Chapter 019
2011 -- H 5281
Enacted 05/27/11
A N A C T
RELATING TO
PUBLIC UTILITY - RATES
Introduced By: Representatives Ruggiero, Ehrhardt, Handy, Kennedy, and Naughton
Date Introduced: February 08, 2011
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 39-2-1.2 of the General Laws in Chapter
39-2 entitled "Duties of
Utilities and
Carriers" is hereby amended to read as follows:
39-2-1.2. Utility
base rate – Advertising, demand side management and renewables.
-- (a) In addition to costs prohibited in § 39-1-27.4(b),
no public utility distributing or providing
heat, electricity, or water to or for the public shall
include as part of its base rate any expenses for
advertising, either direct or indirect, which promotes the use of
its product or service, or is
designed to promote the public image of the industry. No
public utility may furnish support of
any kind, direct, or indirect, to any subsidiary, group,
association, or individual for advertising
and include the expense as part of its base rate. Nothing
contained in this section shall be deemed
as prohibiting the inclusion in the base rate of
expenses incurred for advertising, informational or
educational in nature, which is designed to promote public safety
conservation of the public
utility's product or service. The public utilities commission
shall promulgate such rules and
regulations as are necessary to require public disclosure of all
advertising expenses of any kind,
direct or indirect, and to otherwise effectuate the
provisions of this section.
(b)
Effective as of January 1, 2003 2008, and for a period of ten
(10) years thereafter,
each electric distribution company shall include charges of
2.0 mills per kilowatt-hour delivered
to fund demand side management programs and 0.3 mills
per kilowatt-hour delivered to fund
renewable energy programs. Existing charges for these
purposes and their method of
administration shall continue through December 31, 2002. Thereafter,
the The electric
distribution company shall establish and after July 1, 2007,
maintain two (2) separate accounts,
one for demand side management programs, which shall be
administered and implemented by the
distribution company, subject to the regulatory reviewing
authority of the commission, and one
for renewable energy programs, which shall be administered
by the economic development
corporation pursuant to § 42-64-13.2 and, shall be held and
disbursed by the distribution company
as directed by the economic development corporation for
the purposes of developing, promoting
and supporting renewable energy programs.
During
the ten (10) year period the commission may, in its discretion, after notice
and
public hearing, increase the sums for demand side management
and renewable resources;
thereafter, the commission shall, after notice and public
hearing, determine the appropriate charge
for these programs. The office of energy resources and/or
the administrator of the renewable
energy programs may seek to secure for the state an
equitable and reasonable portion of
renewable energy credits or certificates created by private
projects funded through those
programs. As used in this section, "renewable energy resources"
shall mean: (1) power generation
technologies as defined in § 39-26-5, "eligible renewable
energy resources", including off-grid
and on-grid generating technologies located in
development activities in
other renewable energy technologies for electrical
generation; or (3) projects and activities
directly related to implementing eligible renewable energy
resources projects in
Technologies for converting solar energy for space
heating or generating domestic hot water may
also be funded through the renewable energy programs, so
long as these technologies are installed
on housing projects that have been certified by the
executive director of the
and mortgage finance corporation as serving low-income
be considered an energy efficiency technology to be
included in demand sided management
programs. Special rates for low-income customers in effect as
of August 7, 1996 shall be
continued, and the costs of all of these discounts shall be
included in the distribution rates
charged to all other customers. Nothing in this section shall
be construed as prohibiting an electric
distribution company from offering any special rates or programs
for low-income customers
which are not in effect as of August 7, 1996, subject to
the approval by the commission.
(c) On
or before November 15, 2008, the economic development corporation shall
create the municipal renewable energy investment program
utilizing the lesser of fifty percent
(50%) or one million dollars ($1,000,000) collected annually
from the .3 mils per kilo-watt hour
charge for renewable energy programs, to fund qualified
municipal renewable energy projects in
accordance with this chapter and the following provisions:
(1)
The municipal renewable energy investment programs shall be administered
pursuant to rules established by the economic development
corporation. Said rules shall provide
transparent criteria to rank qualified municipal renewable energy
projects, giving consideration
to:
(i) the feasibility of project
completion;
(ii) the anticipated amount of renewable energy the project will
produce;
(iii) the potential of the project to mitigate energy costs over
the life of the project; and
(iv) the estimated cost per kilo-watt hour (kwh)
of the energy produced from the
project. Municipalities that have not previously received
financing from this program shall be
given priority over those municipalities that have received
funding under this program.
(2)
Beginning on January 1, 2009, the economic development corporation shall
solicit
proposals from municipalities for eligible projects and shall
award grants, in accordance with the
rules and ranking criteria, of no more than five hundred
thousand dollars ($500,000) to each
eligible project.
(3)
Any funds not expended from the municipal renewable energy investment programs
in a given year shall remain in the fund and be added to
the balance to be distributed in the next
award cycle. For the purposes of this section, qualified
municipal renewable energy projects
means any project that produces renewable energy resources
and whose output of power and
other attributes is controlled in its entirety by at least
one
(d) On
or before November 15, 2008, the economic development corporation shall
create the nonprofit affordable housing renewable energy investment
program utilizing the lesser
of ten percent (10%) or two hundred thousand dollars
($200,000) collected annually from the .3
mils per kilo-watt hour charge for renewable energy
programs to fund qualified nonprofit
affordable housing renewable energy projects in accordance with
this chapter and the following
provisions:
(1)
The nonprofit affordable housing renewable energy investment programs shall be
administered pursuant to rules established by the economic
development corporation in
consultation with the
provide transparent criteria to rank qualified nonprofit affordable
housing renewable energy
projects, giving consideration to:
(i) the feasibility of project
completion;
(ii) the anticipated amount of renewable energy the project will
produce;
(iii) the potential of the project to mitigate energy costs over
the life of the project; and
(iv) the estimated cost per kilo-watt hour (kwh)
of the energy produced from the
project. Nonprofit affordable housing agencies that have not
previously received financing from
this program shall be given priority over those agencies
that have received funding under this
program.
(2)
Beginning on January 1, 2009, the economic development corporation, in
consultation with the
proposals from eligible nonprofit housing agencies for
renewable energy projects and shall award
grants, in accordance with the rules and ranking criteria.
The economic development corporation
shall consult with the
making process and shall notify the corporation of the
awardees.
(3)
Any funds not expended from the affordable housing renewable energy investment
program in a given year shall remain in the fund and be added
to the balance to be distributed in
the next award cycle. For the purposes of this section,
"qualified nonprofit affordable housing
renewable energy projects" means any project that produces
renewable energy resources and
whose output of power and other attributes is controlled in
its entirety by at least one nonprofit
affordable housing development as defined in § 42-55-3 and is
restricted to producing energy for
the nonprofit affordable housing development.
(e)
The executive director of the economic development corporation is authorized
and
may enter into a contract with a contractor for the cost
effective administration of the renewable
energy programs funded by this section. A competitive bid
and contract award for administration
of the renewable energy programs may occur every three
(3) years and shall include as a
condition that after July 1, 2008 the account for the renewable
energy programs shall be
maintained and administered by the economic development
corporation as provided for in
subdivision (b) above.
(f)
Effective January 1, 2007, and for a period of seven (7) eleven (11)
years thereafter,
each gas distribution company shall include, with the
approval of the commission, a charge of up
to fifteen cents ($0.15) per deca therm delivered to demand side management programs,
including, but not limited to, programs for cost-effective
energy efficiency, energy conservation,
combined heat and power systems, and weatherization services
for low income households.
(g)
The gas company shall establish a separate account for demand side management
programs, which shall be administered and implemented by the
distribution company, subject to
the regulatory reviewing authority of the commission. The
commission may establish
administrative mechanisms and procedures that are similar to those
for electric demand side
management programs administered under the jurisdiction of the
commissions and that are
designed to achieve cost-effectiveness and high life-time
savings of efficiency measures
supported by the program.
(h)
The commission may, if reasonable and feasible, except from this demand side
management change:
(i) gas used for distribution
generation; and
(ii) gas used for the manufacturing processes, where the customer
has established a
self-directed program to invest in and achieve best effective
energy efficiency in accordance with
a plan approved by the commission and subject to
periodic review and approval by the
commission, which plan shall require annual reporting of the
amount invested and the return on
investments in terms of gas savings.
(i) The commission may provide for the coordinated and/or
integrated administration of
electric and gas demand side management programs in order to
enhance the effectiveness of the
programs. Such coordinated and/or integrated administration
may after March 1, 2009, upon the
recommendation of the office of energy resources, be through one or
more third-party entities
designated by the commission pursuant to a competitive selection
process.
(j) Effective January 1, 2007, the commission shall allocate
from demand-side
management gas and electric funds authorized pursuant to this §
39-2-1.2, an amount not to
exceed two percent (2%) of such funds on an annual basis for
the retention of expert consultants,
and reasonable administrations costs of the energy
efficiency and resources management council
associated with planning, management, and evaluation of energy
efficiency programs, renewable
energy programs and least-cost procurement, and with
regulatory proceedings, contested cases,
and other actions pertaining to the purposes, powers and
duties of the council, which allocation
may by mutual agreement, be used in coordination with the
office of energy resources to support
such activities.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC00658
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