SF 2356 (LSB 5444SV (1) 90)

SENATE FILE 2356

BY  COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE

(SUCCESSOR TO SSB 3180)

A BILL FOR

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

    Section 1.  Section 476.1, Code 2024, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  5.  A community solar facility established pursuant to section 476.50 shall not be regarded as a public utility for purposes of this chapter.
    Sec. 2.  Section 476.25, Code 2024, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  4.  The furnishing of electricity pursuant to a community solar facility under section 476.50 shall not be considered an unnecessary duplication of electric utility facilities and shall not constitute a violation of this section.
    Sec. 3.  NEW SECTION.  476.50  Community solar facility program —— established.
   1.  As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:
   a.  “Bill credit” means the monetary value of the electricity in kilowatt-hours generated by the community solar facility allocated to a subscriber to offset that subscriber’s electricity bill.
   b.  “Community solar facility” means a distributed generation facility that generates electricity by means of a solar photovoltaic device whereby subscribers receive a bill credit for the electricity generated in proportion to the size of the customer’s subscription and all of the following conditions apply:
   (1)  The facility is located on one or more parcels of land and no other community solar facility under the control of the same entity, an affiliate’s entity, or an entity under common control is located on that land.
   (2)  At the time the facility initially meets the requirements set forth in the tariff to participate in the program, the facility is not located within one mile, measured from the point of interconnection, of a community solar facility under the control of the same entity.
   (3)  The facility has at least three subscribers.
   (4)  The facility generates not more than five megawatts of electricity as measured in alternating current.
   (5)  No subscriber holds more than a forty percent interest in the output of the facility.
   (6)  Not less than sixty percent of the capacity of the facility is subscribed to by subscriptions of not more than forty kilowatts.
   c.  “Electric utility” means a public utility that furnishes electricity to the public for compensation that is required to be rate-regulated under this chapter.
   d.  “Subscriber” means a customer of an electric utility subject to this section who owns one or more subscriptions to a community solar facility interconnected with that utility.
   e.  “Subscriber organization” means a for-profit or nonprofit entity that owns or operates one or more community solar facilities.
   f.  “Subscription” means a proportional contractual interest in a community solar facility under which the estimated bill credits of the subscriber do not exceed the average annual bill for the customer account to which the subscription is attributed.
   2.  a.  A community solar facility program is established to encourage and enhance the generation of solar energy and to encourage and enhance the ability of electric utility customers to participate in and derive benefit from alternate solar energy projects.
   b.  An electric utility shall provide a bill credit to a subscriber’s subsequent monthly electric bill. Any amount of the bill credit that exceeds the subscriber’s monthly bill shall be carried over and applied to the next month’s bill in perpetuity.
   c.  An electric utility shall be required to purchase from a community solar facility in accordance with section 476.49. The amount of a subscriber’s subscription shall be credited to the subscriber’s account with the utility. The board shall develop interconnection agreements for utilization by a community solar facility interconnecting with a utility.
   d.  A community solar facility shall be subject to all of the following requirements:
   (1)  Utilize facilities generating electricity by means of community solar facility solar photovoltaic devices.
   (2)  Provide subscription access to the community solar facility exclusively to customers of a single electric utility.
   e.  The subscriber must be located within the service territory of the electric utility where the community solar facility is located. Customers located outside of the state shall not be allowed to subscribe to the community solar facility.
   f.  A subscriber may subscribe all of their electricity meters to a community solar facility.
   g.  Community solar facilities may be owned by investors.
   h.  An electric utility shall provide a bill credit to a subscriber’s subsequent monthly electric bill for the proportional output of a community solar facility attributable to that subscriber for not less than twenty-five years from the date the solar facility is first placed into operation.
   i.  A subscriber organization shall periodically and in a standardized electronic format provide to the electric utility whose service territory includes the location of the subscriber organization’s community solar facility a subscriber list indicating the percentage of generation attributable to each of the electric utility’s retail customers who are subscribers to a community solar facility in accordance with the subscriber’s portion of the output of the community solar facility. The electric utility shall create a platform for the subscriber organization to periodically communicate updates to the subscriber list to reflect cancelling subscribers and new subscribers. The investor-owned electric utility shall apply bill credits to the bills of subscribers within one billing cycle following the cycle during which the energy earning the bill credits is generated by the community solar facility.
   j.  An electric utility shall provide a subscriber organization a report each month in a standardized electronic format detailing the total value of bill credits generated by the subscriber organization’s community solar facility in the prior month and the amount of bill credits applied to each subscriber.
   k.  Any renewable energy credits created from the production of electricity in a community solar facility are the property of the subscriber organization that owns or operates the community solar facility. The subscriber organization may sell, accumulate, retire, or distribute to subscribers the renewable energy credits of the subscriber organization.
   3.  The board shall adopt rules to implement the provisions of this section that accomplish all of the following:
   a.  Reasonably allow for the creation and financing of community solar facilities.
   b.  Allow all customer classes to participate as subscribers to a community solar facility, and ensure participation opportunities for all customer classes.
   c.  Prohibit removing a customer from the customer’s applicable customer class due to the customer subscribing to a community solar facility.
   d.  Reasonably allow for the transferability and portability of subscriptions, including allowing a subscriber to retain a subscription to a community solar facility if the subscriber moves within the same investor-owned electric utility’s service territory.
   e.  Modify existing interconnection standards, fees, and processes as needed to facilitate the efficient and cost-effective interconnection of community solar facilities and that allow an electric utility to recover reasonable interconnection costs for each community solar facility.
   f.  Provide for consumer protection in accordance with existing laws.
   g.  Allow an electric utility to recover costs of applying bill credits under this section.
   h.  Require that electric utilities efficiently connect community solar facilities to the electrical distribution grid and do not discriminate against community solar facilities.
   i.  Require a subscriber organization to satisfy interconnection process benchmarks, demonstrate site control, and obtain all applicable nonministerial permits for a community solar facility before the subscriber organization owns or operates the facility.
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 facility program.
   The bill specifies that an “electric utility” for purposes of the bill is a public utility that provides electricity to the public for compensation and is required to be rate-regulated under Code chapter 476. The bill defines “community solar facility” to mean a distributed generation facility that generates electricity through solar panels whereby subscribers may receive bill credits for the electricity generated in proportion to the size of the customer’s subscription. The bill defines “subscriber” to mean a customer of an electric utility who owns at least one share of a subscription to a community solar facility. A “subscriber organization” is a for-profit or nonprofit entity that owns or operates one or more community solar facilities. The bill defines “subscription” to mean a proportional contractual interest in a community solar facility.
   The bill provides that a community solar facility program is established to encourage and enhance solar energy generation and the ability of electric public utility customers to participate in and derive benefit from alternate solar energy projects.
   The bill provides that a customer shall receive a credit in proportion to the customer’s subscription. The bill provides that a utility shall be required to purchase in accordance with billing methods established pursuant to Code section 476.49. A subscriber’s subscription shall be credited to the subscriber’s account with the utility. The bill provides that the Iowa utilities board shall develop interconnection agreements for utilization by a community solar facility interconnecting with the utility.
   The bill provides that a community solar facility may consist of subscribers located within the state and shall not consist of out-of-state subscribers. The bill provides that a subscriber may include all of the subscriber’s electricity meters in the community solar facility. The bill provides that a community solar facility may be owned by investors.
   The bill requires the Iowa utilities board to adopt rules regarding implementation of the bill’s provisions.