OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
H.B. 197 Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 197’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Introduced
Primary Sponsors: Reps. Hoops and Ray
Effective date:
Reid J. Fleeson, Attorney
SUMMARY
State electric policy
 Amends the state electric policy to add provisions relating to community solar facilities,
and the establishment of the Community Solar Pilot Program (CSPP) and the Solar
Development Program (SDP).
Community solar facilities
 Defines a “community solar facility” as a single facility that generates electricity by
means of a solar photovoltaic device that meets several facility and subscriber
requirements, including, for example, that it is located in Ohio, has at least three
subscribers, and has a nameplate capacity of ten megawatts (MW) or less, or 20 MW or
less, if it is on a distressed site.
 Allows a community solar facility to be placed on the same parcel or a contiguous parcel
of land as another community solar facility or solar field developed, owned, or operated
by the same entity, affiliated entity, or entity under common control, if certain
requirements are met.
Distressed sites
 Defines a “distressed site” as a site made up of one or more parcels of land located
within an electric distribution utility’s (EDU’s) certified territory, or in a county in which
the EDU operates, where a majority of the acreage is a certain type of property,
including, for example, a brownfield.
Community Solar Pilot Program
 Requires the Public Utilities Commission (PUCO) to establish a CSPP, consisting of 1,500
MW implemented throughout Ohio.
June 21, 2023
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 Requires PUCO to certify 250 MW of community solar facilities annually until 1,000 MW
are certified and 500 MW of community solar facilities exclusively on distressed sites.
 Requires such certification to be separate from the certification process for renewable
energy benchmarks and renewable energy credits under ongoing competitive retail
electric service law and related administrative rules.
 Requires an EDU with a community solar facility in its certified territory to purchase all
electricity attributable to a subscriber’s bill credit and purchase, at the EDU’s PUCO-
approved wholesale energy cost, all unsubscribed electricity from the facility.
 Requires a subscriber to a community solar facility to be eligible for a bill credit from the
subscriber’s EDU, the amount for which must be established for each subscriber by
PUCO pursuant to calculations established by the bill if facilities are or are not on a
distressed site.
 Defines “bill credit” as the PUCO-approved or revised monetary value for each kilowatt
hour of electricity generated by a community solar facility and allocated to a
subscriber’s monthly electric bill to offset any part of the subscriber’s bill.
 Prohibits PUCO from modifying the bill credit that was initially established unless PUCO
determines a change is necessary to adjust for unallocated community solar capacity
after the review of the CSPP required under the bill.
 Requires PUCO to calculate and use the value stack (as defined in the bill) for each EDU
to modify the bill credit, if PUCO determines such modification is necessary.
 Requires the EDU to publish new tariffs or update existing tariffs based on the bill credit
that was initially set not later than nine months after the bill’s effective date.
 Requires PUCO to approve a tariff based on the revised bill credit not later than 12
months after submitting its report on the CSPP and SDP to the General Assembly.
 Specifies that any bill credit exceeding a subscriber’s monthly bill amount must carry
forward until fully allocated to the subscriber’s bill or until the subscriber’s community
solar organization subscription has terminated.
 Prohibits a subscriber from subscribing to a share of a community solar facility
representing more than 100% if the subscriber’s average annual electricity usage.
 Permits a subscriber whose community solar subscription provides less than 100% of
their monthly electric usage to shop for their remaining usage, or be provided the EDU’s
current standard service offer.
 Specifies that the purchase of a subscription regarding the enrollment of subscribers to
purchase their share is (1) for residential subscribers, a consumer transaction subject to
the consumer sales practices law or (2) for nonresidential subscribers, goods subject to
the consumer transactions sales law.
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As Introduced
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 Requires an EDU to interconnect a community solar facility in its certified territory to its
distribution system within a reasonable time after the facility’s construction and ensure
that this is done efficiently, safely, and in compliance with the applicable state and
federal laws.
 Prohibits an EDU from discriminating against community solar facilities or their
subscribers, including by adding extraordinary fees and charges not applied to similar
facilities.
 Provides that a community solar organization that constructs a community solar facility
on a distressed site that is a brownfield is eligible for a grant under the Brownfield
Remediation Program in existing law and requires the Department of Development to
promulgate rules for awarding grants for these facilities.
 Requires PUCO to promulgate rules to implement the CSPP not later than six months
after the bill’s effective date and specifies several requirements that the rules must
include.
 Requires PUCO to convene and facilitate an ongoing stakeholder working group to assist
PUCO staff with effectively and efficiently promulgating rules for the CSPP.
Solar Development Program
 Requires PUCO to establish a SDP, consisting of 250 MW of capacity for community solar
facilities or solar fields on Appalachian-region sites distributed among the EDUs serving
the Appalachian region.
 Requires a subscriber to a community solar facility certified on Appalachian-region sites
to receive a distressed site bill credit.
 Requires PUCO to determine an energy value to be used to incentivize the development
of community solar facilities or solar fields on Appalachian-region sites.
 Requires PUCO to promulgate rules to implement the SDP not later than six months
after the effective date of the bill and specifies several requirements that the rules must
address.
CSPP and SDP reviews and report
 Requires PUCO to conduct reviews of CSPP and SDP 48 months after the rules for each
program have been promulgated and submit a report to the General Assembly.
Regulatory restriction reduction exemption
 Exempts rules required to be adopted under the bill from the regulatory restriction
reduction limitation in existing law.
Energy storage definition
 Defines “energy storage” in the competitive retail electric service law to be electrical
generation and storage performed by a distributed energy system connected battery.
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As Introduced
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Electricity expressed in alternating current
 Specifies that all measures of electricity throughout the Revised Code described in
watts, kilowatts, MW, or any derivative thereof means electricity expressed in
alternating current, unless the context requires otherwise.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Overview ......................................................................................................................................... 5
State retail electric service policy ................................................................................................... 5
Community solar facilities............................................................................................................... 5
Common ownership exception ................................................................................................... 6
Distressed sites ............................................................................................................................... 7
Community Solar Pilot Program (CSPP) .......................................................................................... 8
Unreserved MW .......................................................................................................................... 8
MW reserved for distressed sites ............................................................................................... 8
Separate certification process ..................................................................................................... 8
EDU purchase of community solar electricity ............................................................................. 8
Bill credits .................................................................................................................................... 9
Establishment of bill credit ..................................................................................................... 9
Modification ........................................................................................................................... 9
Tariffs .................................................................................................................................... 10
Community solar subscription .................................................................................................. 10
Community solar facility interconnections ............................................................................... 10
Nondiscrimination against community solar facilities .............................................................. 11
Brownfield Remediation Program grant ................................................................................... 11
CSPP rules .................................................................................................................................. 11
Rules for community solar facility establishment and certification..................................... 11
Rules related to EDUs ........................................................................................................... 12
Rules regarding consumer protections for subscribers ....................................................... 12
Rules regarding facility and community solar organization duties ...................................... 12
Ongoing stakeholder working group ......................................................................................... 13
Solar Development Program (SDP) ............................................................................................... 13
SDP megawatts allocation ......................................................................................................... 13
SDP bill credits ........................................................................................................................... 13
Energy value to incentivize development ................................................................................. 14
SDP rules .................................................................................................................................... 14
Rules for SDP community solar facility location and certification ....................................... 14
Rules related to EDUs ........................................................................................................... 14
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As Introduced
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Rules for consumer protections ........................................................................................... 15
Other rules ............................................................................................................................ 15
CSPP and SDP reviews and reports ............................................................................................... 15
PUCO report ......................................................................................................................... 15
EDU and community solar organization reports .................................................................. 15
Regulatory restriction reduction exemption ................................................................................ 15
Energy storage definition .............................................................................................................. 16
Electricity expressed in alternating current .................................................................................. 16
DETAILED ANALYSIS
Overview
The bill amends the state competitive retail electric service policy to encourage the
development of community solar facilities. It also establishes two programs, the Community
Solar Pilot Program (CSPP) and Solar Development Program (SDP), for the development of such
facilities under which subscribers receive bill credits allocated to the subscribers’ monthly
electric bills to offset part of their bills.
State retail electric service policy
The bill adds to the state competitive retail electric service policy, new policies to do all
of the following:
 Encourage the development of community solar facilities for the benefit of customers in
Ohio and to facilitate participation by customers with the facilities;
 Establish a CSPP and a SDP;
 Establish program evaluations and consumer protections ensuring that community solar
subscribers are effectively and equitably receiving guaranteed savings from participating
in the CSPP.
Under the bill, “guaranteed savings” is defined as the realized savings by the subscriber
as the difference between the cost of the subscription to a community solar facility and the bill
credit received for the generation attributed to the subscription (see “Bill credits” below).1
Community solar facilities
The bill defines “community solar facility” to mean a single facility that generates
electricity by means of a solar photovoltaic device and that meets all of the following
requirements:
1 R.C. 4928.02(Q) to (S), and 4934.01(H).
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 The facility is located in Ohio and is directly connected to an electric distribution utility’s
(EDU’s) distribution system;
 The facility is located on one parcel of land and, unless the bill’s common ownership
exception applies (see “Common ownership exception” below), there is no
community solar facility or solar field on the same parcel or a contiguous parcel that is
developed, owned, or operated by the same entity, affiliated entity, or entity under
common control;
 The facility has a nameplate capacity of ten megawatts (MW) or less, or 20 MW or less if
the facility is on a distressed site (described below), as measured at the point of
interconnection;
 The facility is not under the control of an EDU, but may be under the control of an
affiliate of the EDU;
 The facility provides retail electric service only to subscribers within the same EDU
certified territory as the facility;
 The facility has at least three subscribers;
 No subscriber holds more than a 40% proportional interest in the output of the system,
measured as the sum total of all meters on the subscriber’s property;
 Not less than 60% of the facility capacity is subscribed by subscriptions of 40 kilowatts
(kW) or less based on the average annual demand for the prior 12-month period. A
multi-unit building served by a single electric meter is considered a single customer if
the average usage, based on the number