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1 H.289
2 An act relating to the Renewable Energy Standard
3 It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont:
4 Sec. 1. 30 V.S.A. § 218d is amended to read:
5 § 218d. ALTERNATIVE REGULATION OF ELECTRIC AND NATURAL
6 GAS COMPANIES
7 ***
8 (n)(1) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section and sections 218, 225,
9 226, 227, and 229 of this title, a municipal company formed under local charter
10 or under chapter 79 of this title and an electric cooperative formed under
11 chapter 81 of this title shall be authorized to change its rates for service to its
12 customers if the rate change is:
13 (A) applied to all customers equally;
14 (B) not more than two three percent during any twelve-month period;
15 (C) cumulatively not more than 10 percent from the rates last
16 approved by the Commission; and
17 (D) not going to take effect more than 10 years from the last approval
18 for a rate change from the Commission.
19 ***
20 Sec. 2. 30 V.S.A. § 8002 is amended to read:
21 § 8002. DEFINITIONS
22 As used in this chapter:
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2 (8) “Existing renewable energy” means renewable energy produced by a
3 plant that came into service prior to or on June 30, 2015 December 31, 2009.
4 ***
5 (10) “Group net metering system” means a net metering system serving
6 more than one customer, or a single customer with multiple electric meters,
7 located within the service area of the same retail electricity provider. Various
8 buildings owned by municipalities, including water and wastewater districts,
9 fire districts, villages, school districts, and towns, may constitute a group net
10 metering system. A union or district school facility may be considered in the
11 same group net metering system with buildings of its member schools that are
12 located within the service area of the same retail electricity provider. A system
13 that files a complete application for a certificate of public good on or after
14 January 1, 2026 shall not qualify for group net metering, unless the plant will
15 be located on the same parcel, or a parcel adjacent to, the parcel where the
16 energy is utilized.
17 ***
18 (15) “Net metering” means measuring the difference between the
19 electricity supplied to a customer and the electricity fed back by the customer’s
20 net metering system during the customer’s billing period:
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1 (A) using Using a single, non-demand meter or such other meter that
2 would otherwise be applicable to the customer’s usage but for the use of net
3 metering; or.
4 (B) if If the system serves more than one customer, using multiple
5 meters. The calculation shall be made by converting all meters to a non-
6 demand, non-time-of-day meter, and equalizing them to the tariffed kWh rate.
7 (16) “Net metering system” means a plant for generation of electricity
8 that:
9 (A) is of no not more than 500 kW capacity;
10 (B) operates in parallel with facilities of the electric distribution
11 system;
12 (C) is intended primarily to offset the customer’s own electricity
13 requirements and does not primarily supply electricity to electric vehicle
14 supply equipment, as defined in section 201 of this title, for the resale of
15 electricity to the public by the kWh or for other retail sales to the public,
16 including those based in whole or in part on a flat fee per charging session or a
17 time-based fee for occupying a parking space while using electric vehicle
18 supply equipment; and
19 (D)(i) employs a renewable energy source; or
20 (ii) is a qualified micro-combined heat and power system of
21 20 kW or fewer that meets the definition of combined heat and power in
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1 subsection 8015(b) of this title and uses any fuel source that meets air quality
2 standards; and
3 (E)(i) for a system that files a complete application for a certificate of
4 public good after December 31, 2024, except for systems as provided for in
5 subdivision (ii) of this subdivision (E), generates energy that will be used on
6 the same parcel as, or a parcel adjacent to, the parcel where the plant is located;
7 (ii) for a system that files a complete application for a certificate
8 of public good after December 31, 2025, if the system serves a multifamily
9 building containing qualified rental units serving low-income tenants, as
10 defined under 32 V.S.A. § 5404a(a)(6), generates energy that will be used on
11 the same parcel as, or a parcel adjacent to, the parcel where the plant is located;
12 and
13 (iii) for purposes of subdivisions (10) and (16), two parcels shall
14 be adjacent if they share a property boundary or are adjacent and separated
15 only by a river, stream, railroad line, private road, public highway, or similar
16 intervening landform.
17 (17) “New renewable energy” means renewable energy capable of
18 delivery in New England and produced by a specific and identifiable plant
19 coming into service on or after June 30, 2015 January 1, 2010, but excluding
20 energy generated by a hydroelectric generation plant with a capacity of
21 200 MW or greater.
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1 (A) Energy from within a system of generating plants that includes
2 renewable energy shall not constitute new renewable energy, regardless of
3 whether the system includes specific plants that came or come into service on
4 or after June 30, 2015 January 1, 2010.
5 (B) Except as provided in subdivision 8005(c)(3) of this title, “New
6 new renewable energy” also may include includes the additional energy from
7 an existing renewable energy plant retrofitted with advanced technologies or
8 otherwise operated, modified, or expanded to increase the kWh output of the
9 plant in excess of an a historical baseline established by calculating the average
10 output of that plant for the 10-year period that ended June 30, 2015 January 1,
11 2010. If the production of new renewable energy through changes in
12 operations, modification, or expansion involves combustion of the resource,
13 the system also must result in an incrementally higher level of energy
14 conversion efficiency or significantly reduced emissions.
15 ***
16 (31) “Load” means the total amount of electricity utilized by a retail
17 electricity provider over a 12-month calendar year period, including its retail
18 electric sales, any use by the provider itself not included in retail sales, and
19 transmission and distribution line losses associated with and allocated to the
20 retail electricity provider.
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1 (32) “Load growth” means the increase above a baseline year in a retail
2 electricity provider’s load.
3 Sec. 3. 30 V.S.A. § 8004 is amended to read:
4 § 8004. SALES OF ELECTRIC ENERGY; RENEWABLE ENERGY
5 STANDARD (RES)
6 ***
7 (d) Alternative compliance payment. In lieu of purchasing renewable
8 energy or tradeable renewable energy credits or supporting energy
9 transformation projects to satisfy the requirements of this section and section
10 8005 of this title, a retail electricity provider in this State may pay to the
11 Vermont Clean Energy Development Fund established under section 8015 of
12 this title an alternative compliance payment at the applicable rate set forth in
13 section 8005. The administrator of the Vermont Clean Energy Development
14 Fund shall use the payment from a retail electricity provider electing to make
15 an alternative compliance payment to satisfy its obligations under subdivisions
16 8005(a)(1), 8005(a)(2), 8005(a)(4), and 8005(a)(5) of this title for the
17 development of renewable energy plants that are intended to serve and benefit
18 customers with low income of the retail electricity provider that has made the
19 payment. Such plants shall be located within the provider’s service territory, if
20 feasible. In the event that such a payment is insufficient to enable the
21 development of a renewable energy plant, the administrator may use the VT LEG #377337 v.1
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1 payment for other initiatives allowed under section 8015 of this title that will
2 benefit customers with low income of the retail electricity provider that has
3 made the payment. As used in this subsection (d), “customer with low
4 income” means a person purchasing energy from a retail electricity provider
5 and with an income that is less than or equal to 80 percent of area median
6 income, adjusted for family size, as published annually by the U.S. Department
7 of Housing and Urban Development.
8 ***
9 Sec. 4. 30 V.S.A. § 8005 is amended to read:
10 § 8005. RES CATEGORIES
11 (a) Categories. This section specifies three five categories of required
12 resources to meet the requirements of the RES established in section 8004 of
13 this title: total renewable energy, distributed renewable generation, and energy
14 transformation, new renewable energy, and load growth renewable energy. In
15 order to support progress toward Vermont’s climate goals and requirements, a
16 provider may, but shall not be required to, exceed the statutorily required
17 amounts under this section.
18 (1) Total renewable energy.
19 ***
20 (B) Required amounts. The amounts of total renewable energy
21 required by this subsection (a) shall be 55 63 percent of each retail electricity VT LEG #377337 v.1
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1 provider’s annual retail electric sales load during the year beginning on
2 January 1, 2017 2025, increasing by at least an additional four percent each
3 third January 1 thereafter, until reaching 75 100 percent:
4 (i) on and after January 1, 2032 2035 for a retail electricity
5 provider who serves a single customer that takes service at 115 kilovolts and
6 each municipal retail electricity provider formed under local charter or chapter
7 79 of this title; and
8 (ii) on and after January 1, 2030, for all other retail electricity
9 providers.
10 (C) Relationship to other categories. Distributed renewable
11 generation used to meet the requirements of subdivision (2) of this subsection
12 (a), new renewable energy under subdivision (4) of this subsection (a), and
13 load growth renewable generation under subdivision (5) of this subsection (a)
14 shall also count toward the requirements of this subdivision. However, an
15 energy transformation project under subdivision (3) of this subsection (a) shall
16 not count toward the requirements of this subdivision.
17 (D) Municipal providers; petition. On petition by a provider that is a
18 municipal electric utility serving not more than 6,000 7,000 customers, the
19 Commission may reduce the provider’s required amount under this subdivision
20 (1) for a period of up to three years. The Commission may approve one such VT LEG #377337 v.1
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1 period only for a municipal provider. The Commission may reduce this
2 required amount if it finds that:
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4 (2) Distributed renewable generation.
5 ***
6 (B) Definition. As used in this section, “distributed renewable
7 generation” means one of the following:
8 (i) a A renewable energy plant that is new renewable energy; has a
9 plant capacity of five MW or less; and;
10 (ii) Is one of the following:
11 (I) new renewable energy;
12 (II) a hydroelectric renewable energy plant that is, on or before
13 January 1, 2024, owned and operated by a municipal electric utility formed
14 under local charter or chapter 79 of this title, as of January 1, 2020, including
15 future plant modifications that do not cause the capacity of such a plant to
16 exceed five MW; or
17 (III) a hydroelectric renewable energy plant that is, on or before
18 January 1, 2024, owned and operated by a retail electricity provider that is not
19 a municipal electric utility, provided such plant is and continues to be certified
20 by the Low Impact Hydropower Institute. Plants owned by such utilities on or
21 before January 1, 2024, which are later certified by the Low Impact VT LEG #377337 v.1
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1 Hydropower Institute, and continue to be certified shall be eligible under this
2 subdivision (2) from the date of certification. Any future modifications that do
3 not cause the capacity of such a plant to exceed five MW shall also be eligible
4 under this subdivision (2); and
5 (iii) Is one of the following:
6 (I) is directly connected to the subtransmission or distribution
7 system of a Vermont retail electricity provider; or
8 (II) is directly connected to the transmission system of an
9 electric company required to submit a Transmission System Plan under
10 subsection 218c(d) of this title, if the plant is part of a plan approved by the
11 Commission to avoid or defer a transmission system improvement needed to
12 address a transmission system reliability deficiency identified and analyzed in
13 that Plan; or
14 (ii)(III) is a net metering system approved under the former
15 section 219a or under section 8010 of this title if the system is new renewable
16 energy and the interconnecting retail electricity provider owns and retires the
17 system’s environmental attributes.
18 (C) Required amounts. The required amounts of distributed
19 renewable generation shall be one 5.8 percent of each retail electricity
20 provider’s annual retail electric sales load during the year beginning on
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1 January 1, 2017, increasing by an additional three-fifths of a percent 2025,
2 increasing by at least an additional:
3 (i) one and a half percent each subsequent January 1 until reaching
4 10 20 percent on and after January 1, 2035 for a retail electricity provider who
5 serves a single customer that takes service at 115 kilovolts and each municipal
6 electric utility formed under local charter or chapter 79 of this title; and
7 (ii) two percent each subsequent January 1 until reaching 20
8 percent on and after January 1, 2032 for all other retail electricity providers.
9 (D) Distributed generation greater than five MW. On petition of a
10 retail electricity provider, the Commission may for a given year allow the
11 provider to employ energy with environmental attributes attached or tradeable
12 renewable energy credits from a renewable energy plant with a plant capacity
13 greater than five MW to satisfy the distributed renewable generation
14 requirement if the plant would qualify as distributed renewable generation but
15 for its plant capacity and when the provider demonstrates either that:
16 (i) it is unable during that a given year to meet the requirement
17 solely with qualifying renewable energy plants of five MW or less. To
18 demonstrate this inability, the provider shall issue one or more requests for
19 proposals, and show that it is unable to obtain sufficient ownership of
20 environme