Electricity production standard.

2017
STATE OF WYOMING
17LSO-0013
Introduced
1.2

SENATE FILE

NO.

SF0071

Electricity production standard.

Sponsored by:
Senator(s) Hicks and Driskill and Representative(s) Baker, Blackburn, Clem, Edwards, Lindholm, Madden and Miller

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to electric utilities; establishing minimum procurement requirements for electric utilities; requiring reports; providing enforcement and rulemaking authority; mandating the public service commission to account for specified factors in rate setting; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section
1
.

W.S. 37
‑
16
‑
3
01 through 37
‑
16
‑
3
0
5

are
created to read:

ARTICLE 3
ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION
STANDARD

37
‑
16
‑
3
01
.

Definitions.

(a)

As used in this article
:

(i)

"
Compliance year
"
means
a
ny
twelve (12) month period
beginning January 1 and ending December 31, starting in 2018, for which compliance with this article
shall
be demonstrated;

(ii)

"
Dispatch ability
"
mean
s the ability of a transmission
system control operator
,
who balances electricity supply and load at all times to meet transmission system operating criteria and to provide reliable electric service to customers
,
or the owner of an electric
ity
generating resource to rapidly start, stop, increase or decrease electricity production from that
electricity
generating resource in order to respond to the electricity transmission system
'
s needs;

(
iii
)

"Electric utility" means any electrical company or electric cooperative that is engaged in the business of distributing electricity to electric customers in Wyoming;

(i
v
)

"
Electricity generating resource
"
means any plant or equipment used to generate electricity by any means;

(
v)

"
Eligible
generating
resource
"
means a
n

electricity generating
re
source
either located within Wyoming or delivering electricity
into Wyoming from another state
that produces electricity from one (1) or more of the following sources
or system
:

(A)

Coal;

(B)

Hydroelectric;

(C)

Natural g
as;

(D)

Net metering system, as defined by W.S. 37
‑
16
‑
101(
a)(viii);

(E
)

Nuclear;

(F
)

Oil.

(vi)

"
E
nergy cred
it
"
means a certificate of proof of one (1) megawatt hour of electricity generated by an
eligible generating resource
that is tracked and verified by the commission
and includes all of the attributes associated with one (1) megawatt hour
unit of electricity production.

37
‑
16
‑
3
02
.

Eligible generating resource
standard.

(a)

In compliance year 2018, each electric utility shall procure a minimum of
ninety
‑
five percent (95
%) of its sales of
electricity
in Wyoming from eligible
generating
resource
s
.

(b)

In compliance year 2019, each electric utility shall procure a minimum of
one hundred percent (10
0%) of its sales of
electricity
in Wyoming from
eligible generating resources.

37
‑
16
‑
303
.

E
nergy credits; administrative penalty.

(
a
)

An electric utility
may
purchase energy credits for
a
compliance year
through December 31 of that year
.

(
b
)

In order to meet the
minimum
procurement
standards

specified
in
W.S. 37
‑
16
‑
302
a
n electric utility
shall
use e
lectricity
from an eligible
generating
resource
in which the associated energy credit
s have not been sold separately.

(
c
)

An electric utility
shall not
resell energy credits and count those sold credits against the electric utility
'
s obligation to meet the standards
specified in W.S. 37
‑
16
‑
302
.

(
d
)

If an electric utility is unable to meet the standards
specified in W.S. 37
‑
16
‑
302
in any compliance year
,

the
electric utility shall pay an administrative penalty, assessed by the commission
,
of ten dollars ($10.00) for each megawatt hour of
energy
credits the electric utility failed to procure. An electric utility may not recover this penalty
through its
electricity rates.

37
‑
16
‑
3
0
4
.

Procurement; reporting
.

(a)

In meeting the requirements of this article, an electric utility shall:

(i)

C
onduct energy
credit
solicitation under which the electric utility offers
to purchase energy credits
under contracts of at least
ten (
10
)
years in duration
;

(ii)

When procuring
energy credits
, c
onsider the importance of dispatch ability and other attributes of the eligible
generating
resource contain
ed
in the commission
'
s supply procurement rules.

(b)

In accordance with commission rules, a
n electric utility shall submit annual reports

d
emonstrating compliance with this
article for each compliance year. The reports
shall
be filed
with the commission no later than
March 1 of the year following
a
compliance year.

37
‑
16
‑
3
0
5
.

Commission authority;
rulemaking
authority
; penalties
.

(a
)

The commission shall adopt
no later than
November 1, 2017
rules to implement and enforce the provisions of this article. The rules shall establish
:

(i)

A
n
energy credit
tracking
system to verify compliance with this
article
;

(ii)

A system by which
electricity generating resource
s

may be
cer
tified as eligible
generating
resource
s;

(iii)

R
equirements
for
annual reports
and supply procurement
;

(iv)

An
appropriate administrative
penalty
not
to exceed
one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) for an electric utility
'
s failure to file an annual report
.

Section 2
.

W.S. 37
‑
2
‑
122(
a)
is
amended to read
:

37
‑
2
‑
122
.

Matters considered in fixing rates; order changing services or facilities.

(a)

In determining what are just and reasonable rates the commission
may
shall

take into consideration

the requirements of W.S. 37
‑
16
‑
301 through 37
‑
16
‑
30
5
,
availability or reliability of service, depreciation of plant, technological obsolescence of equipment, expense of operation, physical and other values of the plant, system, business and properties of the public utility whose rates are under consideration. In determining just and reasonable rates for electricity the commission shall

also
consider common sets of facts developed pursuant to W.S.
37
‑
2
‑
114(
b)(i) and regional benefits provided by the utility.

Section 3
.

This act is effective immediately upon completion of all acts necessary for a bill to become law as provided by Article 4, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constitution.
(END)

1
SF0071