An Act To Make Adjustments to the Renewable Energy Portfolio
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 0302
Committee: Utilities and Energy
Sponsors: BERRY, GOODWIN, JOY, RINES, ROSEN
Amends: 35-A MRSA §3210

Legislative Document 
No. 302 
H.P.245 
House of Representatives, January 28, 2003 
An Act To Make Adjustments to the Renewable Energy Portfolio 
Reference to the Committee on Utilities and Energy suggested and ordered printed . 
Presented by Representative BERRY of Belmont. 
. 11'l~ /J7.1lb£~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Cosponsored by Representatives: GOODWIN of Pembroke, JOY of Crystal, RINES of 
Wiscasset, ROSEN of Bucksport. 
Printed on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 35-A MRSA §3210, sub-§2, ,C, as repealed and replaced 
by PL 1999, c. 398, Pt. I, §2, is amended to read: 
C. 
"Renewable 
resource" 
means 
a 
source 
of 
electrical 
generation: 
(1) 
That 
qualifies 
as 
a 
small 
power 
production 
facility under the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 
rules, 
Code 
of 
Federal 
Regulations, 
Part 
292, 
Subpart B, as in effect on January 1, 1997; or 
(2) 
Whese-~~~~-~--~~ea~e~ieB-~~~~-~--Bet 
eHeeeEl--l-O-O--Rle~awa~~s-~-~ha~ That relies on one or 
more of the following: 
(a) 
Fuel cells; 
(b) 
Tidal power; 
(c) 
Solar arrays and installations; 
(d) 
Wind power installations; 
(e) 
Geothermal installations; 
(f) 
Hydroelectric generators; 
(g) 
Biomass generators; or 
(h) 
Generators fueled by municipal solid waste in 
conjunction with recycling. 
Sec. 2. 35-A MRS A §3210, sub-§§3 and 4, as amended by PL 1999, 
c. 398, Pt. I, §3, are further amended to read: 
3. 
Portfolio requirements. 
As 
a 
condition of licensing 
pursuant to section 3203, each competi ti ve electr ici ty provider 
in this State must demonstrate in a manner satisfactory to the 
commission that no less than 
~g% 20% of its portfolio of supply 
sources for retail electr ici ty sales in this State is accounted 
for by eligible resources. 
If a competitive electricity provider 
represents to a customer that the provider is selling to the 
customer a portfolio of supply sources that includes more than 
~Q% 20% eligible resources, 
the resources necessary to supply 
more than 6Q% 20% of that customer's load may not be applied to 
meet the aggregate 6Q% 20% portfolio requirement. 
Rules adopted 
under this subsection are major substantive rules pursuant to 
Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter ±±-A 2-A. 
4. 
Report. 
In view of property tax benefits, developments 
in other states and the development of a market for tradable 
credits 
for 
satisfying 
eligible 
resource 
requirements, 
the 
commission shall review the 
~G% 20% portfolio requirement and 
make 
a 
recommendation for 
any 
change 
to 
the 
joint standing 
committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over utilities 
and energy matters no later than 5 years after the beginning of 
retail competition. 
SUMMARY 
This bill amends the energy portfolio requirements of the 
electric restructuring law. 
Under current law, 
renewable resources that qualify under 
the portfolio requirement include any facility that qualifies as 
a 
small 
power 
production facility 
under 
the 
Federal 
Energy 
Regulatory Commission rules 
and generators of less 
than 
megawatts that rely on renewable resources. 
The bill removes the 
megawatt limitation. 
Under 
current 
law, 
30°" 
of 
a 
competitive 
electricity 
provider's portfolio of supply sources for retail electricity 
sales in this State must be accounted for by eligible resources, 
as defined by the law. 
This bill reduces this percentage to 20%.