II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1596

To amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to require 

electric utilities to provide net metering service. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 29, 2005

Ms. CANTWELL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL

To amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 

to require electric utilities to provide net metering service.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. NET METERING. 

4 (a) ADOPTION OF STANDARD.—Section 111(d) of the 

5 Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 

6 2621(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(11) NET METERING.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—On the request of any 

9 electric consumer served by an electric utility, 

10 the electric utility shall make available to the 
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1 electric consumer net metering as provided in 

2 section 115(i). 

3 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATION BY STATE REGU4 LATORY AUTHORITIES.—Notwithstanding sub5 sections (b) and (c) of section 112, not later 

6 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 

7 paragraph, a State regulatory authority may 

8 consider and make a determination concerning 

9 whether it is in the public interest to decline to 

10 implement subparagraph (A) in the State. 

11 ‘‘(C) INCENTIVES.—Nothing in this para12 graph precludes a State from establishing in13 centives to encourage on-site generating facili14 ties and net metering in addition to the require15 ment under this subsection. 

16 ‘‘(D) REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year 

17 after the date of enactment of this paragraph 

18 and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall 

19 submit to Congress a report that—

20 ‘‘(i) describes the status of implemen21 tation by the States of subparagraph (A); 

22 ‘‘(ii) contains a list of pre-approved 

23 systems and equipment eligible for uniform 

24 interconnection treatment; and 
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1 ‘‘(iii) describes the public benefits that 

2 have been derived from net metering and 

3 interconnection standards.’’. 

4 (b) SPECIAL RULES FOR NET METERING.—Section 

5 115 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 

6 (16 U.S.C. 2625) is amended by adding at the end the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(i) NET METERING.— 

9 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

10 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE ON-SITE GENERATING FA11 CILITY.—The term ‘eligible on-site generating 

12 facility’ means—

13 ‘‘(i) a facility on the site of a residen14 tial electric consumer with a maximum 

15 generating capacity of 25 kilowatts or less 

16 that is fueled by solar energy, wind energy, 

17 or fuel cells; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) a facility on the site of a com19 mercial electric consumer with a maximum 

20 generating capacity of 1000 kilowatts or 

21 less that is fueled solely by a renewable en22 ergy resource, landfill gas, or a high-effi23 ciency system. 
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1 ‘‘(B) HIGH EFFICIENCY SYSTEM.—The 

2 term ‘high efficiency system’ means a system 

3 that is comprised of—

4 ‘‘(i) fuel cells; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) combined heat and power. 

6 ‘‘(C) NET METERING SERVICE.—The term 

7 ‘net metering service’ means service to an elec8 tric consumer, as provided in section 

9 111(d)(11), under which electric energy gen10 erated by that electric consumer from an eligi11 ble on-site generating facility and delivered to 

12 the local distribution facilities may be used to 

13 offset electric energy provided by the electric 

14 utility to the electric consumer during the appli15 cable billing period. 

16 ‘‘(D) RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCE.—

17 The term ‘renewable energy resource’ means 

18 solar, wind, biomass, micro-freeflow-hydro, or 

19 geothermal energy. 

20 ‘‘(2) NET METERING SERVICE.—For the pur21 poses of undertaking the consideration and making 

22 the determination with respect to the standard con23 cerning net metering established by section 

24 111(d)(11), the term ‘net metering service’ means a 

25 service provided in accordance with this subsection. 
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1 ‘‘(3) CHARGES BY AN ELECTRIC UTILITY.—An 

2 electric utility— 

3 ‘‘(A) shall charge the owner or operator of 

4 an on-site generating facility rates and charges 

5 that are identical to those that would be 

6 charged other electric consumers of the electric 

7 utility in the same rate class; and 

8 ‘‘(B) shall not charge the owner or oper9 ator of an on-site generating facility any addi10 tional standby, capacity, interconnection, or 

11 other rate or charge. 

12 ‘‘(4) MEASUREMENT OF QUANTITIES.—An elec13 tric utility that sells electric energy to the owner or 

14 operator of an on-site generating facility shall meas15 ure the quantity of electric energy produced by the 

16 on-site facility and the quantity of electric energy 

17 consumed by the owner or operator of an on-site 

18 generating facility during a billing period with a sin19 gle bi-directional meter or otherwise in accordance 

20 with reasonable metering practices. 

21 ‘‘(5) QUANTITY SOLD IN EXCESS OF QUANTITY

22 SUPPLIED.—If the quantity of electric energy sold 

23 by the electric utility to an on-site generating facility 

24 exceeds the quantity of electric energy supplied by 

25 the on-site generating facility to the electric utility 
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1 during the billing period, the electric utility may bill 

2 the owner or operator for the net quantity of electric 

3 energy sold, in accordance with reasonable metering 

4 practices. 

5 ‘‘(6) QUANTITY SUPPLIED IN EXCESS OF QUAN6 TITY SOLD.—If the quantity of electric energy sup7 plied by the on-site generating facility to the electric 

8 utility exceeds the quantity of electric energy sold by 

9 the electric utility to the on-site generating facility 

10 during the billing period—

11 ‘‘(A) the electric utility may bill the owner 

12 or operator of the on-site generating facility for 

13 the appropriate charges for the billing period in 

14 accordance with paragraph (5); and 

15 ‘‘(B) the owner or operator of the on-site 

16 generating facility shall be credited for the ex17 cess kilowatt-hours generated during the billing 

18 period with—

19 ‘‘(i) a kilowatt-hour credit appearing 

20 on the bill for the following billing period; 

21 or 

22 ‘‘(ii) a cash refund. 

23 ‘‘(7) COMPLIANCE WITH STANDARDS.—An eligi24 ble on-site generating facility and net metering sys25 tem used by an electric consumer shall meet all ap-
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1 plicable safety, performance, reliability, and inter2 connection standards established by the National 

3 Electrical Code, the Institute of Electrical and Elec4 tronics Engineers, and Underwriters Laboratories. 

5 ‘‘(8) REQUIREMENTS.—The Commission, after 

6 consideration of all applicable safety, performance, 

7 reliability, and interconnection standards established 

8 by the National Electrical Code, the Institute of 

9 Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and Under10 writers Laboratories, and consultation with State 

11 regulatory authorities and unregulated electric utili12 ties, and after notice and opportunity for comment, 

13 shall promulgate additional control, testing, and 

14 interconnection requirements for on-site generating 

15 facilities and net metering systems that the Commis16 sion determines are necessary to protect public safe17 ty and system reliability.’’.

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