section 16-1 of the general statutes, as amended by this act, that (A) is served by an electric distribution company, as defined in section 16-1 of the general statutes, as amended by this act, (B) is within the same electric distribution company service territory as the individual billing meters for subscriptions, (C) has a nameplate capacity rating of two megawatts or less, (D) has at least two subscribers, and (E) is located on a municipal airport;

(7) "Municipal airport shared solar facility credit" means a credit equal to the retail cost per kilowatt hour that the subscriber would have otherwise been charged by the electric distribution company that services the territory where the subscriber is located, including, but not limited to, the generation service charges, transmission and distribution charges and any other charges, as determined by the authority;

(8) "Municipal airport shared solar pilot program" means the program established pursuant to subsection (b) of this section;

(9) "Subscriber" means an in-state retail end user of an electric distribution company who (A) has contracted for a subscription, and (B) has identified an individual billing meter to which the subscription shall be attributed;

(10) "Subscriber organization" means a municipality that (A) owns or operates one or more clean energy facilities for the benefit of the subscribers, or (B) contracts with a host subscriber to build, own or operate one or more clean shared energy facilities; and

(11) "Subscription" means a beneficial use of a municipal airport shared solar facility, including, but not limited to, a percentage interest in the total amount of electricity produced by such facility or a set amount of electricity produced by such facility.

(b) The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection shall establish a two-year municipal airport shared solar pilot program to support the development of municipal airport shared solar facilities. On or before July 1, 2019, the commissioner shall develop and issue a request for proposals from subscriber organizations with a population of not less than one hundred twenty-eight thousand and not more than one hundred thirty-five thousand, seeking to develop a municipal airport shared solar facility. The commissioner shall select, pursuant to the request for proposals, a municipal airport shared solar facility.

(c) After a municipal airport shared solar facility is selected pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, the subscriber organization shall determine the methodology for calculating the billing credit for any subscriber of such municipal airport shared solar facility that may be issued through the electric distribution company's monthly billing systems.

(d) The authority may revise the methodology determined pursuant to subsection (c) of this section at any time if the authority concludes that such revision is in the public interest and (1) the existing methodology does not provide subscribers with the fair value of electricity produced by a municipal airport shared solar facility based on the benefits of such facility, or (2) such methodology results in a net shifting of costs to nonparticipating ratepayers. After concluding that such revision shall be made, the authority shall initiate a proceeding to develop a new methodology to calculate the billing credit. Such methodology shall be based on the costs and benefits to the electric distribution companies, customers of such companies and the economic conditions for operating shared clean energy facilities, as defined in section 16-243p of the general statutes, interconnected to the electric power grid. The authority may use the outcome of any proceeding that comprehensively addresses the costs and benefits of renewable distributed generation that includes municipal airport shared solar facilities to inform the authority's revisions to the methodology.

(e) A subscriber organization (1) shall determine the price paid for a subscription, (2) shall comply with the consumer protection provisions pursuant to subsections (n) to (p), inclusive, of this section and all applicable state and federal securities and tax laws, and shall be responsible for all liability and any costs resulting from noncompliance with any such provisions, (3) shall not sell subscriptions totaling more than one hundred per cent of the electricity produced by a municipal airport shared solar facility, (4) shall, each quarter, either itself or through a designated agent, provide the following information about each subscriber to the electric distribution company, as required to credit such subscribers: (A) The name, address, account number and meter number or numbers, and (B) the subscription percentage or amount, (5) may update its subscribers not more than once per quarter, and (6) may request that the electric distribution company bill subscribers on behalf of the subscriber organization, provided the subscriber organization shall pay the company's costs associated with billing and collection from subscribers, pursuant to approval by the authority.

(f) A subscriber shall not have a subscription for more than one hundred per cent of such subscriber's own electric consumption, based on such subscriber's previous twelve months of energy usage.

(g) An electric distribution company may (1) require that a municipal airport shared solar facility and its subscribers have their meters read on the same billing cycle, and (2) seek recovery for any costs associated with the administration of the municipal airport shared solar facility.

(h) If the capacity of a municipal airport shared solar facility is not fully subscribed, the host subscriber shall be credited the remaining bill credits.

(i) The owner or operator of a municipal airport shared solar facility shall follow all procedures for interconnection pursuant to section 16-243a of the general statutes.

(j) The owner of the municipal airport shared solar facility shall be responsible for the installation of a revenue quality production meter at such facility. Such owner shall compensate the electric distribution company for such company's reasonable costs to interconnect the facility to such company's electric grid. The amount of electricity generated each month by such facility and available for allocation shall be determined by such meter. The electric distribution company shall read such meter.

(k) Each billing month, a subscriber may be eligible for a bill credit. The bill credit shall be calculated for each subscriber by multiplying the quantity of kilowatt hours allocated to such subscriber by the municipal airport shared solar facility credit, less any deductions agreed to by the subscriber that shall be paid by the electric distribution company to the subscriber organization, or third-party entity, for operations and maintenance purposes on behalf of the subscriber. The amount of any such agreed to deductions shall be held in escrow or trust account on behalf of the subscribers and shall not be the property of the subscriber organization, electric distribution company or any third-party entity. If the value of the bill credit allocated to the subscriber exceeds the amount owed by such subscriber to the electric distribution company, as shown on such subscriber's bill at the end of the billing period, the remaining value of such bill credit shall carry over from month to month until the value of any remaining bill credit is used. If the value of the bill credit allocated to the subscriber is less than the amount owed by the subscriber to the electric distribution company as shown on such subscriber's bill at the end of the applicable billing period, the subscriber shall be billed for the difference between the amount shown on the bill and the value of the available bill credit.

(l) A subscriber organization, a subscriber or any third-party entity that owns or operates a municipal airport shared solar facility shall not own or operate electric distribution services, as defined in section 16-1 of the general statutes, as amended by this act.

(m) Except for the price for the subscription in subdivision (1) of subsection (e) of this section, the authority may adopt regulations, in accordance with chapter 54 of the general statutes, to implement the provisions of subsections (a) to (l), inclusive, of this section.

(n) Any entity selling or reselling a subscription in a municipal airport shared solar facility, prior to the sale or resale of any such subscription, shall provide a disclosure to any potential subscriber that shall include, but not be limited to: (1) A good faith estimate of the annual kilowatt hours to be delivered by the municipal airport shared clean energy facility, based on subscription size; (2) a plain language explanation of the terms under which bill credits will be calculated, including, but not limited to, a plain language explanation of the municipal airport shared solar facility credit; (3) a plain language explanation of the proposed contract provisions regulating the disposition or transfer of the subscription; and (4) a plain language explanation of the costs and benefits to the potential subscriber and all assumptions used therein for the term of the proposed contract, based on the subscriber's current usage and applicable tariff.

(o) A subscriber shall receive bill credits if the municipal airport shared solar facility continues to generate and provide power to the electric power grid, regardless of any bankruptcy or contractual default of any subscriber, subscriber organization or third-party entity owner or operator of the municipal airport shared solar facility.

(p) Upon a showing that additional requirements are necessary to protect existing or potential subscribers, the authority may adopt regulations, in accordance with chapter 54 of the general statutes, to implement the provisions of subsections (n) and (o) of this section.

(q) This section shall not be construed to limit any other rights or obligations a subscriber may have related to the provision of electric service and delivery of electricity by the electric distribution company or the provision of a subscription by the subscriber organization, third-party entity that owns a municipal airport shared solar facility or other entity as provided by, but not limited to, any tariff, decision of the authority or federal or state statute.

Sec. 2. Subsection (c) of section 15-120j of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2018):

(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a) and (b) of this section, [Runway 2-20 of the airport shall not exceed the existing paved runway length of five thousand six hundred linear feet] Runway 14-32 shall be closed.

Sec. 3. Section 16-1 of the general statutes is amended by adding subsection (d) as follows (Effective October 1, 2018):

(NEW) (d) A subscriber organization, as defined in section 1 of this act, shall not be deemed to be an electric distribution company or an electric supplier solely by virtue of the fact that such subscriber organization owns or operates or contracts with a third party to build, own or operate a municipal airport shared solar facility, as defined in section 1 of this act.

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	October 1, 2018	New section
Sec. 2	October 1, 2018	15-120j(c)
Sec. 3	October 1, 2018	16-1

Statement of Purpose:

To create a pilot program for shared solar facilities at municipal airports.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]