September 17, 2015, Introduced by Reps. Glenn, Robinson, Lucido, Hooker, Runestad, Barrett, Cochran, McBroom, Inman and Dianda and referred to the Committee on Energy Policy.
A bill to amend 2008 PA 295, entitled
"Clean, renewable, and efficient energy act,"
(MCL 460.1001 to 460.1195) by adding part 5A.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
PART 5A COMMUNITY RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEMS
Sec. 182. (1) As used in this part:
(a) "Community renewable energy system" or "system" means a
renewable energy electric generation system that meets all of the
following conditions:
(i) The system has a generating capacity of 2 megawatts or
less.
(ii) The beneficial use of the electricity generated by the
system belongs to a minimum of 10 subscribers to the system.
(iii) The owner is either an electric provider or a person who
contracts to sell the output from the system to an electric
provider that serves the community in which the system is located.
(b) "Subscriber" means a retail customer of the electric
provider who owns a subscription.
(c) "Subscriber organization" means an organization with the
sole purpose of beneficially owning and directly operating a
community renewable energy system, or indirectly operating it
through a third party under contract with the subscriber
organization. A subscriber organization may be any for-profit or
nonprofit entity permitted by law.
(d) "Subscription" means a proportional interest in a
community renewable energy system and in the renewable energy
credits associated with or attributable to the system.
(2) Each subscription shall be sized to represent at least 100
watts of the community renewable energy system's generating
capacity and to supply no more than 120% of the amount by which the
average annual consumption of electricity by the subscriber at the
premises to which the subscription is attributed exceeds the
average annual amount generated by any existing renewable energy
system at the premises.
(3) A subscription in a community renewable energy system may
be transferred or assigned to a subscriber organization or to any
other person or entity that qualifies to be a subscriber under this
part.
Sec. 182a. A subscriber organization may enter into ownership
and operating agreements to implement the purposes of this act.
Sec. 182b. The owners of and subscribers to a community
renewable energy system are not public utilities subject to
regulation by the commission solely as a result of their interest
in the system. Prices paid for subscriptions in community renewable
energy systems are not subject to regulation by the commission.
Sec. 182c. (1) The commission shall require in each new plan
or review of the renewable energy plan of an electric provider
pursuant to section 21, 23, or 25 that the plan include the
purchase of electricity and renewable energy credits from community
renewable energy systems over the period covered by the plan.
(2) In the first plan or review plan adopted after the
effective date of the amendatory act that added this section, each
electric provider shall include plans to issue 1 or more standard
offers to purchase the output from community renewable energy
systems of 500 kilowatts or less at prices that are comparable to
the prices offered by the electric provider under standard offers
issued for on-site renewable energy generation. During that plan
period, the electric provider shall plan to acquire, through these
standard offers, at least 1/2 of the community renewable energy
system generation it plans to acquire, to the extent the electric
provider receives responses to its standard offers. For that plan
period, the electric provider is not obligated to purchase more
than 6 megawatts of energy generated by community renewable energy
systems that were not included in a prior plan period.
(3) For each review plan adopted after a plan described in
subsection (2), the commission shall determine the minimum
purchases of electrical output an electric provider shall plan to
make from community renewable energy systems that were not included
in a prior plan period. In addition, as necessary, the commission
shall formulate and implement policies consistent with this part
that encourage all of the following:
(a) Customer ownership of subscriptions in community renewable
energy systems and of other forms of distributed generation, to the
extent the commission finds there is customer demand for that
ownership.
(b) Residential retail customer, including low-income
customer, and agricultural producer ownership of subscriptions in
community renewable energy systems, to the extent the commission
finds there is demand for that ownership.
(c) Development of community renewable energy systems with
attributes that the commission finds result in lower overall total
costs for the electric provider's customers.
(d) Successful financing and operation of community renewable
energy systems owned by subscriber organizations.
(e) The achievement of the goals and objectives of this act.
Sec. 182d. (1) The output from a community renewable energy
system shall be sold only to an electric provider serving the
geographic area where the system is located. After a community
renewable energy system is part of an electric provider's renewable
energy plan that is approved by the commission, the electric
provider shall purchase all of the electricity and renewable energy
credits generated by the system. The amount of electricity and
renewable energy credits generated by each community renewable
energy system shall be determined by a production meter installed
by the electric provider or third-party system owner and paid for
by the owner of the system.
(2) An electric provider shall purchase the output of a
community renewable energy system by a net metering credit against
each system subscriber's electric bill for the premises set forth
in the subscriber's subscription. The net metering credit shall be
calculated by multiplying the subscriber's share of the electricity
production from the system by the electric provider's total
aggregate retail rate as charged to the subscriber, minus a
reasonable charge as determined by the commission to cover the
provider's costs of delivering an amount of electricity equal to
the subscriber's share of the electricity generated by the system
to the subscriber's premises, integrating the renewable energy
generation with the provider's system, and administering the
system's contracts and net metering credits. The commission shall
ensure that this charge does not reflect costs that are already
recovered by the electric provider from the subscriber through
other charges. If, and to the extent that, a subscriber's net
metering credit exceeds the subscriber's electric bill in any
billing period, the net metering credit shall be carried forward
and applied against future bills.
(3) The electric provider and the owner of the community
renewable energy system shall agree on whether the purchase of the
renewable energy credits from subscribers will be accomplished
through a credit on each subscriber's electricity bill or by a
payment to the owner of the system.
Sec. 182e. (1) The owner of the community renewable energy
system shall provide real-time production data to the electric
provider to facilitate incorporation of the community renewable
energy system into the electric provider's operations and to
facilitate the provision of net metering credits.
(2) The owner of the community renewable energy system shall
notify the electric provider of the percentage share of each
subscriber for use in determining the net metering credit to each
subscriber. The information shall be provided on a monthly basis
and within reasonable periods set by the electric provider. If the
electricity output of the system is not fully subscribed, the
electric provider shall purchase the unsubscribed renewable energy
and the renewable energy credits at a rate equal to the electric
provider's average hourly incremental cost of electricity supply
over the immediately preceding calendar year.
Sec. 182f. (1) Each electric provider shall provide for
including low-income customers as subscribers to a community
renewable energy system in its proposed renewable energy plan. The
electric provider may give preference to systems that have low-
income subscribers.
(2) An electric provider is eligible for the incentives and
subject to any ownership limitations set forth in this part for
investments in community renewable energy systems and may recover
through rates a margin, determined by the commission, on all energy
and renewable energy credits purchased from community renewable
energy systems. These incentive payments are excluded from the cost
calculations for life-cycle cost of renewable energy under this
act.