The bill amends the General Laws in Chapter 39-26.4, which governs net metering, by introducing new definitions and provisions for community remote net-metering systems and eligible net-metering systems. It expands the definition of "Community remote net-metering system" to include systems that allocate net-metering credits to low- or moderate-income housing or to at least three eligible credit-recipient customer accounts, with no more than 50% of the credits going to one recipient. The definition of "Eligible net-metering system" now includes facilities designed to produce electricity up to the sum of the usage of the eligible credit recipient accounts, removing the previous requirement for the system to produce no more than the renewable self-generator’s usage at the site, measured by a three-year average. The bill also outlines provisions for public entities, educational institutions, hospitals, nonprofits, and multi-municipal collaboratives to be treated as eligible net-metering systems, with an effective date of July 1, 2060, for certain definitions.
The bill sets a maximum capacity for eligible net-metering systems at 10 MW and for community remote net-metering systems at 30 MW through December 31, 2018, with unused capacity available thereafter. It also establishes a 275 MWac cap for ground-mounted systems, requiring construction or operation by July 1, 2030. The bill allows electric distribution companies to estimate production and consumption, establish a monthly billing plan, and make adjustments as needed. It introduces new legal language for "Multi-unit property" and a new section titled "39-26.4-3. Net metering," which includes a 20% reduction in credits for projects after April 15, 2023, and excludes the distribution kilowatt-hour charge from the renewable net-metering credit for remote public entity and multi-municipal collaborative net-metering systems starting January 1, 2050. The bill also removes the previous cap of an additional 25% beyond the customer's usage for excess electricity generation and takes effect upon passage.