Section 407-313-3 - NET ENERGY BILLING REQUIREMENTSA.Customer Qualification. Any customer of a transmission and distribution utility that has a financial interest or a shared financial interest in an eligible facility may elect net energy billing.B.Contact Person1.Single customer facilities. A single customer participating in net energy billing, or the customer's designee, must be the contact person responsible for all communications with the transmission and distribution utility regarding the net energy billing arrangement. The contact person will be responsible for requesting, executing, and complying with the provisions of a net energy billing agreement. In the event that the customer designates more than one applicable meter or accounts to receive credits from its eligible facility, the contact person must inform the transmission and distribution utility of the allocation of net energy or bill credits among that customer's meters and accounts subject to net energy billing. The contact person must promptly inform the transmission and distribution utility of any needed changes to the net energy billing agreement, including changes to the allocation of net energy or bill credits among meters or accounts subject to net energy billing.2.Shared financial interest customer facilities. A project sponsor or the project sponsor's designee must be the contact person responsible for all communications with the transmission and distribution utility regarding the net energy billing agreement. The contact person must be responsible for requesting, executing, and complying with the provisions of a net billing agreement and must inform the transmission and distribution utility of the allocation of net energy or bill credits among the meters and accounts of the participating shared financial interest customers. The contact person must promptly inform the transmission and distribution utility of any changes to the financial interests or arrangements of the shared financial interest customers, including any changes in the meters or accounts of participating customers or the allocation of interest shares among meters or accounts.3.Timeframes. The specific timeframes for the exchange of information between the contact person and the transmission and distribution utility and the effective date of any related changes must be contained in the applicable net energy billing agreement.4.Record maintenance. The transmission and distribution utility and the contact person must maintain all records related to the net energy billing agreement for the term of the agreement.C.Shared Financial Interest Provisions1.Transfer. Any person or entity may transfer or assign a shared financial interest to the associated project sponsor or to any person or entity eligible to participate in the shared financial interest facility. A project sponsor must provide a process for assignment or transfer of shared financial interests among participating customers or entities. A project sponsor may not impose transfer fees on a person or entity that moves to a different location within the same utility service territory.2.Shared financial interest customer classes. A shared financial interest net energy billing - kilowatt-hour credit arrangement may include both residential and non-residential customers. A shared financial interest net energy billing-tariff rate arrangement may only include commercial and institutional customers. A single shared financial interest net energy billing arrangement may not include both net energy billing-kilowatt-hour credit customers and net energy billing- tariff rate customers, unless allowed by the applicable market rules.3.Competitive Electricity Provider. A project sponsor or its representative or agent that participates in a shared financial interest net energy billing arrangement pursuant to this section is not a competitive electricity provider under Title 35-A, chapter 32.4.Consumer-owned Utility Exemption. Consumer-owned transmission and distribution utilities are not required to provide shared financial interest net energy billing arrangements pursuant to this section. Consumer-owned transmission and distribution utilities may elect to provide shared financial interest ownership net energy billing arrangements in accordance with this Section.D.Application. The contact person must submit to the transmission and distribution utility an application for a net energy billing agreement that contains the information specified in this subsection and other information that the transmission and distribution may reasonably require. 1.Customer identities. The names, addresses, telephone numbers and account numbers for all participating customers.2.Financial interest. Documentation that the shared financial interest customers have a valid financial interest in the shared financial interest facility as required by this Chapter.3.Contact information. The name, mailing address, telephone number, and e-mail address of the contact person.4.Accounts. A designation of the meters and accounts that will be subject to the net energy billing agreement.5.Allocation specification. A designation of the share of the output of the eligible facility to be allocated between and among meters or accounts. The allocation must be consistent with the provisions of section 3(F) of this Chapter.6.Facility. A description of the eligible facility, including the facility's location, capacity, and fuel type or generating technology.7.Affidavit. The application required under this subsection must be accompanied by an affidavit attesting to the truth of the information provided.E.Allocation Methodology. For net energy billing agreements that include multiple meters or accounts, kilowatt-hours or bill credits may be allocated as follows; 1) a cascading allocation in which kilowatt-hours or bill credits are allocated in the priority order specified in the application;2) a fixed percentage allocation in which kilowatt-hours or bill credits are allocated on a fixed percentage as specified in the application; or3) any other allocation methodology that can be reasonably accommodated by the transmission and distribution utility.F.Micro Combined Heat and Power Systems. Micro combined heat and power systems that have a net energy arrangement on the effective date of this Chapter may continue net energy billing under that agreement for a period of twenty years.G.Service Territory. The eligible facility and the customer accounts subject to net energy billing must be located within a service territory of a single transmission and distribution utility.H.Number of Accounts. Customers or shared financial customers of an investor-owned transmission and distribution utility may designate any number of accounts or meters to participate in net energy billing, except that the number of accounts or meters is limited to 10 for customers or shared financial interest customers located in a service territory administered by the Northern Maine System Administrator or any successor of the independent system administrator for northern Maine unless the Commission determines through an Order that the investor-owned transmission and distribution utility's billing system can accommodate more than 10 accounts or meters for the purpose of net energy billing. Consumer-owned utilities may limit the number of accounts or meters to ten.I.Net Energy Billing - Kilowatt-Hour Credits Requirements. A customer or shared financial interest customers qualifying under this section must be billed by transmission and distribution utilities on a net energy basis as follows: 1.Excess Generation. If the electricity generated during the billing period by the eligible facility plus any kilowatt-hour credits from prior billing periods exceed the customer's or the shared financial interest customers' kilowatt-hour usage during the billing period, the excess must be applied to the customer's bill or the shared financial interest customers' bills for the following billing period as a reduction in the customer's kilowatt-hour usage.2.Excess Usage. If the customer's or the shared financial interest customers' kilowatt-hour usage exceeds the electricity generated by the eligible facility during the billing period plus any kilowatt-hour credits pursuant to subparagraph 1, the customer or the shared financial interest customers must be billed for the excess kilowatt-hour usage at the applicable retail rate for electricity service.3.Unused Credits. A customer or shared financial interest customers may accumulate unused kilowatt-hour credits and apply them against kilowatt-hour usage over a 12-month rolling period. At the end of each 12-month rolling period, any accumulated unused kilowatt-hour credits may not be applied against any future kilowatt-hour usage. The customer or the shared financial interest customers will receive no compensation for unused kilowatt-hour credits. Beginning on January 1, 2024 and on every January thereafter, transmission and distribution utilities must determine the monetary value of unused and expired kilowatt-hour credits during the prior calendar year using the method described in the following paragraph and remit this value to the Commission for the benefit of customers participating in a program to assist low income households pursuant to Title 35-A, section3214(2). The utilities will remit the monetized value of these credits to a specially designated fund at the Commission. The Commission will transfer the contents of this fund to the Maine State Housing Authority, which administers the low-income assistance programs in coordination with the Commission. The Commission delegates to the Administrative Director the authority to make the necessary financial transactions to transfer the funds to the Maine State Housing Authority. To calculate the monetary value of the expired credits, the transmission and distribution utilities must use the following methodology:
For expired credits for residential customers, the transmission and distribution utilities must multiply the transmission and distribution rate as well as the standard offer rate in effect as of December 31 of the calendar year for residential customers and multiply that rate times the total kilowatt hour credits that expired during that calendar year.
For expired credits for commercial and industrial customers who are participating in the kilowatt hour program, the transmission and distribution utilities must multiply the transmission and distribution rate in effect as of December 31 of the calendar year for such customers, as well as the average standard offer rate in effect during the calendar year, and multiply that rate times the total kilowatt hour credits that expired during the calendar year.
4.Non-usage Charges. Net energy billing-kilowatt-hour credits only applies to kilowatt-hour usage charges. Net energy billing customers or the shared ownership customers are responsible for all other charges applicable to the customer's rate class and recovered either through fixed amounts or over units other than kilowatt-hours.5.Billing. The transmission and distribution utility may place net energy billing accounts on the same billing cycle. The transmission and distribution utility must allocate the generation output during the billing period and any kilowatt-hour credits from prior billing periods between and among the net energy billing accounts based on the allocation methodology specified pursuant to Section 3(D)(5) of this Chapter.6.Generation Providers. Customers or the shared financial interest customers that elect net energy billing-kilowatt-hour credits may obtain generation service from any competitive electricity provider that agrees to provide service on a net energy basis. If the customer or the shared financial interest customers receives standard offer service, the standard offer provider must provide service on a net energy basis7.Treatment of Facility Output. The transmission and distribution utility must apply the facility output of the eligible facility against supplier load obligations or, as applicable, to otherwise maximize the value of the output. Each transmission and distribution utility must, at least monthly, provide the project sponsor a report showing the generation from their facility. The transmission and distribution utility and project sponsor are jointly responsible for identifying errors. For project sponsors with generators participating in the kilowatt-hour program, the project sponsor must review the total generation in the billing cycle and report any suspected meter data errors to the transmission and distribution utility within 10 business days of the invoice. Once the transmission and distribution utility receives an email from the project sponsor regarding a potential meter data error, the transmission and distribution utility will investigate and communicate findings to the project sponsor. Errors that are identified and brought to the transmission and distribution utility's attention as described in this paragraph will be corrected within the time period set forth in the ISO-NE tariff or market rules. Meter data errors that are discovered after the 10-day period will only be corrected if the utility is able to correct within the ISO-NE resettlement deadline. The respective obligations of the transmission and distribution utilities, project sponsors and NEB customers must be contained in the standard net energy billing agreement.J.Net Energy Billing-Tariff Rate Requirements. A commercial or institutional customer or commercial or institutional shared financial interest customers qualifying under this section must receive a bill credit as follows:1.Bill Credit. Commercial or institutional customers must receive a bill credit equal to the applicable tariff rate multiplied by the customer's share of the facility output during the applicable period. The bill credit must apply against the total amount of the bill issued to the customer by the transmission and distribution utility. The bill credit may not result in a negative customer bill.2.Unused Credits. Commercial or institutional customers may accumulate unused bill credits and apply them against their bill over a 12-month rolling period. At the end of each 12-month rolling period, any accumulated unused bill credits must be eliminated and may not be applied against any future bill. The customer will receive no compensation for unused bill credits.3.Billing. The transmission and distribution utility may place net energy billing-tariff rate accounts on the same billing cycle. The transmission and distribution utility must allocate the generation output during the billing period and any bill credits from prior billing periods between and among net energy billing accounts based on the allocation methodology specified by customers pursuant to and as required by Section 3(E) of this Chapter.4.Establishment of Tariff Rate. The Commission must establish the initial tariff rates by December 1, 2019 and subsequent tariff rates prior to January 1 of each year. The Commission delegates to the Director of Electric and Gas Industries the authority to establish the tariff rates in accordance with the provisions of this rule.a. For eligible facilities that comply with the requirements of this paragraph, the tariff rate must equal the standard offer service rate established under Title 35-A, section3212 that is applicable to the net energy billing-tariff rate customer receiving the bill credit plus 75% of the effective transmission and distribution rate for the rate class that includes the smallest commercial customers of the customer's investor- owned transmission and distribution utility.b. The effective transmission and distribution rate must be established for a 12-month period. In the event that the applicable standard offer rate varies by month, the standard offer rate for purposes of the tariff rate will be a single rate based on the average over the twelve-month period. In the event that the applicable standard offer rate is set based on an index or otherwise unknown, the standard offer rate for purposes of the tariff rate will be a single rate based on the average rate over the prior twelve- month period.c. The tariff rate established in accordance with subparagraph (a) of this section applies to: i. eligible facilities with a nameplate capacity of 1 megawatt or less;ii. eligible facilities that are greater than 1 megawatt if the eligible facility has (a) achieved mechanical completion prior to September 1, 2022 or (b) before September 1, 2022, the project sponsor has commenced on-site physical work of a significant nature on the eligible facility and, since then, the project sponsor has made continuous on-site construction efforts. Eligible facilities that achieve mechanical operation by September 1, 2023 will be considered to have engaged in continuous on-site construction efforts. Project sponsors of eligible facilities that have not achieved mechanical completion by September 1, 2023 may submit a petition to the Commission for determination of whether the continuous on-site construction efforts regarding the eligible facility has occurred.iii. eligible facilities that are collocated with the facility or facilities of a net energy billing customer or customers that are subscribed to at least 50% of the facility's output.d. To demonstrate eligibility for the tariff rate established in accordance with section 3(K)(4)(a), an eligible facility with nameplate capacity of greater than 1 MW that has not achieved mechanical completion prior to September 1, 2022 must provide (i) a sworn affidavit and supporting documentation by October 31, 2022, signed by a duly authorized officer or other legally authorized representative of the eligible facility certifying that on-site physical work of a significant nature commenced prior to September 1, 2022 and (ii) a sworn affidavit and supporting documentation after mechanical completion. The affidavit and supporting documentation must be consistent with an affidavit form and content approved by the Commission. The Commission delegates to the Director of Electric and Gas Industries the authority to approve the affidavit form and content.e. For eligible facilities that do not satisfy the requirements of Section 3(k) (4)(a)(b)(c) and (d), the tariff rate for credits received in 2022 must be the applicable tariff rate that was established by the Commission for NEB credits received during calendar year 2020. Beginning on January 1, 2023 and for each subsequent year, the tariff rate must be that rate increased by 2.25% each year.5.Registration and Treatment of Facility Output. The commercial or institutional customer, or project sponsor, or a representative or agent must, if required by the market rules, register the eligible facility in the ISO-NE or NMISA market, as applicable, and provide for and pay the costs of required meters and associated equipment. The project sponsor, or the transmission and distribution utility, as designated by the net energy billing agreement, must use commercially reasonable efforts to monetize the value of the energy, capacity, and all other market products relating to the facility output in a manner that maximizes the value of the output of the resource to ratepayers. Each transmission and distribution utility must, at least monthly, provide the project sponsor a report showing the generation from their facility. The transmission and distribution utility and project sponsor are jointly responsible for identifying errors. The transmission and distribution utility will email the hourly readings to the project sponsor within one business day of reporting the generation to the ISO-NE. Project sponsors must review the readings and report any suspected meter errors to the transmission and distribution utility within 7 business days of receipt. Once the transmission and distribution utility receives an email from the project sponsor regarding a potential meter data error, the transmission and distribution utility will investigate and communicate findings to the project sponsor. Errors that are identified and brought to the transmission and distribution utility's attention as described in this paragraph will be corrected within the time period set forth in the ISO-NE tariff or market rules. Meter data errors that are discovered after the 7-day period will only be corrected if the transmission and distribution utility is able to correct within the ISO-NE resettlement deadline. The respective obligations of the project sponsor and transmission and distribution utility in this regard must be established by the net energy billing agreement.6.Renewable Energy Credits. Renewable energy credits may not be transferred to the transmission and distribution utility.K.Additional Meters. Nothing in this section prohibits a utility from installing additional meters to record purchases and sales separately, provided, however, that unless requested by the customer or shared financial interest customers or required by the allocation methodology contained in Section 3(E) of this Chapter, no customer or the shared financial interest customers may be charged for the cost of the additional meters or other necessary equipment. A customer or shared financial interest customer may request that additional meters be installed if required by the allocation methodology designated by the customer or shared ownership customers. The transmission and distribution utility must maintain Terms and Conditions that set forth the requirements and charges associated with this metering.L.Interconnection Requirements. A customer or project sponsor that elects net energy billing must comply with all interconnection, safety and reliability requirements of the transmission and distribution utility applicable to the eligible facility.M.Standard Contract and Application. Each investor-owned transmission and distribution utility must develop a separate standard contract and application form for both net energy billing-kilowatt-hour credits and net energy billing-tariff rate consistent with the provisions of this Chapter. The standard contracts must allow project sponsors or individual customers to choose a contract with a term length of up to twenty years. The standard contract must include a provision that obligates the parties to negotiate in good faith to revise the contract terms if there is a change in statute or rule that materially alters any right or obligation of a contracting party. Each investor-owned transmission and distribution utility must submit draft standard contracts and application forms for Commission approval. The submission of the draft standard contracts and application forms must occur by December 15, 2019. Additional submissions of draft standard contracts and application forms must be made within 30 days of the effective date of any rule amendments that require the documents to be modified. The Commission may approve deviations from the standard contracts. The Commission delegates to the Director of Electric and Gas Industries the authority to approve the standard contracts and application forms, and any deviation from the standard contracts or application forms.N.Dispute Resolution. A transmission and distribution utility, a customer, or a project sponsor may dispute any matter governed by this Chapter by filing a Notice of Dispute with the Commission. If a transmission and distribution utility is disputing any aspect of an application for a net energy billing agreement, it must file a Notice of Dispute within 21 days of the submission of the application. A transmission and distribution utility, a customer or a project sponsor must engage in good faith efforts to resolve the dispute before a Notice of Dispute is filed. The Commission or the Consumer Assistance and Safety Division will resolve disputes filed pursuant to this provision.O.Reporting and Commission Review1. Commission Review. A transmission and distribution utility must notify the Commission if the cumulative capacity of generating facilities subject to the provisions of this Chapter reaches ten percent of its peak demand. Upon such notification or by September 19, 2022, the Commission will initiate a review of this Chapter to consider the effectiveness of net energy billing in achieving State policy goals and providing benefits to ratepayers. Upon the conclusion of the review, the Commission must submit a report to the Legislature.2. Quarterly Report. On the 15th day following each calendar quarter, or otherwise upon request from the Commission, investor-owned transmission and distribution utilities must file with the Commission a net energy billing report. The net energy billing report must at a minimum, include: (1) a list of all net energy billing agreements in the transmission and distribution utility's service territory;(2) the capacity, energy output and fuel type or generating technology of each eligible facility;(3) the number of accounts or meters associated with each net energy billing arrangement;(4) an estimate of (i) the actual revenue loss from net energy billing-kilowatt-hour credit arrangements and (ii) the cost of bill credit amounts from net energy billing-tariff rate arrangements; and other costs incurred to implement the requirements of this Chapter including, but not limited to, billing system upgrades and administrative costs.P.Determination, Allocation, and Reporting of Costs and Benefits of Net Energy Billing. The Commission must determine the benefits of distributed generation under net energy billing and the net energy billing costs for the previous year on an annual basis and must allocate such costs and benefits as follows: Determination of costs and benefits
When determining benefits of net energy billing, the Commission must use available regional avoided energy supply cost studies that are applicable to the determination and have been developed through a transparent process with input from state agencies, ratepayer or consumer public advocates, utilities, or energy efficiency administrators from at least three other New England states. When relevant information specific to Maine is not provided in such regional study, the Commission may use the regional information in the regional study or information from other sources supported by evidence, as determined by the Commission.
The Commission will determine the annual costs of net energy billing as part of the annual proceedings conducted pursuant to Title 35-A, section3208 to determine and allocate stranded costs.
1.Allocation of costs and benefits. The Commission must allocate to each investor-owned transmission and distribution utility its pro rata share of net energy billing costs. If the Commission finds that a benefit of distributed generation under net energy billing provides a monetized net financial benefit to an investor-owned transmission and distribution utility that the Commission does not otherwise account for when setting rates for the utility, the net financial benefit must be applied to offset the net energy billing costs allocated under this section. The allocation must be based on each utility's total retail kilowatt-hour energy sales to ratepayers that pay net energy billing costs. The commission may determine the means to be used for the allocation required under this subsection, and those means may include the direct transfer of funds between transmission and distribution utilities.2.Reporting of costs and benefits. The Commission will submit an annual report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over utility matters by March 31 of every year describing the net energy billing costs and benefits. The report must include but is not limited to costs authorized to be collected by the utilities in rate proceedings or benefits directly received by ratepayers. The report will distinguish costs and benefits that are monetized from costs and benefits that are not monetized. To the extent costs or benefits are monetized, the report must specify the entities, including but not limited to utilities, ratepayers, and generators, that will experience the costs and benefits.65-407 C.M.R. ch. 313, § 3