Bill Text: MI HB5674 | 2013-2014 | 97th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Energy; electricity; community renewable energy generation facilities; allow. Amends 2008 PA 295 (MCL 460.1001 - 460.1195) by adding pt. 5A.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 12-4)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-07-16 - Printed Bill Filed 06/13/2014 [HB5674 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2013-HB5674-Introduced.html
HOUSE BILL No. 5674
June 12, 2014, Introduced by Reps. VerHeulen, Switalski, Irwin, Roberts, Dianda, Barnett, McBroom, Schmidt, Kivela, Zemke, Townsend, Lamonte, Singh, Robinson, Kelly and Hovey-Wright and referred to the Committee on Energy and Technology.
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 GARDENS
Sec. 182. (1) As used in this part:
(a) "Community renewable energy garden" 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 community
renewable energy garden.
(iii) The owner is either an electric provider or a person who
contracts to sell the output from the community renewable energy
garden to an electric provider that serves the community in which
the community renewable energy garden 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 garden, 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 renewable
energy electric generation system installed at a community
renewable energy garden and in the renewable energy credits
associated with or attributable to that system.
(2) Each subscription shall be sized to represent at least 100
watts of the community renewable energy garden's generating
capacity and to supply no more than 120% of the average annual
consumption of electricity by the subscriber at the premises to
which the subscription is attributed, net of the average annual
amount generated by any existing renewable energy system at the
premises.
(3) A subscription in a community renewable energy garden 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 garden are not public utilities subject to
regulation by the commission solely as a result of their interest
in the community renewable energy garden. Prices paid for
subscriptions in community renewable energy gardens 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 gardens 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
gardens 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, 1/2 of the renewable energy garden 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 gardens
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 gardens 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 gardens 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 gardens, to the extent the commission
finds there is demand for that ownership.
(c) Development of community renewable energy gardens 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 gardens 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
garden shall be sold only to an electric provider serving the
geographic area where the community renewable energy garden is
located. After a community renewable energy garden 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 community
renewable energy garden. The amount of electricity and renewable
energy credits generated by each community renewable energy garden
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 community renewable energy garden.
(2) An electric provider shall purchase the output of a
community renewable energy garden by a net metering credit against
each community renewable energy garden 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 community
renewable energy garden 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 community renewable energy
garden to the subscriber's premises, integrating the renewable
energy generation with the provider's system, and administering the
community renewable energy garden'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 garden 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 community renewable energy garden.
Sec. 182e. (1) The owner of the community renewable energy
garden shall provide real-time production data to the electric
provider to facilitate incorporation of the community renewable
energy garden into the electric provider's operation of its
electric system and to facilitate the provision of net metering
credits.
(2) The owner of the community renewable energy garden 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 community renewable energy garden 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 garden in its proposed renewable energy plan. The
electric provider may give preference to community renewable energy
gardens 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 gardens and may recover
through rates a margin, determined by the commission, on all energy
and renewable energy credits purchased from community renewable
energy gardens. These incentive payments are excluded from the cost
calculations for life-cycle cost of renewable energy under this
act.
