Source: http://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=sb297%20intr.htm&yr=2009&sesstype=RS&i=297
Timestamp: 2019-02-20 16:44:03
Document Index: 596650235

Matched Legal Cases: ['§24', '§24', '§24', '§24', '§24', '§24', '§24', '§24', '§24', '§24', '§24', '§24', '§24', '§24', '§24', '§24', '§24', '§24', '§24', '§24', '§24', '§24', '§24', '§24', '§35', '§24', '§35', '§24']

sb297 intr
[Introduced February 19, 2009; referred to the Committee on the Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new article, designated §24-2F-1, §24-2F-2, §24-2F-3, §24-2F-4, §24-2F-5, §24-2F-6, §24-2F-7, §24-2F-8, §24-2F -9, §24-2F - 10, §24-2F - 11 and §24-2F - 12, all relating to an alternative and renewable energy portfolio standard; setting forth legislative findings; defining terms; establishing standards for the sale of electricity generated from alternative and renewable energy resources; providing for compliance assessments; creating a system of tradeable alternative and renewable energy resource credits; providing for the awarding of credits based upon electricity generated from alternative and renewable energy resource facilities; providing for the awarding of credits for certain greenhouse emissions reduction and offset projects; providing for the awarding of credits for certain energy efficiency and demand-side energy initiative projects; requiring application to the Public Service Commission for approval of alternative and renewable energy portfolio standard compliance plans; setting forth minimum requirements for compliance plan applications; requiring Public Service Commission approval of compliance plan applications; requiring annual progress reports; providing for incentive rate making for investments in new alternative and renewable energy resource facilities in West Virginia; requiring the Public Service Commission to adopt certain net metering and interconnection rules and standards; authorizing the Public Service Commission to enter into interagency agreements to meet its requirements under this article; requiring an ongoing assessment of alternative and renewable energy resources in West Virginia; establishing the Alternative and Renewable Energy Resources Research Fund; providing for the awarding of matching grants for certain research projects; and authorizing the Public Service Commission to promulgate rules.
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new article, designated §24-2F-1, §24-2F-2, §24-2F-3, §24-2F-4, §24-2F-5, §24-2F-6, §24-2F-7, §24-2F-8 , §24-2F- 9, §24-2F - 10, §24-2F - 11 and §24-2F - 12, all to read as follows:
This article may be known and cited as the "Alternative and Renewable Energy Portfolio Act."
(2) The nation is on a rapid course of action to produce electrical power with an ever-decreasing amount of emissions.
(3) To continue lowering the emissions associated with electrical production, and to expand the state's economic base, West Virginia should encourage the development of more efficient, lower-emitting and reasonably-priced alternative and renewable energy resources.
(a) "Advanced coal technology" means a technology that is used in a new or existing energy generating facility to reduce airborne carbon emissions associated with the combustion or use of coal and includes, without limitation, carbon dioxide capture and storage technology, ultra-supercritical technology and pressurized fluidized bed technology.
(c) "Alternative energy resources" means any of the following resources, methods or technologies for the production or generation of electricity :
(3) Fuel produced by a coal gasification or liquefaction facility;
(4) Synthetic gas;
(5) Integrated gasification combined cycle technologies;
(6) Waste coal;
(7) Tire-derived fuel;
(8) Pumped storage hydroelectric projects; or
(9) Any other resource, method, project or technology certified as an alternative energy resource by the Public Service Commission.
(g) "Customer-generator" means an electric retail customer who owns and operates a net metering system in this state.
(h) "Electric utility" means any electric distribution company or electric generation supplier that sells electricity to retail customers in this state . Unless specifically provided for otherwise, for the purposes of this article, the term "electric utility" shall not include electric cooperatives, municipally-owned electric facilities or utilities serving less than thirty thousand residential electric customers in West Virginia.
(k) " Net metering" means measuring the difference between electricity supplied by an electric utility and electricity generated from an alternative or renewable energy resource facility owned or operated by an electric retail customer when any portion of the electricity generated from the alternative or renewable energy resource facility is used to offset part or all of the electric retail customer's requirements for electricity.
(6) Biomass energy, which means a technology by which electricity is produced from a nonhazardous organic material that is available on a renewable or reoccurring basis;
(7) Biologically derived fuel including methane gas, ethanol or biodiesel fuel;
(8) Fuel cell technology, which means any electrochemical device that converts chemical energy in a hydrogen-rich fuel directly into electricity, heat and water without combustion; or
(9) Any other resource, method, project or technology certified by the commission as a renewable energy resource .
(o) "Waste coal" means a technology by which electricity is produced by the combustion of the by-product, waste or residue created from processing coal (i.e., gob).
(2) An electric utility shall be awarded two credits for each megawatt hour of electricity generated or purchased from a renewable energy resource facility located within the geographical boundaries of this state or located outside of the geographical boundaries of this state but within the service territory of a regional transmission organization, as that term is defined in 18 C.F.R. §35.34 , that manages the transmission system in any part of this state ;
(1) An electric utility may meet the alternative and renewable energy portfolio standards set forth in this article by purchasing additional credits. Credits may be bought or sold by an electric utility or banked and used to meet an alternative and renewable energy portfolio standard requirement in a subsequent year.
(d) Credit ownership. -- Unless a contractual provision explicitly assigns credits in a different manner, the owner of an alternative or renewable energy resource facility or a customer- generator owns any and all credits awarded for the generation of electricity by such facility. Nothing in this subsection shall be interpreted as affecting the right of an electric utility to be awarded credits for purchasing electricity generated from alternative or renewable energy resource facilities.
(e) Credits for certain emission reduction or offset projects. --
(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection, an electric utility may not be awarded credits for a greenhouse gas emission reduction or offset project undertaken pursuant to any obligation under any other state or federal law, policy or regulation.
(f) Credits for certain energy efficiency and demand-side energy initiative projects. --
(a) General rule. -- Each electric utility doing business in this state shall be required to meet the alternative and renewable energy portfolio standards set forth in this section. In order to meet these standards, an electric utility shall each year own an amount of credits equal to a certain percentage of electricity, as set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of this section, sold by the electric utility in the preceding year to retail customers in West Virginia.
(b) Counting of credits towards compliance. -- Notwithstanding the awarding of two or three credits for each megawatt hour of electricity generated from certain renewable energy resource facilities, for the purpose of determining an electric utility's compliance with the alternative and renewable energy portfolio standards set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of this section, one credit shall equal one megawatt hour of electricity sold by an electric utility in the preceding year to retail customers in West Virginia. Furthermore, a credit may not be used more than once to meet the requirements of this section.
(1) For the period beginning January 1, 2015, and ending December 31, 2019, an electric utility shall each year own credits in an amount equal to at least ten percent of the electric energy sold by the electric utility to retail customers in this state in the preceding calendar year ; and
(2) For the period beginning January 1, 2020, and ending December 31, 2024, an electric utility shall each year own credits in an amount equal to at least fifteen percent of the electric energy sold by the electric utility to retail customers in this state in the preceding calendar year .
(e) Double-counting of credits prohibited. -- Any portion of electricity generated from an alternative or renewable energy resource facility that is used to meet another state's alternative energy, advanced energy, renewable energy or similar energy portfolio standard may not be used to meet the requirements of this section. An electric utility that is subject to an alternative energy, advanced energy, renewable energy or similar energy portfolio standard in any other state shall list, in the alternative and renewable energy portfolio standard compliance plan required under section six of this article , any such requirements and shall indicate how it satisfied those requirements. The electric utility shall provide in the annual progress report required under section six of this article any additional information required by the commission to prevent double-counting of credits.
(3) Civil penalties collected by the commission pursuant to this subsection shall be deposited into the "Alternative and Renewable Energy Resources Research Fund" established in section eleven of this article.
(c) Upon the filing of an application for approval of a portfolio standard compliance plan , and after hearing and proper notice, the commission may, in its discretion, approve or disapprove, or approve in part or disapprove in part, such application: Provided, That the commission, after it gives proper notice and if no protest is received within thirty days after the notice is given, may waive formal hearing on the application. Notice shall be published as a Class I legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code, and shall be given in a manner and in such form as may be prescribed by the commission.
(e) If, and to the extent, the commission determines that a portfolio standard compliance plan has a reasonable expectation of achieving the portfolio standard requirements at a reasonable cost to electric customers in this state, the commission shall approve the plan . In establishing that the requisite standard for approval of a portfolio standard compliance plan is met, the burden of proof shall be upon the applicant.
(k) The commission shall impose a special assessment on all electric utilities required to file a compliance plan. The special assessment shall not exceed $200,000 in the first year following the effective date of this article and shall not exceed $100,000 in successive years. The assessments shall be prorated among the covered electric utilities on the basis of kilowatt hours of retail sales in West Virginia and shall be due and payable on September 1 of each year. The funds generated from the special assessment shall be used to offset all reasonable direct and indirect costs incurred by the commission in administering the provisions of this article .
§24-2F-7. Cost-recovery and rate incentives for electric utility investment in alternative and renewable energy resources.
(c) The commission shall determine, at such time and in such proceeding, form and manner as is considered appropriate by the commission, the extent to which any electric utility investment qualifies for the incentive rate-making pursuant to this section.
(b) The commission shall also consider adopting, by rule, a requirement that all sellers of electricity to retail customers in the state, including rural electric cooperatives, municipally-owned electric facilities or utilities serving less than thirty thousand residential electric customers in this state, offer net metering rebates or discounts to customer-generators.
(c) The commission shall institute a general investigation for the purpose of adopting rules pertaining to net metering and the interconnection of eligible electric generating facilities intended to operate in parallel with an electric utility's system. As part of its investigation, the commission shall take into consideration rules of other states within the applicable region of the regional transmission organization, as that term is defined in 18 C.F.R. §35.34 , that manages a utility's transmission system in any part of this state. Furthermore, the commission shall consider increasing the allowed kilowatt capacity for commercial customer-generators to an amount not to exceed five hundred kilowatts, and for industrial customer-generators to an amount not to exceed two megawatts. The commission shall further consider interconnection standards for combined heat and power.
(b) Alternative and renewable energy resource planning assessment. -- The commission, in cooperation with the Department of Environmental Protection and the Division of Energy, shall conduct an ongoing alternative and renewable energy resource planning assessment for this state that shall, at a minimum: (i) Identify current and operating alternative and renewable energy resource facilities in this state; (ii) assess the potential to add future generating capacity in this state from alternative and renewable energy resource facilities; (iii) assess the conditions of the alternative and renewable energy resource marketplace, including costs associated with alternative and renewable energy; (iv) recommend methods to maintain or increase the relative competitiveness of the alternative and renewable energy resource market in this state; and (v) recommend to the Legislature additional compliance goals for alternative and renewable energy portfolio standards beyond 2025. The commission shall report the initial results of its assessment to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Delegates within three years of the effective date of this article and shall report the ongoing results of the assessment on a yearly basis thereafter.
§24-2F-10. Portfolio requirements for rural electric cooperatives, municipally-owned electric facilities or utilities serving less than thirty thousand residential electric customers in West Virginia.
(a) The commission shall consider adopting, by rule, alternative and renewable energy portfolio requirements for rural electric cooperatives, municipally-owned electric facilities or utilities serving less than thirty thousand residential electric customers in this state. The commission shall institute a general investigation for the purpose of adopting such requirements.
(b) As part of its investigation, the commission may consider, without limitation, adopting voluntary alternative and renewable portfolio standards and energy efficiency and demand-side energy initiative standards for rural electric cooperatives, municipally- owned electric facilities or utilities serving less than thirty thousand residential electric customers in this state.
(b) The fund shall consist of any moneys appropriated by the Legislature, any compliance assessments collected by the commission, any gifts, bequests or other contributions to the fund from private entities or electric customers, and any interest or other return on the moneys in the fund. Any moneys remaining in the account at the end of a fiscal year, including accrued interest, do not revert to the General Revenue Fund and remain in the account.