I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5692 

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

energy independence and self-sufficiency by providing for the use of 

net metering by certain small electric energy generation systems, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 1, 2010 

Mr. INSLEE (for himself, Mr. BARTLETT, Mr. EHLERS, Mr. GRIJALVA, and 

Mr. HIGGINS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 

to promote energy independence and self-sufficiency by 

providing for the use of net metering by certain small 

electric energy generation systems, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Americans Making 

5 Power Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that it is in the public interest to: 


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1 (1) Enable small businesses, residences, schools, 

2 churches, farms with small electric generation units, 

3 and other retail electric consumers who generate 

4 electric energy to return surplus electric energy back 

5 to the utility for credit. 

6 (2) Encourage private investment in renewable 

7 and alternate energy resources. 

8 (3) Stimulate economic growth and job cre9 ation. 

10 (4) Enhance the continued diversification of en11 ergy resources used in the United States, particu12 larly with distributed generation systems that may 

13 have a positive impact on the transmission grid reli14 ability. 

15 (5) Remove regulatory barriers for net metering 

16 and interconnection. 

17 (6) Limit variability in technologies and save 

18 costs to the consumer through net metering and 

19 interconnection standards. 

20 (7) Address the underlying need for consumers 

21 to be able to interconnect to the electric grid. 


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1 SEC. 3. NET METERING AND INTERCONNECTION STAND2 ARDS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 113 of the Public Utility 

4 Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2623) is 

5 amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(d) NET METERING.— 

7 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection and 

8 subsection (e): 

9 ‘‘(A) COMBINED HEAT AND POWER SYS10 TEM.— 

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘com12 bined heat and power system’ means a sys13 tem— 

14 ‘‘(I) that uses the same energy 

15 source for the simultaneous or sequen16 tial generation of electrical power, me17 chanical shaft power, or both, in com18 bination with the generation of steam 

19 or other forms of useful thermal en20 ergy (including heating and cooling 

21 applications); 

22 ‘‘(II) that produces— 

23 ‘‘(aa) at least 20 percent of 

24 its total useful energy in the 

25 form of thermal energy which is 

26 not used to produce electrical or 


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1 mechanical power (or combina2 tion thereof); and 

3 ‘‘(bb) at least 20 percent of 

4 its total useful energy in the 

5 form of electrical or mechanical 

6 power (or a combination thereof), 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(III) the energy efficiency per9 centage of which exceeds 60 percent. 

10 ‘‘(ii) MAXIMUM CAPACITY.—The term 

11 ‘combined heat and power system’ shall 

12 not include any system that has a capacity 

13 in excess of 2,000 kilowatts or a mechan14 ical energy capacity in excess of 2680 

15 horsepower or an equivalent combination 

16 of electrical and mechanical energy capac17 ities. 

18 ‘‘(iii) ENERGY EFFICIENCY PERCENT19 AGE.—For purposes of this subparagraph, 

20 the energy efficiency percentage of a sys21 tem is the fraction— 

22 ‘‘(I) the numerator of which is 

23 the total useful electrical, thermal, 

24 and mechanical power produced by 

25 the system at normal operating rates, 


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1 and expected to be consumed in its 

2 normal application; and 

3 ‘‘(II) the denominator of which is 

4 the lower heating value of the fuel 

5 sources for the system. 

6 ‘‘(B) CUSTOMER-GENERATOR.—The term 

7 ‘customer-generator’ means any customer of an 

8 electric utility that generates electric energy, 

9 using a qualified generation unit, that is pri10 marily intended to offset part or all of the cus11 tomer-generator’s electric energy requirements. 

12 A customer-generator does not need to be the 

13 owner of such a qualified generation unit. 

14 ‘‘(C) LOCAL DISTRIBUTION COMPANY.— 

15 The term ‘local distribution company’ means 

16 the owner or operator of a local distribution 

17 system, or the provider of electric energy meter 

18 reading services, that is not a retail electric 

19 supplier. 

20 ‘‘(D) LOCAL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM.—The 

21 term ‘local distribution system’ means any sys22 tem for the distribution of electric energy to the 

23 ultimate consumer of the electric energy, wheth24 er or not the owner or operator of the system 

25 is a retail electric supplier. 


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1 ‘‘(E) NET METERING.—The term ‘net me2 tering’ means the process of— 

3 ‘‘(i) measuring the difference between 

4 the electric energy supplied to a customer5 generator and the electric energy generated 

6 by the customer-generator that is delivered 

7 to a local distribution system at the same 

8 point of interconnection during an applica9 ble billing period; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) providing an energy credit to the 

11 customer-generator in the form of a kilo12 watt-hour credit for each kilowatt-hour of 

13 energy produced by the customer-generator 

14 from a qualified generation unit. 

15 ‘‘(F) QUALIFIED GENERATION UNIT.—The 

16 term ‘qualified generation unit’ means an elec17 tric generation unit that uses renewable energy, 

18 a combined heat and power system, or a waste 

19 heat to electricity system, and— 

20 ‘‘(i) has a generating capacity of not 

21 more than 2,000 kilowatts; 

22 ‘‘(ii) operates in parallel with the re23 tail electric supplier; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) is intended primarily to offset all 

2 or part of the requirements of the cus3 tomer-generator for electric energy. 

4 ‘‘(G) RENEWABLE ENERGY.—The term 

5 ‘renewable energy’ means electric energy gen6 erated using— 

7 ‘‘(i) renewable biomass, solar, geo8 thermal, wind, ocean, hydroelectric, anaer9 obic digestion, landfill gas, or fuel cell 

10 sources; 

11 ‘‘(ii) hydrogen produced from any 

12 such source; or 

13 ‘‘(iii) any combination of such sources. 

14 ‘‘(H) RETAIL ELECTRIC SUPPLIER.—The 

15 term ‘retail electric supplier’ means any electric 

16 utility that sells electric energy to the ultimate 

17 consumer of the energy or provides retail elec18 tric energy meter reading services for con19 sumers. 

20 ‘‘(I) WASTE HEAT TO ELECTRICITY SYS21 TEM.— 

22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘waste 

23 heat to electricity system’ means a system 

24 that generates electric energy through the 


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1 recovery of a qualified waste heat resource, 

2 including— 

3 ‘‘(I) exhaust heat or flared gas 

4 from any industrial process; 

5 ‘‘(II) waste gas or industrial tail 

6 gas that would otherwise be flared, in7 cinerated, or vented; 

8 ‘‘(III) a pressure drop in any 

9 gas, excluding any pressure drop to a 

10 condenser that subvents the resulting 

11 heat; and 

12 ‘‘(IV) any such other form of 

13 waste heat resource as the Secretary 

14 may determine. 

15 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION.—A qualified waste 

16 heat resource under clause (i) does not in17 clude a heat resource from a process whose 

18 primary purpose is the generation of elec19 tric energy using a fossil fuel. 

20 ‘‘(2) ADOPTION.—Not later than 1 year after 

21 the date of the enactment of this subsection, each 

22 State regulatory authority (with respect to each elec23 tric utility for which it has ratemaking authority), 

24 and each nonregulated electric utility, shall adopt 

25 the standard established by paragraph (3), unless, 


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1 with respect to a State, the Commission determines 

2 that a net metering requirement in effect for such 

3 State complies with the standard established by 

4 paragraph (3). 

5 ‘‘(3) ESTABLISHMENT OF NET METERING

6 STANDARD.—The following Federal standard is 

7 hereby established: 

8 ‘‘(A) NET METERING STANDARD.—Each 

9 retail electric supplier shall (either directly or 

10 through a local distribution company or other 

11 third party) make net metering available, on a 

12 first-come, first-served basis, to each customer13 generator of the retail electric supplier in ac14 cordance with the requirements described in 

15 subparagraph (B) and the other provisions of 

16 this subsection. 

17 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements 

18 referred to in subparagraph (A) are, with re19 spect to a retail electric supplier, that— 

20 ‘‘(i) rates for customer-generators 

21 shall be the same as the rates that would 

22 be applicable if the customer-generator did 

23 not own or operate a qualified generation 

24 unit and use a net metering system; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) each retail electric supplier shall 

2 notify all of the retail customers of the re3 tail electric supplier of the standard estab4 lished under this paragraph as soon as 

5 practicable after the adoption of the stand6 ard. 

7 ‘‘(4) NET ENERGY MEASUREMENT.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise 

9 provided in this paragraph, each retail electric 

10 supplier shall arrange to provide and install, for 

11 any customer-generator who qualifies for net 

12 metering under this subsection, an electric en13 ergy meter capable of net metering. In a case 

14 in which it is not practicable to provide and in15 stall such a meter, a retail electric supplier 

16 shall, at the expense of the retail electric sup17 plier, either directly or through a local distribu18 tion company or other third party, arrange to 

19 have such a meter installed for the customer20 generator concerned. Except as provided in sub21 paragraph (C)(i), any subsequent electric en22 ergy meter change necessitated or requested for 

23 any reason by the customer-generator shall be 

24 paid for by the customer-generator. 


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1 ‘‘(B) CRITERIA.—A customer-generator 

2 may choose to use an existing electric energy 

3 meter under this paragraph if the following cri4 teria are met: 

5 ‘‘(i) The electric energy meter is capa6 ble of measuring the flow of electric energy 

7 both into and out of the qualified genera8 tion unit of the customer-generator. 

9 ‘‘(ii) The electric energy meter is ac10 curate with a degree of accuracy that the 

11 retail electric supplier or local distribution 

12 company requires when measuring electric 

13 energy flowing from the qualified genera14 tion unit of the customer-generator to the 

15 local distribution system or retail electric 

16 supplier. 

17 ‘‘(C) ADDITIONAL METERS.—An additional 

18 electric energy meter may be installed for a cus19 tomer-generator who qualifies for net metering 

20 under this subsection in either of the following 

21 circumstances: 

22 ‘‘(i) The local distribution company or 

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1 pense if the customer-generator provides 

2 written consent. 

3 ‘‘(ii) The customer-generator may re4 quest that the local distribution company 

5 or retail electric supplier install an electric 

6 energy meter, in addition to the electric en7 ergy meter that meets the criteria of sub8 paragraph (B), at the customer-generator’s 

9 expense. In such a case, the charge to the 

10 customer-generator shall be no more than 

11 the actual cost of the electric energy meter 

12 and its installation. 

13 ‘‘(5) BILLING.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each local distribu15 tion company or retail electric supplier shall 

16 calculate the electric energy consumption for a 

17 customer-generator using a net metering system 

18 in accordance with subparagraphs (B) through 

19 (D). 

20 ‘‘(B) MEASUREMENT OF ELECTRIC EN21 ERGY.—The local distribution company or retail 

22 electric supplier shall measure the net electric 

23 energy produced or consumed during a billing 

24 period using the meter installed in accordance 

25 with paragraph (4). 


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1 ‘‘(C) BILLING AND CREDITING.— 

2 ‘‘(i) BILLING.—If the electric energy 

3 supplied by the retail electric supplier ex4 ceeds the electric energy generated by the 

5 customer-generator during a billing period, 

6 the customer-generator shall be billed for 

7 the net electric energy supplied by the re8 tail electric supplier in accordance with 

9 normal billing practices. 

10 ‘‘(ii) CREDITING.— 

11 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—If electric en12 ergy generated by the customer-gener13 ator exceeds the electric energy sup14 plied by the retail electric supplier 

15 during a billing period, the customer16 generator shall be billed for the appro17 priate customer charges for such bill18 ing period and credited for the excess 

19 electric energy generated during such 

20 billing period, with the credit appear21 ing as a kilowatt-hour credit on the 

22 bill for the following billing period. 

23 ‘‘(II) APPLICATION OF CRED24 ITS.—Any kilowatt-hour credits pro25 vided to a customer-generator under 


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1 this clause shall be applied to the cus2 tomer-generator’s electric energy con3 sumption on the bill for the following 

4 billing period. 

5 ‘‘(III) CARRYOVER OF UNUSED

6 CREDITS.—At the beginning of each 

7 12-month period, any unused kilo8 watt-hour credits remaining from the 

9 preceding 12-month period shall be 

10 reimbursed to the customer-generator 

11 at the average wholesale market rate 

12 for the preceding 12-month period. 

13 ‘‘(D) USE OF TIME-DIFFERENTIATED EN14 ERGY TARIFF RATES.— 

15 ‘‘(i) DIFFERENT TARIFFS OR SERV16 ICES.—A retail electric supplier shall offer 

17 a customer-generator the choice of a time18 differentiated energy tariff rate or a 

19 nontime-differentiated energy tariff rate, if 

20 the retail electric supplier offers the choice 

21 to customers in the same rate class as the 

22 customer-generator. 

23 ‘‘(ii) CREDITS.—If a customer-gener24 ator is using a meter installed in accord25 ance with paragraph (4) and retail billing 


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1 arrangement that has time-differentiated 

2 energy tariff rates— 

3 ‘‘(I) a kilowatt-hour credit de4 scribed in this paragraph shall be 

5 based on the ratio of the time-of-use 

6 rate to the lowest time-of-use rate 

7 over the course of a 12-month period; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(II) excess kilowatt-hour credits 

10 in any individual time-of-use period 

11 shall be applied to other time-of-use 

12 periods in the same billing period, 

13 with any remaining excess for the bill14 ing period carried over to the next 

15 billing period. 

16 ‘‘(iii) MONETARY CREDIT.—If, upon 

17 review, a retail electric supplier finds the 

18 crediting method under clause (ii) incon19 sistent with its current billing practices, 

20 such retail electric supplier may elect to 

21 convert excess kilowatt-hour credits under 

22 time-of-use billing to a monetary value 

23 based on the time when the kilowatt-hours 

24 were generated and provide a monetary 


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1 credit to the customer-generator on the bill 

2 for the following billing period. 

3 ‘‘(6) COST RECOVERY MECHANISM.—Regulated 

4 utilities shall be granted the authority to recover, 

5 through retail rates approved by the applicable pub6 lic utility commission, any retail electric revenues 

7 lost as a result of electric energy generation by a 

8 customer-generator, less the associated power and 

9 other costs avoided by the utility. 

10 ‘‘(7) PERCENT LIMITATIONS.— 

11 ‘‘(A) 6 PERCENT LIMITATION.—The stand12 ard established by paragraph (3) of this sub13 section shall not apply for a 12-month period to 

14 any customer-generator served by a local dis15 tribution company or retail electric supplier if, 

16 at the beginning of such 12-month period, the 

17 total generating capacity of all customer-gen18 erators with net metering systems served by the 

19 local distribution company or retail electric sup20 plier is equal to or more than 6 percent of the 

21 capacity necessary to meet the average fore22 casted aggregate customer peak demand of the 

23 retail electric supplier for such 12-month pe24 riod. 


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1 ‘‘(B) 4 PERCENT LIMITATION.—The stand2 ard established by paragraph (3) of this sub3 section shall not apply for a 12-month period to 

4 any customer-generator served by a local dis5 tribution company or retail electric supplier if, 

6 at the beginning of such 12-month period, the 

7 total generating capacity of all customer-gen8 erators with net metering systems served by the 

9 local distribution company or retail electric sup10 plier using a single type of renewable energy, a 

11 combined heat and power system, or a waste 

12 heat to electricity system, is equal to or more 

13 than 4 percent of the capacity necessary to 

14 meet the forecasted aggregate customer peak 

15 demand of the retail electric supplier for such 

16 12-month period. 

17 ‘‘(C) RECORDS AND NOTICE.— 

18 ‘‘(i) RECORDS.—Each retail electric 

19 supplier shall maintain, and make available 

20 to the public, records of— 

21 ‘‘(I) the type of generating tech22 nologies and energy sources used by 

23 the qualified generation units used by 

24 the customer-generators; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) the total generating capac2 ity for all customer-generators using a 

3 specific type of qualified generation 

4 unit. 

5 ‘‘(ii) NOTICE.—Each such retail elec6 tric supplier shall notify the State regu7 latory authority, as applicable, and the 

8 Commission at each time at which the 

9 total generating capacity of the customer10 generators of the retail electric supplier 

11 reaches a level that equals or exceeds— 

12 ‘‘(I) 75 percent of the limitation 

13 specified in subparagraph (A); 

14 ‘‘(II) the limitation specified in 

15 subparagraph (A); 

16 ‘‘(III) 75 percent of the limita17 tion specified in subparagraph (B); or 

18 ‘‘(IV) the limitation specified in 

19 subparagraph (B). 

20 ‘‘(8) OWNERSHIP OF CREDITS.—For purposes 

21 of Federal and State laws providing renewable en22 ergy credits or greenhouse gas credits, a customer23 generator using net metering shall be treated as 

24 owning and having title to any renewable energy at25 tributes, renewable energy credits, and greenhouse 


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1 gas emission credits relating to any electric energy 

2 generated by the customer-generator. 

3 ‘‘(9) SAFETY AND PERFORMANCE STAND4 ARDS.—A net metering system used by a customer5 generator shall be installed according to the inter6 connection rules approved by the State regulatory 

7 authority or the Commission. 

8 ‘‘(10) DETERMINATION OF COMPLIANCE.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any State regulatory 

10 authority (with respect to each electric utility 

11 for which it has ratemaking authority), and any 

12 nonregulated electric utility, may apply to the 

13 Commission for a determination that any State 

14 net metering requirement or regulation complies 

15 with the standard established by paragraph (3) 

16 and the requirements of this subsection. 

17 ‘‘(B) ORDERS.—In the absence of a deter18 mination that a State net metering requirement 

19 or regulation complies with the standard estab20 lished by paragraph (3) and the requirements 

21 of this subsection under subparagraph (A), the 

22 Commission, on the motion of the Commission 

23 or pursuant to the petition of any interested 

24 person, may, after notice and opportunity for a 

25 hearing on the record, issue an order requiring 


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1 any retail electric supplier or local distribution 

2 company to comply with this subsection. 

3 ‘‘(C) ENFORCEMENT.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Any person who 

5 violates this subsection shall be subject to 

6 a civil penalty in an amount scaled appro7 priately to the nature of the violation, as 

8 determined by the Commission. 

9 ‘‘(ii) ASSESSMENT.—The civil penalty 

10 under clause (i) may be assessed by the 

11 Commission, after notice and opportunity 

12 for hearing, in the same manner as pen13 alties are assessed under section 31(d) of 

14 the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 

15 823b(d)). 

16 ‘‘(e) INTERCONNECTION STANDARDS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) MODEL STANDARDS.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

19 after the date of the enactment of this sub20 section, the Commission shall publish model 

21 standards for the physical connection between 

22 local distribution systems and qualified genera23 tion units. The Commission shall also modify 

24 the provisions of its Small Generator Inter25 connection Procedures relating to expediting the 


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1 permitting of qualified generation units up to 

2 2,000 kilowatts. 

3 ‘‘(B) PURPOSES.—The model standards 

4 shall be designed to— 

5 ‘‘(i) encourage the use of qualified 

6 generation units; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) ensure the safety and reliability 

8 of the qualified generation units and the 

9 local distribution systems interconnected 

10 with the qualified generation units. 

11 ‘‘(C) EXPEDITED PROCEDURES.— 

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The model stand13 ards shall have 2 separate expedited proce14 dures as follows: 

15 ‘‘(I) A procedure for the inter16 connection of qualified generation 

17 units that have a generating capacity 

18 of not more than 10 kilowatts. 

19 ‘‘(II) A procedure for the inter20 connection of qualified generation 

21 units that have a generating capacity 

22 of more than 10 kilowatts but not 

23 more than 2,000 kilowatts. 

24 ‘‘(ii) BEST PRACTICES.—The expe25 dited procedures shall be based on the best 


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1 practices that have been used by State reg2 ulatory authorities and nonregulated elec3 tric utilities that have adopted interconnec4 tion standards. 

5 ‘‘(iii) MODEL RULE.—In designing the 

6 expedited procedures for interconnection, 

7 the Commission shall consider the Inter8 state Renewable Energy Council’s most re9 cent model interconnection procedures. 

10 ‘‘(D) ADOPTION OF STANDARDS.— 

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 

12 years after the date of the enactment of 

13 this subsection, each State regulatory au14 thority (with respect to each electric utility 

15 for which it has ratemaking authority) and 

16 each nonregulated electric utility shall— 

17 ‘‘(I) adopt the model standards 

18 established under this paragraph, with 

19 or without modification; and 

20 ‘‘(II) submit the standards 

21 adopted by such State regulatory au22 thority (with respect to each electric 

23 utility for which it has ratemaking au24 thority) or such nonregulated electric 


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1 utility to the Commission for ap2 proval. 

3 ‘‘(ii) APPROVAL OF MODIFICATION.— 

4 The Commission shall approve a modifica5 tion of the model standards only if the 

6 Commission determines that the modifica7 tion is— 

8 ‘‘(I) consistent with or superior 

9 to the purpose of the standards; and 

10 ‘‘(II) required by reason of local 

11 conditions. 

12 ‘‘(E) NONAPPROVAL OF STANDARDS FOR A

13 STATE.—If standards have not been approved 

14 under this paragraph by the Commission for 

15 any State regulatory authority or nonregulated 

16 electric utility during the 2-year period begin17 ning on the date of the enactment of this sub18 section, the Commission shall, by rule or order, 

19 enforce the model standards of the Commission 

20 for the State regulatory authority or nonregu21 lated electric utility until such time as such 

22 standards are approved by the Commission. 

23 ‘‘(F) UPDATES.— 

24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Commission 

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1 ards, at such a time as the Commission de2 termines appropriate after— 

3 ‘‘(I) submission and approval of 

4 standards of all State regulatory au5 thorities (with respect to electric utili6 ties for which they have ratemaking 

7 authority) and nonregulated electric 

8 utilities under subparagraph (D); 

9 ‘‘(II) notice and opportunity for 

10 comment; and 

11 ‘‘(III) considering changes in ap12 plicable safety and performance and 

13 reliability standards and underlying 

14 technologies. 

15 ‘‘(ii) AVAILABILITY.—Any update of 

16 the model standards shall be made avail17 able to State regulatory authorities and 

18 nonregulated electric utilities for consider19 ation by such authorities and utilities. 

20 ‘‘(2) SAFETY, RELIABILITY, PERFORMANCE, 

21 AND COST.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The model standards 

23 established under this subsection shall establish 

24 such measures for the safety and reliability of 

25 the qualified generation unit and any other 


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1 equipment used for electric interconnection to 

2 the local distribution system as well as the local 

3 distribution system itself, as appropriate. 

4 ‘‘(B) ADMINISTRATION.—The model stand5 ards established under this subsection shall— 

6 ‘‘(i) be consistent with all applicable 

7 safety and performance standards estab8 lished by— 

9 ‘‘(I) the National Electrical Code; 

10 ‘‘(II) the Institute of Electrical 

11 and Electronics Engineers; 

12 ‘‘(III) Underwriters Laboratories; 

13 or 

14 ‘‘(IV) the American National 

15 Standards Institute; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) impose not more than such min17 imum cost and technical burdens to the 

18 interconnecting customer-generator as the 

19 Commission determines, by rule, are prac20 ticable. 

21 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL CHARGES.—The model stand22 ards under this subsection shall prohibit the imposi23 tion of additional charges by local distribution com24 panies and retail electric suppliers for equipment or 

25 services for interconnection that are in excess of— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the charges necessary to meet the 

2 standards or provide net metering to greater 

3 types or numbers of customers or for larger 

4 generators or remove administrative burdens; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(B) the charges and equipment require7 ments identified in the best practices of State 

8 regulatory authorities (with respect to electric 

9 utilities for which they have ratemaking author10 ity) and nonregulated electric utilities with 

11 interconnection standards. 

12 ‘‘(4) CONSUMER-FRIENDLY CONTRACTS.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission 

14 shall— 

15 ‘‘(i) promulgate regulations that en16 sure that simplified contracts will be used 

17 for the interconnection of qualified genera18 tion units by a retail electric supplier or 

19 local distribution company; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) consider the best practices out21 lined in the most recent Interstate Renew22 able Energy Council model for consumer23 friendly contracts. 

24 ‘‘(B) LIABILITY OR INSURANCE.—The con25 tracts described in subparagraph (A) shall not 


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1 require liability or other insurance in excess of 

2 the liability or insurance that is typically car3 ried by customer-generators for general liabil4 ity.’’. 

5 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 1262 of the 

6 Public Utility Holding Company Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 

7 16451) is amended by striking paragraph (5) and insert8 ing the following: 

9 ‘‘(5) ELECTRIC UTILITY COMPANY.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘electric 

11 utility company’ means any company that owns 

12 or operates facilities used for the generation, 

13 transmission, or distribution of electric energy 

14 for sale. 

15 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘electric util16 ity company’ does not include a qualified gen17 eration unit (as defined in section 113(d) of the 

18 Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 

19 1978).’’. 

20 SEC. 4. RELATIONSHIP TO STATE LAW. 

21 Section 117(b) of the Public Utility Regulatory Poli22 cies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2627(b)) is amended— 

23 (1) by striking ‘‘Nothing’’ and inserting the fol24 lowing: 


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•HR 5692 IH

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para2 graph (2), nothing’’; and 

3 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(2) NET METERING AND INTERCONNECTION

5 STANDARDS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara7 graph (B), no State regulatory authority or 

8 nonregulated electric utility may adopt or en9 force any standard or requirement concerning 

10 net metering or interconnection that restricts 

11 access to the electric power transmission or 

12 local distribution system by qualified generation 

13 units beyond those standards and requirements 

14 established under section 113. 

15 ‘‘(B) EQUIVALENT OR GREATER ACCESS.— 

16 Nothing in this title precludes a State regu17 latory authority or nonregulated electric utility 

18 from adopting or enforcing incentives or re19 quirements or removing administrative burdens 

20 to encourage the use of qualified generation 

21 units and net metering that— 

22 ‘‘(i) are in addition to or equivalent to 

23 standards and requirements under section 

24 113; 


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29 

•HR 5692 IH

1 ‘‘(ii) afford greater access to the elec2 tric power transmission and local distribu3 tion systems by qualified generation units 

4 than the standards and requirements 

5 under section 113; 

6 ‘‘(iii) afford greater compensation or 

7 credit for electric energy generated by the 

8 qualified generation units than the stand9 ards and requirements under section 113; 

10 or 

11 ‘‘(iv) provide net metering to greater 

12 types or numbers of customers or for larg13 er generators than the standards and re14 quirements under section 113. 

15 ‘‘(C) QUALIFIED GENERATION UNIT.—In 

16 this paragraph, the term ‘qualified generation 

17 unit’ has the meaning given such term in sec18 tion 113(d).’’. 

Æ 


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