Bill Text: NH HB1518 | 2020 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Relative to the alternative compliance payments for renewable energy obligations not met through the purchase of renewable energy credits.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2020-06-16 - Introduced 06/16/2020, and Laid on Table, Motion Adopted, Voice Vote; 06/16/2020; Senate Journal 8 [HB1518 Detail]
Download: New_Hampshire-2020-HB1518-Amended.html
HB 1518-FN - AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
12Mar2020... 0983h
2020 SESSION
20-2456
06/10
HOUSE BILL 1518-FN
SPONSORS: Rep. Pearl, Merr. 26; Rep. Lang, Belk. 4; Rep. Costable, Rock. 3; Rep. Plumer, Belk. 6
COMMITTEE: Science, Technology and Energy
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AMENDED ANALYSIS
This bill sets the alternative compliance payment at $55 per megawatt hour to the renewable energy fund for electric distribution utility requirements not satisfied by renewable energy credits.
This bill also changes the rate adjustments for certain class obligations.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
12Mar2020... 0983h 20-2456
06/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Findings and Purpose. The general court hereby finds that renewable energy policies should be technology neutral, so that one resource is not arbitrarily favored over another.
2 Electric Renewable Portfolio Standards; Electric Renewable Energy Classes. Amend RSA 362-F:4, I (c) to read as follows:
(c) Hydrogen derived from biomass fuels, water, or methane gas.
3 Electric Renewable Portfolio Standards; Renewable Energy Fund. Amend RSA 362-F:10, II-III to read as follows:
II. In lieu of meeting the portfolio requirements of RSA 362-F:3 for a given year if, and to the extent sufficient certificates are not otherwise available at a price below the amounts specified in this paragraph, an electricity provider may, at the time of report submission for that year under RSA 362-F:8, make payment to the commission at the following rates for each megawatt-hour not met for a given class obligation through the acquisition of certificates:
(a) Class I-$55, except for that portion of the class electric renewable portfolio standards to be met by qualifying renewable energy technologies producing useful thermal energy under RSA 362-F:3 which shall be [$25] $55 beginning January 1, [2013] 2020.
(b) Class II-$55.
(c) Class III-[$31.50] $55 beginning January 1, 2020.
(d) Class IV-[$26.50] $55 beginning January 1, 2020
III.(a) Beginning in 2013 for Class I (except for useful thermal energy under RSA 362-F:3) and Class II, and beginning in 2021 for Class I qualifying renewable energy technologies producing useful thermal energy under RSA 362-F:3, Class III, and Class IV, the commission shall adjust these rates by January 31 of each year using 1/2 of the Consumer Price Index as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor [for classes III and IV and 1/2 of such Index for classes I and II].
(b) [In lieu of the adjustments under subparagraph (a) for class III in 2015 and 2016, the class rate in each of those years shall be $45. In lieu of the adjustments under subparagraph (a) for class III in 2017, 2018, and 2019, the class rate in each of those years shall be $55.
(c) By January 31, 2020 the commission shall compute the 2020 class III rate to equal the rate that would have resulted in 2020 by the application of subparagraph (a) to the 2013 rate and each subsequent year's rate to 2020.
(d) In 2021 and thereafter, the class III rate shall be determined by application of subparagraph (a) to the prior year's rate] The 2019 class rates for all classes are those in effect on December 1, 2019 as posted by the commission.
4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
20-2456
Amended 4/13/20
HB 1518-FN- FISCAL NOTE
AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE (AMENDMENT #2020-0983h)
FISCAL IMPACT: [ X ] State [ X ] County [ X ] Local [ ] None
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STATE: | FY 2020 | FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 |
Appropriation | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Revenue | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | Indeterminable |
Expenditures | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | Indeterminable |
Funding Source: | [ X ] General [ ] Education [ X ] Highway [ X ] Other - Renewable Energy Fund and Various Governmental Funds | |||
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COUNTY: |
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Revenue | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | Indeterminable |
Expenditures | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | Indeterminable |
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LOCAL: |
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Revenue | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | Indeterminable |
Expenditures | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | Indeterminable |
METHODOLOGY:
The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and the Department of Environmental Services (DES) indicate this bill would change the alternative compliance payment (ACP) rate for all Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) classes to $55.00 for calendar year 2020. Beginning in 2021, the ACP rate for all classes would be adjusted annually by 1/2% of the consumer price index (CPI). The ACP rates for calendar year 2020 under current statute are:
- Class I (new renewables) = $57.61
- Class I-Thermal (new thermal) = $26.18
- Class II (solar) = $57.61
- Class III (biomass/methane) = $34.53
- Class IV (small hydroelectric) = $29.06
Suppliers of electricity must either purchase renewable energy certificates (RECs) or make ACPs to satisfy the RPS statutory requirements. The ACP rate acts as a price ceiling for RECs. In general, raising the ACP rate may cause RPS compliance costs to rise. This in turn would result in retail electric suppliers incurring increased costs, either for RECs or ACPs, which may then increase costs for electric ratepayers, including the State and its political subdivisions. Conversely, lowering the ACP rate may cause RPS compliance costs to decrease which would result in decreased costs for retail electric suppliers, either for RECs or ACPs, which may then decrease costs for electric ratepayers, including the State and its political subdivisions.
The market for RECs is a regional one, and generators across New England may be eligible to participate in REC markets in more than one state. This makes REC prices dynamic and difficult to predict. Thus, it is not possible to predict the dollar impact the changed ACP rates will have on State, County, or Local expenditures. It is also difficult to predict the dollar impact on the State's Renewable Energy Fund which receives its revenue solely from ACPs.
AGENCIES CONTACTED:
Public Utilities Commission and Department of Environmental Services
