S.F. 2031 Section 1. Section 476.1, Code 2016, is amended by adding 1 the following new subsection: 2 NEW SUBSECTION . 5A. A community solar garden program 3 established pursuant to section 476.49 shall not be regarded as 4 a public utility for purposes of this chapter. 5 Sec. 2. Section 476.25, Code 2016, is amended by adding the 6 following new unnumbered paragraph: 7 NEW UNNUMBERED PARAGRAPH . The furnishing of electricity 8 pursuant to a community solar garden program under section 9 476.49 shall not be considered an unnecessary duplication 10 of electric utility facilities and shall not constitute a 11 violation of this section. 12 Sec. 3. NEW SECTION . 476.49 Community solar garden program. 13 1. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, unless 14 the context otherwise requires: 15 a. “Community solar garden facility” means an electric 16 generating facility with a nameplate generating capacity of 17 one megawatt or less that generates electricity by means of 18 a ground-mounted or roof-mounted solar photovoltaic device 19 whereby subscribers receive a bill credit for the electricity 20 generated in proportion to the size of their subscription. 21 b. “Subscriber” means a retail customer of an electric 22 utility subject to this subchapter who owns one or more 23 subscriptions to a community solar garden facility 24 interconnected with that utility. 25 c. “Subscription” means a proportional contractual 26 interest in a community solar garden facility, together with a 27 proportional interest in any state or federal tax credits for 28 which a community solar garden facility may be eligible. 29 2. Program established —— requirements. 30 a. A community solar garden program is established to 31 encourage and enhance the generation of solar energy and to 32 encourage and enhance the ability of electric public utility 33 customers to participate in and derive benefit from alternate 34 solar energy projects. 35 -1- LSB 5383XS (3) 86 rn/nh 1/ 5

S.F. 2031 b. Pursuant to the program, an electric public utility 1 subject to rate regulation shall be required to establish and 2 maintain one or more community solar garden facilities. The 3 program shall be designed to offset the energy use of not 4 less than five subscribers to each community solar garden 5 facility, of which no single subscriber has more than a forty 6 percent interest in the facility. A community solar garden 7 facility may be owned by the utility or by any other entity 8 or organization, including a subscriber organization, that 9 contracts to sell the output from the community solar garden 10 facility to the utility. 11 c. A community solar garden facility must be located 12 within a utility’s service area. Subscribers shall be retail 13 customers of the utility located in the same county or a county 14 contiguous to where the facility is located. Each subscription 15 shall be sized to represent at least two hundred watts of the 16 community solar garden facility’s generating capacity and 17 to supply, when combined with other distributed generation 18 resources serving the premises, no more than one hundred twenty 19 percent of the average annual consumption of electricity by 20 each subscriber at the premises to which the subscription is 21 attached. 22 d. A utility establishing a community solar garden program 23 shall be required to purchase from a community solar garden 24 facility all electricity generated by the facility at the same 25 rates applicable to alternate energy production facilities 26 pursuant to section 476.43, or at an alternative rate if 27 established by the board. A subscriber’s portion of the 28 electricity purchased by the utility shall be credited to the 29 subscriber’s account with the utility. The board shall develop 30 interconnection agreements for utilization by a community solar 31 garden facility interconnecting with the utility. 32 e. A utility shall not be required to purchase an amount of 33 electricity from one or more community solar garden facilities 34 in an amount exceeding four percent of its average annual 35 -2- LSB 5383XS (3) 86 rn/nh 2/ 5

S.F. 2031 electricity sales. The requirements of this section are 1 applicable in addition to, and not in lieu of, the maximum 2 purchase and ownership restrictions specified in section 3 476.44. 4 3. Plans —— submission requirements. 5 a. A public utility subject to this section shall submit a 6 community solar garden program plan to the board by September 7 30, 2016, incorporating the following components: 8 (1) The proposed location of one or more community solar 9 garden facilities to be operated and maintained by the utility. 10 (2) Uniform standards, fees, and processes for the 11 interconnection of community solar garden facilities that will 12 allow the utility to recover reasonable interconnection costs 13 for each facility. 14 (3) Information to be provided to potential subscribers 15 to ensure fair disclosure of future costs and benefits of 16 subscriptions. 17 (4) An implementation schedule for facility 18 interconnection. 19 b. The board may approve, disapprove, or modify the plan. 20 Once approved, a plan shall be implemented within ninety days 21 following the date of approval. Within one hundred eighty 22 days following the date of approval, the utility shall begin 23 crediting subscriber accounts for each community solar garden 24 facility within its service area. 25 c. The utility shall file an updated plan on an annual 26 basis summarizing the operation and status of its community 27 solar garden program and detailing the amount of electricity 28 generated by facilities and credited to subscriber accounts. 29 EXPLANATION 30 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 31 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 32 This bill establishes a community solar garden program. 33 The bill defines a “community solar garden facility” to mean 34 an electric generating facility with a nameplate generating 35 -3- LSB 5383XS (3) 86 rn/nh 3/ 5

S.F. 2031 capacity of one megawatt or less that generates electricity by 1 means of a ground-mounted or roof-mounted solar photovoltaic 2 device whereby subscribers receive a billing credit for the 3 electricity generated in proportion to the size of their 4 subscription. The bill defines “subscriber” to mean a 5 retail customer of an electric utility who owns one or more 6 subscriptions of a community solar garden interconnected with 7 that utility. The bill defines a “subscription” to mean a 8 proportional contractual interest in a community solar garden 9 facility, together with a proportional interest in any state or 10 federal tax credits for which a community solar garden facility 11 may be eligible. 12 The bill provides that an electric public utility subject to 13 rate regulation shall be required to establish and maintain one 14 or more community solar garden facilities, consisting of not 15 less than five subscribers to each facility, of which no single 16 subscriber has more than a 40 percent interest in the facility. 17 The bill states that a community solar garden facility may be 18 owned by the utility or by any other entity or organization, 19 including a subscriber organization, that contracts to sell the 20 output from the community solar garden facility to the utility. 21 The bill requires a community solar garden facility to 22 be located within the utility’s service area, and requires 23 subscribers to be retail customers of the utility located in 24 the same county or a county contiguous to where the facility 25 is located. Each subscription is required to be sized to 26 represent at least 200 watts of the community solar garden 27 facility’s generating capacity and to supply, when combined 28 with other distributed generation resources serving the 29 premises, no more than 120 percent of the average annual 30 consumption of electricity by each subscriber at the premises 31 to which the subscription is attached. The bill provides that 32 rates applicable to facilities shall either be the same rates 33 applicable to alternate energy production facilities pursuant 34 to Code section 476.43, or an alternative rate if established 35 -4- LSB 5383XS (3) 86 rn/nh 4/ 5

S.F. 2031 by the board. The bill provides that a subscriber’s portion of 1 the electricity purchased shall be provided as a credit on the 2 subscriber’s billing, that a utility shall not be required to 3 purchase an amount of electricity from one or more community 4 solar garden facilities in an amount exceeding 4 percent of its 5 average annual electricity sales, and that the community solar 6 garden requirements are in addition to, and not in lieu of, 7 alternate energy purchase and ownership requirements specified 8 in Code section 476.44. 9 The bill requires a utility subject to the bill’s provisions 10 to submit a community solar garden program plan to the 11 Iowa utilities board by September 30, 2016, incorporating 12 specified components. The bill provides that the plan shall 13 be implemented within 90 days following the date of approval, 14 and that within 180 days following the date of approval, the 15 utility shall begin crediting subscriber accounts for each 16 community solar garden facility within its service area. The 17 utility is required to file an updated plan on an annual 18 basis summarizing the operation and status of its community 19 solar garden program and detailing the amount of electricity 20 generated by facilities and credited to subscribers. 21 -5- LSB 5383XS (3) 86 rn/nh 5/ 5