Bill Text: MI SB0153 | 2023-2024 | 102nd Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Energy: alternative sources; community solar facilities; provide for establishment of. Amends sec. 5 of 2008 PA 295 (MCL 460.1005) & adds pt. 8. TIE BAR WITH: SB 0152'23
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 11-2)
Status: (Introduced) 2023-03-08 - Referred To Committee On Energy And Environment [SB0153 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2023-SB0153-Introduced.html
SENATE BILL NO. 153
A bill to amend 2008 PA 295, entitled
"Clean and renewable energy and energy waste reduction act,"
by amending section 5 (MCL 460.1005), as amended by 2016 PA 342, and by adding part 8.
the people of the state of michigan enact:
(a) "Electric provider" means any of the following:
(i) Any person or entity that is regulated by the commission for the purpose of selling electricity to retail customers in this state.
(ii) A Except as used in part 8, a municipally owned electric utility in this state.
(iii) A Except as used in part 8, a cooperative electric utility in this state.
(iv) Except as used in subpart C of part 2 and in part 8, an alternative electric supplier licensed under section 10a of 1939 PA 3, MCL 460.10a.
(b) "Eligible electric generator" means a methane digester or renewable energy system with a generation capacity limited to the customer's electric need and that does not exceed the following:
(i) For a renewable energy system, 150 kilowatts of aggregate generation at a single site.
(ii) For a methane digester, 550 kilowatts of aggregate generation at a single site.
(c) "Energy conservation" means the reduction of customer energy use through the installation of measures or changes in energy usage behavior.
(d) "Energy efficiency" means a decrease in customer consumption of electricity or natural gas achieved through measures or programs that target customer behavior, equipment, devices, or materials without reducing the quality of energy services.
(e) "Energy star" means the voluntary partnership among the United States Department of Energy, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, product manufacturers, local utilities, and retailers to help promote energy efficient products by labeling with the energy star logo, to educate consumers about the benefits of energy efficiency, and to help promote energy efficiency in buildings by benchmarking and rating energy performance.
(f) "Energy waste reduction", subject to subdivision (g), means all of the following:
(i) Energy efficiency.
(ii) Load management, to the extent that the load management reduces provider costs.
(iii) Energy conservation, but only to the extent that the decreases in the consumption of electricity produced by energy conservation are objectively measurable and attributable to an energy waste reduction plan.
(g) Energy waste reduction does not include electric provider infrastructure projects that are approved for cost recovery by the commission other than as provided in this act.
(h) "Energy waste reduction credit" means a credit certified pursuant to section 87 that represents achieved energy waste reduction.
(i) "Energy waste reduction plan" means a plan under section 71.
(j) "Energy waste reduction standard" means the minimum energy savings required to be achieved under section 77 or 78(1), as applicable.
(k) "Federal approval" means approval by the applicable regional transmission organization or other Federal Energy Regulatory Commission-approved transmission planning process of a transmission project that includes the transmission line. Federal approval may be evidenced in any of the following manners:
(i) The proposed transmission line is part of a transmission project included in the applicable regional transmission organization's board-approved transmission expansion plan.
(ii) The applicable regional transmission organization has informed the electric utility, affiliated transmission company, or independent transmission company that a transmission project submitted for an out-of-cycle project review has been approved by the applicable regional transmission organization, and the approved transmission project includes the proposed transmission line.
(iii) If, after October 6, 2008, the applicable regional transmission organization utilizes another approval process for transmission projects proposed by an electric utility, affiliated transmission company, or independent transmission company, the proposed transmission line is included in a transmission project approved by the applicable regional transmission organization through the approval process developed after October 6, 2008.
(iv) Any other Federal Energy Regulatory Commission-approved transmission planning process for a transmission project.
PART 8.
COMMUNITY SOLAR FACILITIES
Sec. 231. As used in this part:
(a) "Applicable bill credit rate" means the dollar-per-kilowatt-hour rate established by the commission under section 235(2) to calculate a subscriber's bill credit.
(b) "Bill credit" means the monetary value of the electricity in kilowatt-hours generated by the community solar facility allocated to a subscriber to offset that subscriber's electricity bill.
(c) "Community solar facility" means a facility, which may be located on 1 or more parcels of land, that meets all of the following requirements:
(i) Generates electricity by means of a solar photovoltaic device.
(ii) Produces for each subscriber a bill credit for the electricity generated in proportion to the size of the subscriber's subscription.
(iii) Is connected to the electric distribution grid serving this state.
(iv) Has at least 3 subscribers.
(v) For the purpose of initial program qualifications, does not have a point of interconnection located within 1 mile of the point of interconnection of a solar facility under the control of the same entity.
(vi) Has no subscriber that holds more than a 40% proportional interest in the output of the system.
(vii) Beginning 1 year after commencing operation, has not less than 60% of its capacity subscribed by subscriptions of 40 kilowatts or less.
(viii) Has a capacity of not greater than 5 megawatts alternating current.
(d) "Control" means the possession, directly or indirectly, of the power to direct the management and policies of an entity, whether through the ownership of voting securities, by contract, or otherwise. Control exists when affiliates have shared sales or revenue-sharing arrangements or common debt and equity financing arrangements, but control is not limited to such situations.
(e) "Low-income household" means a household that meets any of the following conditions:
(i) Has a household income of not more than 80% of the area median household income, as published by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.
(ii) Has a household income of not more than 200% of the poverty line as defined in section 2110 of the Social Security Act, 42 USC 1397jj.
(iii) Is enrolled in a low-income program facilitated by this state or overseen by the electric utility.
(iv) Other low-income criteria as determined by the commission.
(f) "Low-income service organization" means an organization that provides services, assistance, or housing to individuals in low-income households and may include a central tribal government, or a tribally designated housing authority.
(g) "Nonministerial permits" means governmental permits and approvals to construct the project, other than ministerial permits such as a building permit.
(h) "Subscriber" means a retail electric customer of an electric provider that meets all of the following requirements:
(i) The subscriber owns 1 or more subscriptions to a community solar facility interconnected with and located in the service territory of the electric provider.
(ii) The subscriber's property to the electric bill of which the bill credits are applied is located in the same service territory described in subparagraph (i).
(i) "Subscriber organization" means a for-profit or nonprofit entity that owns or operates 1 or more community solar facilities.
(j) "Subscription" means a contract between a subscriber and the owner of a community solar facility under which the estimated bill credits of the subscriber do not exceed the average annual bill for the customer account to which the subscription is attributed.
Sec. 233. (1) An electric provider shall apply a bill credit to a subscriber's monthly electric bill for the output of a community solar facility during the immediately preceding month attributable to that subscriber. The value of the bill credit shall be calculated by multiplying the subscriber's portion of the kilowatt-hour electricity production from the community solar facility by the applicable bill credit rate for the subscriber. Any amount of the bill credit that exceeds the subscriber's monthly bill shall be carried over and applied to the next monthly bill as many times as necessary until the entire credit has been applied.
(2) An electric provider shall provide bill credits to each of a community solar facility's subscribers for electricity generated by the community solar facility for not less than 25 years from the date the community solar facility begins commercial operation. When an electric provider files tariffs with the commission, the electric provider shall include options in the tariffs that allow a subscriber to receive bill credits for the subscriber's electricity bills.
(3) A subscriber organization shall provide a subscriber list to the electric provider in whose service territory the subscriber organization's community solar facility is located. The subscriber list shall be in a standardized electronic format and specify the percentage of the community solar facility's generation attributable to each subscriber. The subscriber organization shall update the subscriber list by removing subscribers that cancel their subscriptions and adding new subscribers.
(4) An electric provider shall, on a monthly basis and in a standardized electronic format, provide to a subscriber organization that has a community solar facility within the electric provider's service territory a report that specifies both of the following:
(a) The total value of bill credits generated by the subscriber organization's community solar facility in the prior month.
(b) The amount of the bill credit applied under subsection (1) to each subscriber.
(5) A subscriber organization may accumulate bill credits if all of the electricity generated by a community solar facility is not allocated to subscribers in a given month. On an annual basis, the subscriber organization shall provide to the electric provider whose service territory includes the location of the subscriber organization's community solar facility instructions for distributing excess bill credits to subscribers.
(6) Any renewable energy credits for electricity generated by a community solar facility are the property of the subscriber organization that owns or operates the community solar facility. The subscriber organization may sell, accumulate, retire, or distribute to subscribers the subscriber organization's renewable energy credits.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act does not take effect unless Senate Bill No. 152 of the 102nd Legislature is enacted into law.
