Bill Text: MI HB4878 | 2015-2016 | 98th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Energy; electricity; community renewable energy generation facilities; provide for. Amends 2008 PA 295 (MCL 460.1001 - 460.1195) by adding pt. 5A.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 7-3)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-09-22 - Printed Bill Filed 09/18/2015 [HB4878 Detail]

Download: Michigan-2015-HB4878-Introduced.html

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HOUSE BILL No. 4878

 

September 17, 2015, Introduced by Reps. Glenn, Robinson, Lucido, Hooker, Runestad, Barrett, Cochran, McBroom, Inman and Dianda and referred to the Committee on Energy Policy.

 

     A bill to amend 2008 PA 295, entitled

 

"Clean, renewable, and efficient energy act,"

 

(MCL 460.1001 to 460.1195) by adding part 5A.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

PART 5A COMMUNITY RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEMS

 

     Sec. 182. (1) As used in this part:

 

     (a) "Community renewable energy system" or "system" means a

 

renewable energy electric generation system that meets all of the

 

following conditions:

 

     (i) The system has a generating capacity of 2 megawatts or

 

less.

 

     (ii) The beneficial use of the electricity generated by the

 

system belongs to a minimum of 10 subscribers to the system.

 

     (iii) The owner is either an electric provider or a person who

 

contracts to sell the output from the system to an electric

 

provider that serves the community in which the system is located.

 

     (b) "Subscriber" means a retail customer of the electric

 

provider who owns a subscription.

 

     (c) "Subscriber organization" means an organization with the

 

sole purpose of beneficially owning and directly operating a

 

community renewable energy system, or indirectly operating it

 

through a third party under contract with the subscriber

 

organization. A subscriber organization may be any for-profit or

 

nonprofit entity permitted by law.

 

     (d) "Subscription" means a proportional interest in a

 

community renewable energy system and in the renewable energy

 

credits associated with or attributable to the system.

 

     (2) Each subscription shall be sized to represent at least 100

 

watts of the community renewable energy system's generating

 

capacity and to supply no more than 120% of the amount by which the

 

average annual consumption of electricity by the subscriber at the

 

premises to which the subscription is attributed exceeds the

 

average annual amount generated by any existing renewable energy

 

system at the premises.

 

     (3) A subscription in a community renewable energy system may

 

be transferred or assigned to a subscriber organization or to any

 

other person or entity that qualifies to be a subscriber under this

 

part.

 

     Sec. 182a. A subscriber organization may enter into ownership

 

and operating agreements to implement the purposes of this act.

 

     Sec. 182b. The owners of and subscribers to a community

renewable energy system are not public utilities subject to

 

regulation by the commission solely as a result of their interest

 

in the system. Prices paid for subscriptions in community renewable

 

energy systems are not subject to regulation by the commission.

 

     Sec. 182c. (1) The commission shall require in each new plan

 

or review of the renewable energy plan of an electric provider

 

pursuant to section 21, 23, or 25 that the plan include the

 

purchase of electricity and renewable energy credits from community

 

renewable energy systems over the period covered by the plan.

 

     (2) In the first plan or review plan adopted after the

 

effective date of the amendatory act that added this section, each

 

electric provider shall include plans to issue 1 or more standard

 

offers to purchase the output from community renewable energy

 

systems of 500 kilowatts or less at prices that are comparable to

 

the prices offered by the electric provider under standard offers

 

issued for on-site renewable energy generation. During that plan

 

period, the electric provider shall plan to acquire, through these

 

standard offers, at least 1/2 of the community renewable energy

 

system generation it plans to acquire, to the extent the electric

 

provider receives responses to its standard offers. For that plan

 

period, the electric provider is not obligated to purchase more

 

than 6 megawatts of energy generated by community renewable energy

 

systems that were not included in a prior plan period.

 

     (3) For each review plan adopted after a plan described in

 

subsection (2), the commission shall determine the minimum

 

purchases of electrical output an electric provider shall plan to

 

make from community renewable energy systems that were not included

in a prior plan period. In addition, as necessary, the commission

 

shall formulate and implement policies consistent with this part

 

that encourage all of the following:

 

     (a) Customer ownership of subscriptions in community renewable

 

energy systems and of other forms of distributed generation, to the

 

extent the commission finds there is customer demand for that

 

ownership.

 

     (b) Residential retail customer, including low-income

 

customer, and agricultural producer ownership of subscriptions in

 

community renewable energy systems, to the extent the commission

 

finds there is demand for that ownership.

 

     (c) Development of community renewable energy systems with

 

attributes that the commission finds result in lower overall total

 

costs for the electric provider's customers.

 

     (d) Successful financing and operation of community renewable

 

energy systems owned by subscriber organizations.

 

     (e) The achievement of the goals and objectives of this act.

 

     Sec. 182d. (1) The output from a community renewable energy

 

system shall be sold only to an electric provider serving the

 

geographic area where the system is located. After a community

 

renewable energy system is part of an electric provider's renewable

 

energy plan that is approved by the commission, the electric

 

provider shall purchase all of the electricity and renewable energy

 

credits generated by the system. The amount of electricity and

 

renewable energy credits generated by each community renewable

 

energy system shall be determined by a production meter installed

 

by the electric provider or third-party system owner and paid for

by the owner of the system.

 

     (2) An electric provider shall purchase the output of a

 

community renewable energy system by a net metering credit against

 

each system subscriber's electric bill for the premises set forth

 

in the subscriber's subscription. The net metering credit shall be

 

calculated by multiplying the subscriber's share of the electricity

 

production from the system by the electric provider's total

 

aggregate retail rate as charged to the subscriber, minus a

 

reasonable charge as determined by the commission to cover the

 

provider's costs of delivering an amount of electricity equal to

 

the subscriber's share of the electricity generated by the system

 

to the subscriber's premises, integrating the renewable energy

 

generation with the provider's system, and administering the

 

system's contracts and net metering credits. The commission shall

 

ensure that this charge does not reflect costs that are already

 

recovered by the electric provider from the subscriber through

 

other charges. If, and to the extent that, a subscriber's net

 

metering credit exceeds the subscriber's electric bill in any

 

billing period, the net metering credit shall be carried forward

 

and applied against future bills.

 

     (3) The electric provider and the owner of the community

 

renewable energy system shall agree on whether the purchase of the

 

renewable energy credits from subscribers will be accomplished

 

through a credit on each subscriber's electricity bill or by a

 

payment to the owner of the system.

 

     Sec. 182e. (1) The owner of the community renewable energy

 

system shall provide real-time production data to the electric

provider to facilitate incorporation of the community renewable

 

energy system into the electric provider's operations and to

 

facilitate the provision of net metering credits.

 

     (2) The owner of the community renewable energy system shall

 

notify the electric provider of the percentage share of each

 

subscriber for use in determining the net metering credit to each

 

subscriber. The information shall be provided on a monthly basis

 

and within reasonable periods set by the electric provider. If the

 

electricity output of the system is not fully subscribed, the

 

electric provider shall purchase the unsubscribed renewable energy

 

and the renewable energy credits at a rate equal to the electric

 

provider's average hourly incremental cost of electricity supply

 

over the immediately preceding calendar year.

 

     Sec. 182f. (1) Each electric provider shall provide for

 

including low-income customers as subscribers to a community

 

renewable energy system in its proposed renewable energy plan. The

 

electric provider may give preference to systems that have low-

 

income subscribers.

 

     (2) An electric provider is eligible for the incentives and

 

subject to any ownership limitations set forth in this part for

 

investments in community renewable energy systems and may recover

 

through rates a margin, determined by the commission, on all energy

 

and renewable energy credits purchased from community renewable

 

energy systems. These incentive payments are excluded from the cost

 

calculations for life-cycle cost of renewable energy under this

 

act.