Section 810-RICR-40-05-2.3 - DefinitionsA. Except as otherwise expressly provided, terms with initial capitalization used in these regulations and not defined herein shall have the meaning as defined in the NEPOOL Rules. 1. "Aggregation owner" means a person or entity that owns or controls a single Customer-sited or Off-grid Generation Facility, or a collection of such facilities, along with any associated NEPOOL GIS Certificates, and who applies for and receives certification of an aggregation from the commission pursuant to § 2.6(H) of this Part. An Aggregation Owner may be the same entity that owns the generation unit(s) in the aggregation.2. "Alternative compliance payment" means a payment to the Renewable Energy Development Fund of fifty dollars ($50.00) per megawatt-hour of renewable energy obligation, in 2003 dollars, adjusted annually by the annual change in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index, which may be made in lieu of standard means of compliance with these regulations.3. "Commission" means the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission.4. "Compliance year" means a calendar year beginning January 1 and ending December 31, for which an Obligated Entity must demonstrate that it has met the requirements of these regulations.5. "Customer-sited generation facility" means a Generation Unit that is interconnected on the End-use Customer's side of the retail electricity meter in such a manner that it displaces all or part of the metered consumption of the End-use Customer.6. "Electrical energy product" means an electrical energy offering, including but not limited to last resort and standard offer service, or any successor service, that can be distinguished by its Generation Attributes or other characteristics, and that is offered for sale by an Obligated Entity to End-use Customers.7. "Eligible biomass fuel" means fuel sources including brush, stumps, lumber ends and trimmings, wood pallets, bark, wood chips, shavings, slash, yard trimmings, site clearing waste, wood packaging, and other clean wood that is not mixed with other unsorted solid wastes; agricultural waste, food and vegetative material; energy crops; landfill methane or biogas, provided that such gas is collected and conveyed directly to the Generation Unit or with use of facilities used as common carriers of natural gas subject to a conveyance plan approved by the Commission; or neat bio-diesel and other neat liquid fuels that are derived from such fuel sources. a. Generation Units using wood sources other than those listed above may make application, as part of the required fuel source plan described in § 2.7 of this Part, for the Commission to approve a particular wood source as "clean wood." The burden will be on the applicant to demonstrate that the wood source is at least as clean as those listed in the legislation. Wood sources containing resins, glues, laminates, paints, preservatives, or other treatments that would combust or off-gas, or mixed with any other material that would burn, melt, or create other residue aside from wood ash, will not be approved as clean wood.8. "Eligible renewable energy resource" means a resource as defined in § 2.5 of this Part.9. "End-use customer" means a person or entity in Rhode Island that purchases electrical energy at retail from an Obligated Entity except that a Generating Unit, taking station service at wholesale from ISO or self-supplying from its other generating stations, shall not be considered an End-use Customer.10. "Existing renewable energy resources" means Generation Units using Eligible Renewable Energy Resources and first entering commercial operation before December 31, 1997.11. "FERC" means the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or its successor.12. "Generation attributes" means the non-price characteristics of the electrical energy output of a generation unit including, but not limited to, the unit's location, fuel type, actual emissions, vintage and policy eligibility. The Commission may modify this list as appropriate.13. "Generation unit" means a facility that converts a fuel or an energy resource into electrical energy.14. "Historical generation baseline" means, for all Eligible Renewable Energy Resources including Intermittent Resources, the average annual electrical production from the Eligible Renewable Energy Resources, stated in megawatt-hours (MWhs), for the three calendar years 1995 through 1997, or for the first 36 months after the Commercial Operation Date if that date is after December 31, 1994 (the "Baseline Period"); provided however, that the Historical Generation Baseline shall be measured regardless of whether or not the average annual electrical production during the Baseline Period meets the eligibility requirements of § 2.5 of this Part.15. "Intermittent resource" means a Generation Unit utilizing wind, solar, or Small Hydro energy resources.16. "ISO" means ISO New England Inc., authorized by the FERC to exercise for the New England Control Area the functions required pursuant to FERC's Order No. 2000 and the FERC's corresponding regulations, and any successor organization.17. "Load asset" means the term as used in the New England Markets.18. "Load obligation" means the energy obligation as defined and determined by the ISO in the New England Markets inclusive of applicable line losses.19. "NEPOOL GIS" means the Generation Information System operated by NEPOOL, its designee or successor entity, which includes a generation information database and certificate system, and that accounts for certain of the Generation Attributes of electrical energy consumed within, imported into or exported from NEPOOL.20. "NEPOOL GIS certificate" means an electronic record produced by the NEPOOL GIS that identifies certain of the Generation Attributes of each megawatt-hour of electrical energy accounted for in the NEPOOL GIS.21. "NEPOOL" means the New England Power Pool or its successor.22. "NEPOOL rules" means all rules adopted by NEPOOL or the ISO, as such rules may be amended, modified, supplemented or superseded and restated from time to time, including but not limited to, the NEPOOL Agreement, the ISO Tariff, the ISO New England Operating Documents, the Transmission Operating Agreement, the Participants Agreement, the NEPOOL Manuals, and the NEPOOL Operating Procedures, as amended, superseded or restated from time to time.23. "New England markets" means the Markets or programs for the purchase of energy, capacity, ancillary services, demand response services or other related products or services (including Financial Transmission Rights) that are delivered through or useful to the operation of the New England Transmission System and that are administered by the ISO pursuant to rules, rates, or agreements on file from time to time with the FERC.24. "New renewable energy resources" means: a. at a new site, the entire output of a Generation Unit which uses Eligible Renewable Energy Resources and first entered commercial operation after December 31, 1997; orb. at the site of an Existing Renewable Energy Resource, the entire output of a new Generation Unit which uses Eligible Renewable Energy Resources and first entered commercial operation after December 31, 1997, provided that the Existing Renewable Energy Resource has been retired and replaced with such new Generation Unit; orc. the entire output of a Repowered Generation Unit which uses Eligible Renewable Energy Resources and such Repowered Generation Unit first entered commercial operation after December 31, 1997 at the site of an existing Generation Unit; ord. for a multi-fuel facility, pursuant to § 2.5(A)(1)(f) of this Part, the renewable energy fraction of output from a Generation Unit in which an Eligible Biomass Fuel is first co-fired with fossil fuels after December 31, 1997; ore. for an Existing Renewable Energy Resource other than an Intermittent Resource, the incremental output in any Compliance Year over the Historical Generation Baseline, provided that such Existing Renewable Energy Resource using Eligible Renewable Energy Resources was certified by the Commission pursuant to § 2.6 of this Part to have demonstrably completed capital investments after December 31, 1997 attributable to the efficiency improvements or additions of capacity that are sufficient to, were intended to, and can be demonstrated to increase annual electricity output in excess of ten percent (10%). The determination of incremental production for purposes of this paragraph shall not be based on any operational changes at such facility not directly associated with the efficiency improvements or additions of capacity; orf. for an Existing Renewable Energy Resource that is an Intermittent Resource, provided that such Existing Renewable Energy Resource using Eligible Renewable Energy Resources was certified by the Commission pursuant to § 2.6 of this Part to have demonstrably completed capital investments after December 31, 1997 attributable to the efficiency improvements or additions of capacity that are sufficient to, were intended to, and have demonstrated on a normalized basis to increase annual electricity output in excess of ten percent (10%), the incremental production in any Compliance Year shall be determined as a percentage of production in each month. Such percentage shall be equal to the percentage of average annual production at the Generation Unit following the improvements or additions of capacity that are attributable to the efficiency improvements or additions of capacity placed in service after December 31, 1997 as determined by the Commission using the information consistent with that used to determine the Historical Generation Baseline for such facility. Such percentage shall be certified by the Commission. The determination of incremental production for purposes of this paragraph shall not be based on any operational changes at such facility not directly associated with the efficiency improvements or additions of capacity. In no event shall any production that would have existed during the Historical Generation Baseline period in the absence of the efficiency improvements or additions to capacity be considered incremental production for purposes of this paragraph.25. "Nonregulated power producers" mean the same as defined in R.I. Gen. Laws § 39-1-2(19).26. "Obligated entity" means: a. a person or entity that sells electrical energy to End-use Customers in Rhode Island, including, but not limited to: Nonregulated Power Producers and electric utility distribution companies, as defined in R.I. Gen. Laws § 39-1-2, supplying standard offer service, last resort service, or any successor service to End-use Customers; including Narragansett Electric, but not to include Block Island Power Company or Pascoag Utility District; orb. to the extent not otherwise required to register and act as a NPP, any customer buying electricity supply directly from wholesale markets. In no event shall the ISO or NEPOOL be considered an Obligated Entity.27. "Off-grid generation facility" means a Generation Unit that is not connected to a utility transmission or distribution system.28. "Prime mover" means a. for a landfill gas facility, the entire internal combustion engine or combustion turbine;b. for a biomass facility, the entire boiler;c. for a wind facility, the entire wind turbine, including the generator, gearbox (if any), nacelle, and turbine;d. for a small hydro-electric facility, the entire turbine and structures supporting the turbine;e. for a geothermal facility, the entire steam turbine, including the turbine rotors, shaft, stationary blades, and gear assemblies;f. for a digester gas facility, the entire digester unit and internal combustion engine or combustion turbine as applicable; andg. for a solar thermal facility, the entire steam turbine.30. "Repowered generation unit" means: a. an existing Generation Unit that completely replaces its Prime Mover with a new one pursuant to § 2.3(A)(27) of this Part; andb. the then existing Generation Unit must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Commission either: (1) a material increase in its efficiency or(2) a material decrease in its air emissions such as obtaining a new Title V air permit based upon BACT (best alternative control technology) for that generation technology; andc. the completed repowered Generation Unit must demonstrate that 80% of its resulting tax basis of the entire Generation Unit's plant and equipment (but not its property and intangible assets) is derived from capital expenditures made after December 31, 1997.30. "Reserved certificate" means a NEPOOL GIS certificate sold independent of a transaction involving electrical energy, pursuant to "Rule 3.5 Reserved Certificates" or a successor rule of the NEPOOL GIS Operating Rules.31. "Reserved certificate account" means a specially designated account established by an Obligated Entity, pursuant to "Rule 3.5 Reserved Certificates" or a successor rule of the operating rules of the NEPOOL GIS Operating Rules, for transfer and retirement of Reserved Certificates from the NEPOOL GIS.32. "Small hydro facility" means a facility employing one or more hydroelectric turbine generators and with an aggregate capacity not exceeding thirty (30) megawatts. For purposes of this definition, "facility" shall be defined in a manner consistent with 18 C.F.R. §§ 292.204(a)(2)(i) and (ii) as of the date of enactment of the Renewable Energy Act (June 29th, 2004); provided, however, that the size of the facility is limited to no greater than thirty (30) megawatts, rather than eighty (80) megawatts. For a Small Hydro Facility to be eligible as a New Renewable Energy Resource it must in no case involve any new impoundment or diversion of water with an average salinity of twenty (20) parts per thousand or less.33. "Verifier" means a person or entity, independent of a Generation Unit in an aggregation, an Aggregation Owner, the operator of an aggregation, or any other party that might create a conflict of interest in assuring accurate NEPOOL GIS Certificate creation, who: a. is responsible for monitoring, verifying and entering into the NEPOOL GIS the quantity of eligible energy produced by Generation Units in an aggregation, a Customer-Sited Generation Facility, or an Off-grid Generation Facility whose energy production data (or any part thereof) is not automatically included in the ISO Market Settlement System; andb. meets the requirements of a Verifier under § 2.6(H) of this Part. A Verifier may be the local electric distribution company, provided all qualifications contained in § 2.6(H)(3) of this Part and §§ 2.6(H)(4)(b), (c), (f), and (g) of this Part are met.810 R.I. Code R. 810-RICR-40-05-2.3
Amended effective 5/28/2024