SF 2031 (LSB 5383XS (3) 86)

SENATE FILE 2031

BY  BOLKCOM, DEARDEN, JOCHUM, SODDERS, and DVORSKY

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to solar energy by establishing a community solar garden program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 476.1, Code 2016, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  5A.  A community solar garden program established pursuant to section 476.49 shall not be regarded as a public utility for purposes of this chapter.
    Sec. 2.  Section 476.25, Code 2016, is amended by adding the following new unnumbered paragraph:
   NEW UNNUMBERED PARAGRAPH.  The furnishing of electricity pursuant to a community solar garden program under section 476.49 shall not be considered an unnecessary duplication of electric utility facilities and shall not constitute a violation of this section.
    Sec. 3.  NEW SECTION.  476.49  Community solar garden program.
   1.  Definitions.  For the purposes of this section, unless the context otherwise requires:
   a.  “Community solar garden facility” means an electric generating facility with a nameplate generating capacity of one megawatt or less that generates electricity by means of a ground-mounted or roof-mounted solar photovoltaic device whereby subscribers receive a bill credit for the electricity generated in proportion to the size of their subscription.
   b.  “Subscriber” means a retail customer of an electric utility subject to this subchapter who owns one or more subscriptions to a community solar garden facility interconnected with that utility.
   c.  “Subscription” means a proportional contractual interest in a community solar garden facility, together with a proportional interest in any state or federal tax credits for which a community solar garden facility may be eligible.
   2.  Program established —— requirements.
   a.  A community solar garden program is established to encourage and enhance the generation of solar energy and to encourage and enhance the ability of electric public utility customers to participate in and derive benefit from alternate solar energy projects.
   b.  Pursuant to the program, an electric public utility subject to rate regulation shall be required to establish and maintain one or more community solar garden facilities. The program shall be designed to offset the energy use of not less than five subscribers to each community solar garden facility, of which no single subscriber has more than a forty percent interest in the facility. A community solar garden facility may be owned by the utility or by any other entity or organization, including a subscriber organization, that contracts to sell the output from the community solar garden facility to the utility.
   c.  A community solar garden facility must be located within a utility’s service area. Subscribers shall be retail customers of the utility located in the same county or a county contiguous to where the facility is located. Each subscription shall be sized to represent at least two hundred watts of the community solar garden facility’s generating capacity and to supply, when combined with other distributed generation resources serving the premises, no more than one hundred twenty percent of the average annual consumption of electricity by each subscriber at the premises to which the subscription is attached.
   d.  A utility establishing a community solar garden program shall be required to purchase from a community solar garden facility all electricity generated by the facility at the same rates applicable to alternate energy production facilities pursuant to section 476.43, or at an alternative rate if established by the board. A subscriber’s portion of the electricity purchased by the utility shall be credited to the subscriber’s account with the utility. The board shall develop interconnection agreements for utilization by a community solar garden facility interconnecting with the utility.
   e.  A utility shall not be required to purchase an amount of electricity from one or more community solar garden facilities in an amount exceeding four percent of its average annual electricity sales. The requirements of this section are applicable in addition to, and not in lieu of, the maximum purchase and ownership restrictions specified in section 476.44.
   3.  Plans —— submission requirements.
   a.  A public utility subject to this section shall submit a community solar garden program plan to the board by September 30, 2016, incorporating the following components:
   (1)  The proposed location of one or more community solar garden facilities to be operated and maintained by the utility.
   (2)  Uniform standards, fees, and processes for the interconnection of community solar garden facilities that will allow the utility to recover reasonable interconnection costs for each facility.
   (3)  Information to be provided to potential subscribers to ensure fair disclosure of future costs and benefits of subscriptions.
   (4)  An implementation schedule for facility interconnection.
   b.  The board may approve, disapprove, or modify the plan. Once approved, a plan shall be implemented within ninety days following the date of approval. Within one hundred eighty days following the date of approval, the utility shall begin crediting subscriber accounts for each community solar garden facility within its service area.
   c.  The utility shall file an updated plan on an annual basis summarizing the operation and status of its community solar garden program and detailing the amount of electricity generated by facilities and credited to subscriber accounts.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with

the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill establishes a community solar garden program. The bill defines a “community solar garden facility” to mean an electric generating facility with a nameplate generating capacity of one megawatt or less that generates electricity by means of a ground-mounted or roof-mounted solar photovoltaic device whereby subscribers receive a billing credit for the electricity generated in proportion to the size of their subscription. The bill defines “subscriber” to mean a retail customer of an electric utility who owns one or more subscriptions of a community solar garden interconnected with that utility. The bill defines a “subscription” to mean a proportional contractual interest in a community solar garden facility, together with a proportional interest in any state or federal tax credits for which a community solar garden facility may be eligible.
   The bill provides that an electric public utility subject to rate regulation shall be required to establish and maintain one or more community solar garden facilities, consisting of not less than five subscribers to each facility, of which no single subscriber has more than a 40 percent interest in the facility. The bill states that a community solar garden facility may be owned by the utility or by any other entity or organization, including a subscriber organization, that contracts to sell the output from the community solar garden facility to the utility.
   The bill requires a community solar garden facility to be located within the utility’s service area, and requires subscribers to be retail customers of the utility located in the same county or a county contiguous to where the facility is located. Each subscription is required to be sized to represent at least 200 watts of the community solar garden facility’s generating capacity and to supply, when combined with other distributed generation resources serving the premises, no more than 120 percent of the average annual consumption of electricity by each subscriber at the premises to which the subscription is attached. The bill provides that rates applicable to facilities shall either be the same rates applicable to alternate energy production facilities pursuant to Code section 476.43, or an alternative rate if established by the board. The bill provides that a subscriber’s portion of the electricity purchased shall be provided as a credit on the subscriber’s billing, that a utility shall not be required to purchase an amount of electricity from one or more community solar garden facilities in an amount exceeding 4 percent of its average annual electricity sales, and that the community solar garden requirements are in addition to, and not in lieu of, alternate energy purchase and ownership requirements specified in Code section 476.44.
   The bill requires a utility subject to the bill’s provisions to submit a community solar garden program plan to the Iowa utilities board by September 30, 2016, incorporating specified components. The bill provides that the plan shall be implemented within 90 days following the date of approval, and that within 180 days following the date of approval, the utility shall begin crediting subscriber accounts for each community solar garden facility within its service area. The utility is required to file an updated plan on an annual basis summarizing the operation and status of its community solar garden program and detailing the amount of electricity generated by facilities and credited to subscribers.