This Amendment requires that electric suppliers adopt the Interstate Renewable Energy Council's Model Interconnection Procedures within 12 months of the Procedures' publishing date.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source does not list specific penalties or define what counts as 'excessive' controls, leaving those details to future regulatory decisions.

Amendment on Renewable Energy Connection Rules

This amendment requires electric suppliers to use standard connection rules from the Interstate Renewable Energy Council within one year of their release.

What This Bill Does

• Requires electric suppliers to adopt the Interstate Renewable Energy Council's Model Interconnection Procedures within 12 months of publication.
• Mandates that any changes or deviations from these procedures must be approved by a regulatory body in a formal proceeding.
• Allows regulators to set and enforce strict deadlines for processing connection applications and project milestones, including consequences if suppliers miss them without valid reasons.
• Prohibits suppliers from requiring customers with net-metering systems who meet safety standards to install excessive controls, pay for unnecessary tests, or buy excessive insurance.
• Permits regulated utilities to recover costs for administrative fees, technology upgrades, and system investments needed to speed up projects.

Who It Names or Affects

• Electric suppliers
• Utility regulatory bodies
• Customers with net-metering systems

Terms To Know

Interconnection Procedures

Standard rules for connecting renewable energy systems to the electric grid.

Net-metering customers

Customers who generate their own electricity and send extra power back to the grid, provided they meet safety standards.

Limits and Unknowns

• The text does not specify an exact effective date for when these rules begin.
• It is unclear how regulators will define 'excessive' controls or insurance requirements in practice.
• Consequences for missing deadlines apply only if delays are not caused by the applicant.

Official Summary Text

This Amendment requires that electric suppliers adopt the Interstate Renewable Energy Council's Model Interconnection Procedures within 12 months of the Procedures' publishing date. It further provides that any deviation from the Procedures must be affirmatively approved by the utility's regulatory body in a formal proceeding. The utility regulating authority may also establish, monitor, and enforce mandatory interconnection application processing timelines and project milestones within its interconnection rules. Commission-regulated electric utilities may recover implementation costs including administrative fees, back-office technology upgrades, and customer system investments necessary to decrease overall project execution timelines.

Current Bill Text

Legislation Document

SPONSOR:

Rep. Burns

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

153rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE AMENDMENT NO. 1

TO

HOUSE BILL NO. 269

AMEND House Bill No. 269 by deleting lines 12 through 18 in their entirety and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

“tariffs and operating guidelines. An electric

supplier’s interconnection rules must be developed by using as a guide

supplier must adopt

the Interstate Renewable Energy Council’s Model Interconnection

Rules and best practices identified by the U.S. Department of Energy. Municipal electric companies shall establish interconnection rules no later than July 24, 2008.

Procedures (Procedures) within 12 months of the Procedures’ latest publishing date. Any deviation from the Procedures must be affirmatively approved by the utility’s regulatory body in a formal proceeding. The utility regulating authority may establish, monitor, and enforce mandatory interconnection application processing timelines and project milestones within its interconnection rules, including commensurate consequences for failure by an electric supplier to meet such deadlines, unless delays are demonstrably attributable to the applicant.

An electric supplier may not require eligible net-metering customers who meet all applicable safety and performance standards to install excessive controls, perform or pay for unnecessary tests, or purchase excessive liability insurance.

Commission-regulated electric utilities may recover prudently incurred implementation costs including administrative fees, back-office technology upgrades, and customer system investments necessary to decrease overall project execution timelines and ensure projects are brought online within the prescribed timelines.

”.

SYNOPSIS

This Amendment requires that electric suppliers adopt the Interstate Renewable Energy Council's Model Interconnection Procedures within 12 months of the Procedures' publishing date. It further provides that any deviation from the Procedures must be affirmatively approved by the utility's regulatory body in a formal proceeding. The utility regulating authority may also establish, monitor, and enforce mandatory interconnection application processing timelines and project milestones within its interconnection rules. Commission-regulated electric utilities may recover implementation costs including administrative fees, back-office technology upgrades, and customer system investments necessary to decrease overall project execution timelines.