2022 -- H 8028

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LC005546

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2022

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO PUBLIC UTILITIES AND CARRIERS -- DISTRIBUTED GENERATION

INTERCONNECTION

     Introduced By: Representatives Cardillo, Costantino, Hawkins, Phillips, Morales,
Craven, O'Brien, Shanley, Azzinaro, and S Lima

     Date Introduced: March 23, 2022

     Referred To: House Corporations

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Sections 39-26.3-4 and 39-26.3-4.1 of the General Laws in Chapter 39-26.3

entitled "Distributed Generation Interconnection" are hereby amended to read as follows:

     39-26.3-4. Study cost fees.

     (a) After thirty (30) days from the enactment of this chapter until the end of calendar year

2012, the feasibility study fee shall be in accordance with the schedule set forth below:

     (1) Residential applicants for interconnections of UL 1741.1 approved renewable

distributed generation that is twenty-five kilowatts (25 KW) or less: zero dollars ($0).

     (2) Residential applicants for interconnections of UL 1741.1 approved renewable

distributed generation that is greater than twenty-five kilowatts (25 KW): fifty dollars ($50.00).

     (3) Nonresidential applicants for interconnections of UL 1741.1 approved renewable

distributed generation that is one hundred kilowatts (100 KW) or less: one hundred dollars ($100).

     (4) Nonresidential applicants for interconnections of UL 1741.1 approved renewable

distributed generation that is two hundred fifty kilowatts (250 KW) or less: three hundred dollars

($300).

     (5) Nonresidential applicants for interconnections of renewable distributed generation that

is greater than two hundred fifty kilowatts (250 KW), up to one megawatt (1 MW): one thousand

dollars ($1,000).

     (6) Nonresidential applicants for interconnections of renewable distributed generation

greater than one megawatt (1 MW): two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500).

     Beginning January 1, 2013, and for every year thereafter, the commission shall set a new

fee schedule that is no less than what is specified herein. The purpose of the fee schedule is to

provide a disincentive to applicants contemplating a renewable distributed-generation project from

requesting order of magnitude estimates unless they are serious about pursuing such projects, and

to prevent the electric distribution company from charging more than it actually costs to conduct

such studies with all due efficiency.

     (b) After thirty (30) days from the enactment of this chapter until the end of calendar year

2012, the impact study fee shall be in accordance with the schedule set forth below:

     (1) Residential applicants for interconnections of UL 1741.1 approved renewable

distributed generation that is twenty-five kilowatts (25 KW) or less: zero dollars ($0).

     (2) Residential applicants for interconnections of UL 1741.1 approved renewable

distributed generation that is greater than twenty-five kilowatts (25 KW): one hundred dollars

($100).

     (3) Nonresidential applicants for interconnections of UL 1741.1 approved renewable

distributed generation that is one hundred kilowatts (100 KW) or less: five hundred dollars ($500)

     (4) Nonresidential applicants for interconnections of UL 1741.1 approved renewable

distributed generation that is two hundred fifty kilowatts (250 KW) or less: one thousand five

hundred dollars ($1,500).

     (5) Nonresidential applicants for interconnections of renewable distributed generation that

is greater than two hundred fifty kilowatts (250 KW), up to one megawatt (1 MW): five thousand

dollars ($5,000).

     (6) Nonresidential applicants for interconnections of renewable distributed generation

greater than one megawatt (1 MW): actual cost or ten thousand dollars ($10,000), whichever is less

except as set forth in subsection (c) of this section.

     Beginning January 1, 2013, and for every year thereafter, the commission shall set a new

fee schedule that is no less than what is specified herein. The purpose of the impact study fee

schedule is to assure that an applicant is responsible for paying a reasonable amount of the cost of

the study in advance of installing the distributed generation, but that the advance cost is justified

and is not so high as to discourage an applicant from pursuing a project.

     (c) To the extent that an impact study fee established under this section does not cover the

reasonable cost of an impact study for a given nonresidential project that commences operation,

the balance of these costs shall be recovered from such applicant through billings after the project

is online. The electric distribution company may, at its sole election, offset net-metering credits or

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any standard contract payments until the full fee(s) is reimbursed, if it finds it administratively

convenient to use that means of billing for the balance of the fee for a given project.

     (d) The electric distribution company shall report the total number of interconnection

studies and its total charges to conduct feasibility and impact studies on each individual circuit in

Rhode Island, to the independent interconnection ombudsman appointed under § 39-26.3-4.1(h),

the division of public utilities and carriers, and the public utilities commission, no later than October

30, 2022, and update that report every six (6) months. The electric distribution company shall not

charge more than it costs to conduct any interconnection studies, or for time spent studying

feasibility or impact, that can be assessed based on prior studies, nor shall the electric distribution

company charge an interconnecting, renewable energy customer for indirect costs, overhead, profit

allocations or costs for any time spent responding to disputes related to those studies.

     39-26.3-4.1. Interconnection standards.

     (a) The electric distribution company may only charge an interconnecting, renewable

energy customer for any system modifications to its electric power system specifically necessary

for and directly related to the interconnection. The electric distribution company may not charge

an interconnecting, renewable energy customer for system improvements, including any upgrades

to the electric power system otherwise intended to comply with electric distribution company

standards or that otherwise benefit the system or that benefit any other interconnecting, renewable

energy customer; except as set forth in §§ 39-26.3-4.1(b), 39-26.3-4.1(c), and 39-26.3-4.1(g).

     (b) If the public utilities commission determines that a specific system modification

benefiting other customers has been accelerated due to an interconnection request, it may order the

interconnecting customer to fund the modification subject to repayment of the depreciated value of

the modification within ninety (90) days of completion of the modification as of the time the

modification would have been necessary as determined by the public utilities commission. Any

system modifications benefiting other customers shall be included in rates as determined by the

public utilities commission. The electric distribution company shall provide an industry standard

estimate-level detailed audit and line-item budget account of its actual cost to the interconnecting,

renewable energy customer with every cost estimate it issues and within ninety (90) days of

completing any system modifications, always including any and all supporting records and

documentation.

     (c) If an interconnecting, renewable energy customer is required to pay for system

modifications and a subsequent renewable energy or commercial customer relies on those

modifications to connect to the distribution system within ten (10) years of the earlier

interconnecting, renewable energy customer's payment, the subsequent customer will make a

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prorated contribution toward the cost of the system modifications that will be credited to the earlier

interconnecting, renewable energy customer as determined by the public utilities commission.

     (d) An electric distribution company shall acknowledge to the interconnecting, renewable

energy customer receipt of an application to initiate the interconnection process within three (3)

business days of receipt. The electric distribution company shall notify the interconnecting,

renewable energy customer in writing within ten (10) business days of receipt that the application

is or is not complete and, if not, advise what is missing of any and all elements of the application

that are materially incomplete within the ten (10) business days. Once the incomplete items that are

material to the interconnection process are addressed, the electric distribution company shall

conduct a supplemental completeness review and application screens, within no more than five (5)

business days, notifying the applicant which interconnection process will be followed, whether

their application is still materially incomplete or deficient, provide a complete and specific list of

any and all incomplete items or deficiencies along with specific detailed instructions or

recommendations, as to why items are deficient and how to correct any remaining deficiencies, in

a form that enables the applicant to fully address them. Once all materially deficient items are then

addressed, the electric distribution company shall issue a final decision on all screens and on which

interconnection process shall be followed within two (2) days. As long as the applicant provides

all requested information within ten (10) days of the request, the interconnection deadlines in this

section will not be extended. The electric distribution company shall maintain an example of a

complete, detailed and current model interconnection application, with all required attachments and

supplemental information, in an easily accessible location on its website for ease of reference,

which shall be updated within five (5) calendar days of any update to any of the electric distribution

company’s technical standards or specifications for interconnection, as set forth in § 39-26.3-4.1(i).

Any disputes regarding whether and when an application to initiate the interconnection process is

complete shall be resolved expeditiously at the public utilities commission. The maximum time

allowed between the date of the completed application and delivery of an executable

interconnection service agreement shall be one hundred seventy-five (175) calendar days or two

hundred (200) calendar days if a detailed study is required. All electric distribution company system

modifications must be completed by the date which is the later of: (1) No longer than two hundred

seventy (270) calendar days, or three hundred sixty (360) calendar days if substation work is

necessary, from the date of the electric distribution company's receipt of the interconnecting,

renewable energy customer's executed interconnection service agreement; or (2) The

interconnecting, renewable energy customer's agreed-upon extension of the time between the

execution of the interconnection service agreement and interconnection as set forth in writing as

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agreed to by the electric distribution company in writing. All deadlines herein are subject to all

payments being made in accordance with the distributed-generation interconnection tariff on file

with the public utilities commission and the interconnection service agreement. These system

modification deadlines cannot be extended due to interconnecting, renewable energy customer

delays in providing required information, all of which must be requested and obtained before

completion of the impact study. The deadlines for completion of system modifications will be

extended only to the extent of events that are clearly not under the control of the electric distribution

company or their affiliates, such as extended prohibitive weather, union work stoppage or force

majeure, or third-party delays, including, without limitation, delays due to ISO-NE requirements

not attributable to electric distribution company or its affiliates actions, and that cannot be resolved

despite commercially reasonable efforts. The electric distribution company shall notify the

interconnecting, renewable energy customer in writing of the start of any claimed deadline

extension as soon as practicable, its cause and when it concludes, all in writing. and within five (5)

calendar days of occurrence, to allow for customer intervention and involvement by the

interconnecting, renewable energy customer, shall inform that customer of the cause and expected

length of the delay, and shall provide a detailed written explanation and documentation of such

cause. The electric distribution company shall respond within five (5) calendar days, in writing to

an interconnecting, renewable energy customer's request for additional information and documents,

relating to the cause of the delay and the expected length of the delay. Any actual or consequential,

indirect, incidental special, or punitive Any actual damages that a court of competent jurisdiction

orders the electric distribution company to pay to incurred by an interconnecting, renewable energy

customer as a direct result of the electric distribution company's failure to comply with the

requirements of this subsection shall be payable to the interconnecting, renewable energy customer

by its the electric distribution company's shareholders and may not be recovered from customers,

provided that the total amount of damages awarded for any and all such claims shall not exceed, in

the aggregate, an amount equal to the amount of the incentive the electric distribution company

would have earned as provided for in §§ 39-26.6-12(j)(3) and 39-26.1-4 in the year in which the

system modifications were required to be completed. In no event shall the electric distribution

company be liable to the interconnecting, renewable energy customer for any indirect, incidental,

special, consequential, or punitive damages of any kind whatsoever as a result of the electric

distribution company's failure to comply with this section.

     (e) On or before September 1, 2017, the public utilities commission shall initiate a docket

to establish metrics for the electric distribution company's performance in meeting the time frames

set forth herein and in the distributed-generation interconnection standards approved by the public

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utilities commission. The public utilities commission may include incentives and penalties in the

performance metrics.

     (f) The proposed interconnection of any new renewable energy resource that replaces the

same existing renewable energy resource of the same or less nameplate capacity that has been in

operation in the twelve (12) months preceding notification of the replacement shall be subject to a

sixty-day (60) review. The purpose of such sixty-day (60) review is to allow the electric distribution

company to determine whether any system modifications are required to support the

interconnection of the replacement renewable energy resource. If there is a need for system

modifications because of an interconnection policy change implemented by the electric distribution

company, then the system modification may be included in rates as determined by the public

utilities commission. If there is a need for system modifications only because of a change in the

rating or utility disturbance response that adversely affects the impact of the facility on the

distribution system, then the interconnecting, renewable energy customer shall be responsible for

the cost of the system modifications.

     (g) If the electric distribution company's impact study estimate for system modifications

exceeds one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), the interconnecting, renewable energy customer

shall have the option to either self-perform or third-party contract for the system modification

subject to the following conditions:

     (1) The engineering, procurement and construction of the system modifications shall

comply with all requirements of law and regulation to which the electric distribution company

would be subject in the engineering, procurement and construction of electric power system

facilities;

     (2) The modifications shall be implemented and tested in accordance with the electric

power system's company documented design standards;

     (3) The interconnecting, renewable energy customer is able to self-perform the system

modifications, either on its own or in conjunction with third-party service providers, in the most

cost-effective manner (considering all qualified proposals by other interconnecting, renewable

energy customers at the time); and

     (4) The electric distribution company shall respond within ten (10) business days to

requests for any information made to it by the interconnecting, renewable energy customer related

to the system modifications. Upon receiving reasonable prior notice from the electric distribution

company, the interconnecting, renewable energy customer shall provide reasonable physical access

to the system modifications during construction. Third-party service providers shall be selected

from the electric distribution company's approved vendor list, to be developed no later than October

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30, 2022, and updated regularly and to contain no less than three (3) qualified vendors per technical

discipline. The self-performing interconnecting customer will provide an industry standard

estimate-level detailed audit and line item budget account of its actual cost with every cost estimate

it issues and within ninety (90) days of completing any system modifications, including any and all

supporting records and documentation.

     (h) On or before September 1, 2022, the public utilities commission, in consultation with

the office of energy resources, shall appoint and oversee a neutral, qualified third-party ombudsman

to oversee the distribution company's administration of interconnection, to ensure that the

interconnection process works efficiently to serve the purposes of Rhode Island's energy plan and

policy. The appointed ombudsman shall oversee and supervise any and all elements of the

interconnection process including, but not limited to: providing dispute resolution assistance upon

written request by a party to a dispute, under the interconnection tariff, planning and management

of infrastructure safety and reliability investments and all other investments to ensure and facilitate

access to the distribution system; processing of applications; management of queue position;

interactions with ISO-NE; implementation of system modifications; and administration and

exemptions to the interconnection tax. This position shall be funded first out of any excess

interconnection study fees assessed to interconnecting, renewable energy customers as determined

in the review conducted under § 39-26.3-4(d) and then, any remaining amount shall be paid for, in

equal shares, by:

     (1) The interconnecting, renewable energy customers, on a pro rata share, based on the

previous year's interconnection load; and

     (2) The electric distribution company.

     (i) The electric distribution company shall host an eight (8) member Rhode Island

interconnection technical services committee (RI-ITSC) comprised of representatives of the

electric distribution company (two (2) members at least one of which will have experience in the

technical aspects of interconnection and which member shall be the chair of the RI-ITSC), the

Rhode Island office of energy resources (one member), the division of public utilities and carriers

(one member), industry (three (3) members, with at least one of the members having experience in

the technical aspects of interconnection), and ISO-NE (one member). When the electric distribution

company is considering changes that are likely to materially impact proposed interconnected

facilities or future applications, the electric distribution company shall provide a draft of the

proposed changes to its standards to the RI-ITSC and interconnecting, renewable energy customers

with potentially impacted applications prior to those changes going into effect and, where

practicable, the electric distribution company will take into consideration feedback from the RI-

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ITSC about how such changes would impact interconnecting, renewable energy customers.

     (j) The electric distribution company shall not change its technical standards or

specifications for interconnection, as addressed in the electric distribution company's Electrical

Service Bulletin 756 where applicable to Rhode Island "Requirements for Parallel Generation

Connected to a National Grid owned EPS" or otherwise, without approval of the public utilities

commission and without properly publishing any such changes to interconnecting, renewable

energy customers no less than thirty (30) days before implementation. Any changed interconnection

standards will not apply to renewable energy projects with complete interconnection applications.

     (k) The electric distribution company's interconnection application process shall inform

interconnecting, renewable energy customers of the procedure to certify qualification and pursue

the Internal Revenue Service's safe harbor against the contribution in aid of construction tax,

exempting interconnections designed to send electricity to the electric distribution company.

     (l) The electric distribution company shall not prohibit the crossing of a public way by the

interconnecting, renewable energy customer with any equipment. The electric distribution

company shall work with the interconnecting, renewable energy customer to allow such a crossing

in any existing or proposed electric distribution facilities owned by the electric distribution

company.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect thirty (30) days after enactment and shall apply

prospectively to all phases of the interconnection process that have yet to commence as of the

effective date.

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LC005546

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO PUBLIC UTILITIES AND CARRIERS -- DISTRIBUTED GENERATION

INTERCONNECTION

***

     This act would require the electric distribution company to properly account for and

implement actual cost interconnection study fees and interconnection charges. It would require

greater transparency in standards for interconnection and greater clarity for the interconnection

process, including establishment of an eight (8) member Rhode Island interconnection technical

services committee. It would also establish an independent ombudsman to oversee the electric

distribution company's interconnection practices and provide greater accountability for non-

compliance.

     This act would take effect thirty (30) days after enactment and would apply prospectively

to all phases of the interconnection process that have yet to commence as of the effective date.

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LC005546

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