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HOUSE BILL NO. 6041
A bill to amend 2008 PA 295, entitled
"Clean and renewable energy and energy waste reduction act,"
(MCL 460.1001 to 460.1232) by adding part 7a.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
PART 7a. 1
COMMUNITY SOLAR PROGRAM 2
Sec. 213. As used in this part: 3
(a) "Community solar facility" means a facility, which may be 4
located on 1 or more parcels of land, that meets all of the 5
June 04, 2026, Introduced by Reps. McKinney, Wegela, Miller, Myers -Phillips, Brixie, Byrnes,
Hope, Wilson, MacDonell, Price, Wooden, Dievendorf, Tsernoglou, Steckloff, Edwards,
Neeley, Paiz, Breen, Rheingans, Morgan, Longjohn, Foreman, Pohutsky, Weiss, McFall, Scott,
Mentzer and Coffia and referred to Committee on Energy.
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following requirements: 1
(i) Generates electricity by means of a solar photovoltaic 2
device. 3
(ii) Produces for each subscriber a bill credit for the 4
electricity generated in proportion to the size of the subscriber's 5
subscription. 6
(iii) Is connected to the electric distribution grid serving 7
this state. 8
(b) "Environmental impact facility" includes any of the 9
following: 10
(i) A stationary source as that term is defined by 42 USC 7602. 11
(ii) A sludge processing facility, combustor, or incinerator. 12
(iii) A sewage treatment plant with a capacity of more than 13
50,000,000 gallons per day. 14
(iv) A disposal area as that term is defined in section 11503 15
of the natural resources and environmental protection act, 1994 PA 16
451, MCL 324.11503. 17
(v) A disposal facility as that term is defined in section 18
11102 of the natural resources and environmental protection act, 19
1994 PA 451, MCL 324.11102. 20
(vi) A storage facility as that term is defined in section 21
11104 of the natural resources and environmental protection act, 22
1994 PA 451, MCL 324.11104. 23
(vii) A treatment facility as that term is defined in section 24
11104 of the natural resources and environmental protection act, 25
1994 PA 451, MCL 324.11104. 26
(viii) A concentrated animal feeding operation. 27
(ix) A scrap metal facility. 28
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(x) A mine. 1
(c) "Environmental justice community" means a municipality 2
with existing environmental or public health stressors and to which 3
1 or more of the following apply: 4
(i) At least 35% of the households are low-income households. 5
(ii) At least 20% of the residents identify as members of a 6
minority group. 7
(iii) At least 15% of the households have limited English 8
proficiency. 9
(iv) The census block group includes land for a federally 10
recognized tribe in this state. 11
(d) "Environmental or public health stressors" means any of 12
the following: 13
(i) Existing and foreseeable sources of pollution, proximity to 14
nearby sources, and the number of nearby sources. Sources of 15
pollution include, but are not limited to, all of the following: 16
(A) Mobile sources of air pollution, including, but not 17
limited to, vehicles on major roadways and diesel truck traffic. 18
(B) Sound and light trespass. 19
(C) Contaminated sites. 20
(D) Environmental impact facilities that generate, treat, 21
store, or dispose of hazardous waste. 22
(E) Solid waste sites and transfer stations, recycling 23
facilities, and scrapyards. 24
(F) Point and nonpoint sources of water pollution, including 25
permitted and unpermitted wastewater discharges from industrial, 26
agricultural, and commercial sources and combined sewer overflows. 27
(G) Impaired water bodies. 28
(ii) Existing public health burdens that take into 29
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consideration factors that include, but are not limited to, the 1
population of young children, the population of individuals over 2
the age of 64, the level of unemployment, and the housing burden. 3
(iii) Conditions that may, alone or synergistically, cause or 4
exacerbate existing or potential public health burdens in an 5
overburdened community, including, but not limited to, levels and 6
severity of asthma, cancer, elevated blood lead levels, 7
cardiovascular disease, low infant birth weights, infant mortality, 8
mental health conditions, and reduced life expectancy. 9
(iv) Interrelated cultural, social, occupational, historical, 10
or economic factors that may amplify the natural and physical 11
environmental effects of the proposed action, including historical 12
patterns of exposure to environmental hazards. 13
(e) "Low-income household" means a household that meets any of 14
the following conditions: 15
(i) Has a household income of not more than 80% of the 16
municipal median household income, as published by the United 17
States Department of Housing and Urban Development. 18
(ii) Has a household income of less than or equal to 200% below 19
the federal poverty guidelines revised periodically and published 20
in the Federal Register by the Secretary of the United States 21
Department of Health and Human Services under the Secretary's 22
authority to revise the poverty line under 42 USC 9902. 23
(iii) Is enrolled in a low-income program facilitated by this 24
state or overseen by the electric utility. 25
(iv) Other low-income criteria as determined by the commission. 26
(f) "Low-income service organization" means an organization 27
that provides services, assistance, or housing to individuals in 28
low-income households and may include a central tribal government, 29
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or a tribally designated housing authority. 1
(g) "Prevailing wage" means the wage and fringe benefit rates 2
prevailing in the locality in which work is to be performed as 3
determined under 2023 PA 10, MCL 408.1101 to 408.1126. 4
(h) "Registered apprentice" means an individual who 5
participates in an apprenticeship program registered with the 6
United States Department of Labor, Office of Apprenticeship or the 7
department of labor and economic opportunity. 8
(i) "Subscriber" means a retail electric customer of an 9
electric provider that meets both of the following requirements: 10
(i) The subscriber owns 1 or more subscriptions to a community 11
solar facility interconnected with and located in the service 12
territory of the electric provider. 13
(ii) The subscriber's property to the electric bill of which 14
the bill credits are applied is located in the same service 15
territory described in subparagraph (i). 16
(j) "Subscriber organization" means an entity that owns or 17
operates 1 or more community solar facilities. 18
(k) "Subscription" means a contract between a retail electric 19
customer and the owner of a community solar facility under which 20
the retail electric customer receives bill credits from the 21
electric provider for the customer account to which the 22
subscription is attributed. 23
(l) "Subscription coordinator" means a person that does 1 or 24
more of the following: 25
(i) Markets community solar facilities or otherwise provides 26
community solar facility-related services under its own brand name. 27
(ii) Performs any administrative actions to connect or enroll 28
customers with community solar facilities or allocates 29
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subscriptions. 1
(iii) Manages interactions between a subscriber organization and 2
an electric provider relating to subscribers. 3
Sec. 215. (1) The commission shall expedite review and 4
approval of a community solar program that will maximize this 5
state's participation in the inflation reduction act of 2022, 6
Public Law 117-169, and prioritize community solar facilities 7
located in or otherwise primarily benefiting environmental justice 8
communities. Not later than 1 year after the effective date of the 9
amendatory act that added this section, the commission shall 10
promulgate rules in accordance with the administrative procedures 11
act of 1969, 1969 PA 306, MCL 24.201 to 24.328, to do all of the 12
following: 13
(a) Allow for the creation and financing of community solar 14
facilities and for subscribers to receive bill credits. 15
(b) Prescribe a standard customer enrollment form. 16
(c) Prescribe a 1-page, plain language disclosure form that 17
must be included in all community solar subscription contracts. The 18
disclosure form must summarize the key terms of the subscription 19
contract, and any material term used in a subscription contract 20
that is not included on the disclosure form is unenforceable. The 21
disclosure form must clearly and conspicuously state all of the 22
following: 23
(i) The subscription cost, including any recurring or variable 24
charges. 25
(ii) The guaranteed savings, including at minimum 10% for 26
general subscribers and 20% for low-income or moderate-income 27
subscribers. 28
(iii) The contract term length and cancellation terms, which 29
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must comply with subdivision (h). 1
(iv) Whether any price escalators apply and, if so, the 2
schedule of escalation. 3
(v) Subscriber rights and the transferability of the 4
subscription. 5
(vi) Instructions for exercising the right to cancel. 6
(vii) Contact information for the subscriber organization, the 7
commission, and the attorney general for questions or complaints. 8
(d) Require that the disclosure form described under 9
subdivision (c) be provided to subscribers before enrollment or 10
before being presented with a subscription agreement, including 11
during door-to-door sales, phone-based enrollment, open enrollment, 12
community outreach events, or any other marketing or subscription 13
interaction, and annually for the duration of the subscriber's 14
enrollment. 15
(e) Prescribe customer education information to be provided to 16
customers along with the enrollment form. The customer education 17
information must include, but is not limited to, all of the 18
following: 19
(i) Information concerning the subscriber organization. 20
(ii) Costs and benefits of a subscription. 21
(iii) Subscriber rights. 22
(iv) How to submit to the commission a complaint concerning the 23
community solar facility program, including a toll-free telephone 24
number that the commission shall maintain to receive complaints. 25
(v) Other actions a consumer may take to resolve a complaint 26
concerning the program. 27
(f) Ensure that all customer classes have opportunities to 28
participate as subscribers to a community solar facility. 29
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(g) Require that not less than 40% of the electricity produced 1
by each community solar facility be reserved for low-income 2
households and low-income service organizations, for the life of 3
the community solar facility. 4
(h) For at least 7 days after sign-up or enrollment, allow a 5
subscriber to cancel a subscription and prohibit sign-up or 6
cancellation fees for subscriptions. 7
(i) Prohibit electric utilities from imposing fees on 8
subscribers that would reduce the guaranteed savings described in 9
subdivision (c)(ii). 10
(j) Require that subscriber savings be included on a single, 11
consolidated utility bill. The consolidated utility bill described 12
in this subdivision must clearly list the net credit applied to the 13
subscriber's account. An electric utility shall provide the 14
consolidated utility bill at no additional cost to the subscriber. 15
(k) Require that subscription fees result in at least 10% 16
savings on electricity costs for all subscribers and at least 20% 17
savings on electricity costs for low-income households. 18
(l) Ensure that a customer's failure to pay a subscription fee 19
does not have an adverse effect on the electric provider's services 20
or charges to the customer, other than the potential loss of the 21
subscription for nonpayment. 22
(m) Ensure that subscription costs for low-income households 23
are not more than 75% of the value of the applicable bill credit, 24
and for all other subscribers are not more than 90% of the value of 25
the applicable bill credit. 26
(n) Prohibit an electric provider from removing a customer 27
from the customer's applicable customer class because the customer 28
subscribes to a community solar facility. 29
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(o) Prohibit price escalators in community solar subscription 1
contracts with low-income households and limit price escalators for 2
all other subscribers to not more than 2% annually. 3
(p) Require that a for-profit community solar facility with a 4
nameplate capacity of 1 megawatt or more contributes 5% of its 5
gross annual revenues to the local unit of government in which the 6
for-profit community solar facility is located. 7
(q) Require that, for a for-profit community solar facility 8
with a nameplate capacity of 5 megawatts or more, 5% of the 9
ownership of the for-profit community solar facility be offered at 10
no cost to a designated community-based nonprofit organization, 11
cooperative, or community trust that is located within the local 12
unit of government in which the community solar facility is 13
located. 14
(r) Provide for the transferability and portability of 15
subscriptions, including a subscriber's retention of a subscription 16
to a community solar facility if the subscriber moves within the 17
same electric provider's service territory. 18
(s) Allow an electric provider to recover costs of 19
administering bill credits. 20
(t) Modify existing interconnection standards, fees, and 21
processes as needed to do both of the following: 22
(i) Facilitate the efficient and cost-effective interconnection 23
of community solar facilities. 24
(ii) Allow an electric provider to recover reasonable 25
interconnection costs for each community solar facility. 26
(u) Require that electric providers efficiently connect 27
community solar facilities to the electrical distribution grid and 28
not discriminate against community solar facilities. 29
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(v) Ensure that prospective subscriber organizations have 1
received interconnection agreements, have legal control of their 2
sites, and have received all necessary nonministerial permits 3
before applying for the program under this part. 4
(w) Provide for consumer protection in compliance with state 5
and federal law. 6
(x) Require a notice be posted at all community solar project 7
sites that contains the following information: 8
(i) The applicable prevailing wage. 9
(ii) Apprenticeship requirements. 10
(iii) Project labor agreement requirements. 11
(y) Ensure that all low-income subscribers are credited at a 12
rate that is not less than the distributed generation rate 13
established for customer-sited solar in section 177. 14
(z) Require a community-ownership adder in the applicable 15
bill-credit rate to reflect the additional community, equity, and 16
economic-development benefits provided by community-owned community 17
solar facilities. The cost of a community-ownership adder must be 18
recovered exclusively from commercial and industrial customer 19
classes and not be allocated to residential customers. 20
(aa) Otherwise implement this part. 21
(2) Not later than 90 days after the effective date of the 22
amendatory act that added this section, the commission shall 23
promulgate rules in accordance with the administrative procedures 24
act of 1969, 1969 PA 306, MCL 24.201 to 24.328, to create a tiered 25
system for community solar interconnection standards that 26
establishes clear deadlines for each stage of the review process 27
and time frames that are applicable to electric providers of all 28
sizes. 29
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(3) Not later than 1 year after the effective date of the 1
amendatory act that added this section, the commission shall 2
establish applicable bill credit rates. To establish the bill 3
credit rates, the commission may consider proposed rules and 4
proposed fees and charges. The bill credit rates must meet both of 5
the following requirements: 6
(a) Result in access to subscriptions for all customer 7
classes. 8
(b) Be derived from the electric provider's total aggregate 9
retail rate on a per-customer-class basis. 10
Sec. 217. (1) A subscriber organization shall file with the 11
commission a surety bond that meets all of the following 12
requirements: 13
(a) Is issued by a bonding company or insurance company 14
authorized to do business in this state. 15
(b) Is in a principal amount determined by the commission 16
based on the size of the subscriber organization relative to other 17
subscriber organizations in this state. 18
(c) Is in a form satisfactory to the commission, is payable to 19
the commission for the benefit of subscribers and secures the 20
performance of the obligations of the subscriber organization in 21
connection with the conduct of its activities under this part. 22
(2) A subscriber that suffers damages as the result of an 23
unlawful act or omission of the subscriber organization may bring 24
an action on the bond for the amount of the damage suffered, to the 25
extent covered by the bond. 26
(3) In addition to the remedies available under subsection 27
(2), subscribers and the attorney general have a private right of 28
action to enforce the provisions of this part, including, but not 29
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limited to, violations of savings guarantees and illegal fees or 1
contract terms, with the right to recover damages and reasonable 2
attorney fees. 3
(4) A subscriber organization is not considered to be an 4
electric provider as a result of its ownership or operation of a 5
community solar facility. 6
(5) If a community solar facility has a nameplate capacity of 7
1 megawatt or more, the subscriber organization shall do all of the 8
following: 9
(a) Unless subject to a collective bargaining agreement, both 10
of the following: 11
(i) Pay prevailing wage for all construction, installation, 12
maintenance, and repair work associated with the community solar 13
facility. 14
(ii) Ensure that not less than 70% of the prevailing wage is 15
paid as direct cash wages and that travel, lodging, or per diem 16
allowances must not be counted toward the wage minimums. 17
(b) Ensure that not less than 15% of total project labor hours 18
are performed by registered apprentices. 19
(c) Enter into project labor agreements that cover all 20
construction, installation, maintenance, and repair work associated 21
with the facility. 22
Sec. 219. (1) A subscription coordinator shall do both of the 23
following: 24
(a) Apply to the commission and obtain a commission approval 25
number before performing the functions of a subscription 26
coordinator. A subscription coordinator operating on the effective 27
date of the amendatory act that added this section shall apply to 28
the commission within 180 days after that date. 29
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(b) Notify the commission of any community solar facility 1
project for which the coordinator is or plans on performing any 2
functions of a subscription coordinator. 3
(2) A community solar facility is exempt for all ad valorem 4
property taxes imposed by this state or by any political 5
subdivision, public body, or taxing district in which the community 6
solar facility is located. 7
Sec. 220. (1) The commission shall maintain a publicly 8
accessible website that includes the following: 9
(a) A dashboard that reports, in real-time, the status of 10
every community solar interconnection request. The dashboard must 11
include, but is not limited to, the application date, utility 12
response deadlines, and completion status. 13
(b) A list of subscription coordinators that have filed 14
applications under section 219. 15
(2) Not later than March 31 each year, the commission shall 16
submit to the legislature a report that includes all of the 17
following information: 18
(a) The number of community solar facilities approved and 19
interconnected. 20
(b) The average and median interconnection timelines, 21
including the number meeting or missing statutory deadlines. 22
(c) The verified subscriber savings delivered compared to 23
guaranteed rates. 24
(d) The total revenue-share contributions remitted to host 25
communities under this part. 26