Bill Text: VA HB1695 | 2013 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Agricultural-customer generators, eligible; renewable energy incentives through net metering, etc.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2013-03-13 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0268) [HB1695 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2013-HB1695-Chaptered.html
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia: 1. That §56-594 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows: §56-594. Net energy metering provisions. A. The Commission shall establish by regulation a program B. For the purpose of this section: "Eligible agricultural customer-generator" means a customer that operates a renewable energy generating facility as part of an agricultural business, which generating facility (i) uses as its sole energy source solar power, wind power, or aerobic or anaerobic digester gas, (ii) does not have an aggregate generation capacity of more than 500 kilowatts, (iii) is located on land owned or controlled by the agricultural business, (iv) is connected to the customer's wiring on the customer's side of its interconnection with the distributor; (v) is interconnected and operated in parallel with an electric company's transmission and distribution facilities, and (vi) is used primarily to provide energy to metered accounts of the agricultural business. An eligible agricultural customer-generator may be served by multiple meters that are located at separate but contiguous sites, such that the eligible agricultural customer-generator may aggregate in a single account the electricity consumption and generation measured by the meters, provided that the same utility serves all such meters. The aggregated load shall be served under the appropriate tariff. "Eligible customer-generator" means a customer that owns and operates, or contracts with other persons to own, operate, or both, an electrical generating facility that (i) has a capacity of not more than 20 kilowatts for residential customers and 500 kilowatts for nonresidential customers unless a utility elects a higher capacity limit for such a facility; (ii) uses as its total source of fuel renewable energy, as defined in §56-576; (iii) is located on the customer's premises and is connected to the customer's wiring on the customer's side of its interconnection with the distributor; (iv) is interconnected and operated in parallel with an electric company's transmission and distribution facilities; and (v) is intended primarily to offset all or part of the customer's own electricity requirements. "Net energy metering" means measuring the difference, over the net metering period, between (i) electricity supplied to an eligible customer-generator or eligible agricultural customer-generator from the electric grid and (ii) the electricity generated and fed back to the electric grid by the eligible customer-generator or eligible agricultural customer-generator. "Net metering period" means the 12-month period following the date of final interconnection of the eligible customer-generator's or eligible agricultural customer-generator's system with an electric service provider, and each 12-month period thereafter. C. The Commission's regulations shall ensure that the metering
equipment installed for net metering shall be capable of measuring the flow of
electricity in two directions D. The Commission shall establish minimum requirements for
contracts to be entered into by the parties to net metering arrangements. Such
requirements shall protect the eligible customer-generator or
eligible agricultural customer-generator against discrimination by virtue
of its status as E. If electricity generated by an eligible customer-generator
or eligible agricultural customer-generator over the net metering period
exceeds the electricity consumed by the eligible customer-generator
or eligible agricultural customer-generator, the customer-generator or
eligible agricultural customer-generator shall be compensated for the
excess electricity if the entity contracting to receive such electric energy
and the eligible customer-generator or eligible agricultural
customer-generator enter into a power purchase agreement for such excess
electricity. Upon the written request of the eligible customer-generator
or eligible agricultural customer-generator, the supplier that serves the
eligible customer-generator or eligible agricultural customer-generator
shall enter into a power purchase agreement with the requesting eligible
customer-generator or eligible agricultural customer-generator that is
consistent with the minimum requirements for contracts established by the
Commission pursuant to subsection D. The power purchase agreement shall
obligate the supplier to purchase such excess electricity at the rate that is
provided for such purchases in a net metering standard contract or tariff
approved by the Commission, unless the parties agree to a higher rate. The
eligible customer-generator or eligible agricultural customer-generator
owns F. Any residential eligible customer-generator or eligible agricultural customer-generator who owns and operates, or contracts with other persons to own, operate, or both, an electrical generating facility with a capacity that exceeds 10 kilowatts shall pay to its supplier, in addition to any other charges authorized by law, a monthly standby charge. The amount of the standby charge and the terms and conditions under which it is assessed shall be in accordance with a methodology developed by the supplier and approved by the Commission. The Commission shall approve a supplier's proposed standby charge methodology if it finds that the standby charges collected from all such eligible customer-generators and eligible agricultural customer-generators allow the supplier to recover only the portion of the supplier's infrastructure costs that are properly associated with serving such eligible customer-generators or eligible agricultural customer-generators. Such an eligible customer-generator or eligible agricultural customer-generator shall not be liable for a standby charge until the date specified in an order of the Commission approving its supplier's methodology. |