An Act To Establish the Renewable Energy Feed-in Tariff
Maine Legislature, Session 126, LD 1085
Committee: Energy, Utilities and Technology
Sponsors: JOHNSON, RUSSELL, BOYLE, HASKELL, LACHOWICZ, MILLETT, WOODBURY, BERRY, HARVELL

Legislative Document 
No. 1085 
S.P. 367 
In Senate, March 19, 2013 
An Act To Establish the Renewable Energy Feed-in Tariff 
Reference to the Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology suggested and ordered 
printed. 
DAREK M. GRANT 
Secretary of the Senate 
Presented by Senator JOHNSON of Lincoln. 
Cosponsored by Representative RUSSELL of Portland and 
Senators: BOYLE of Cumberland, HASKELL of Cumberland, LACHOWICZ of Kennebec, 
MILLETT of Cumberland, WOODBURY of Cumberland, Representatives: BERRY of 
Bowdoinham, HARVELL of Farmington. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  35-A MRSA c. 44-A is enacted to read: 
CHAPTER 44-A 
RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES FEED-IN TARIFF PROGRAM 
§4421.  Renewable energy resources feed-in tariff program 
1.  Program established.  The commission shall by rule establish a renewable energy 
resources feed-in tariff program in order to encourage the rapid and sustainable 
development of renewable energy resources and technology for environmentally healthy 
generation of electricity and to decrease the demand for fossil fuel.  In establishing the 
program, the commission shall concentrate on electricity generation that contributes no 
net carbon additions to the atmosphere. 
2.  Standards of program.  The commission shall establish standards for the 
interconnection of small renewable electric generators with the distribution systems of 
transmission and distribution utilities; adopt standard contracts for use; establish rates, 
charges, surcharges and incentives; and establish a program review process for the 
program as described in this chapter. 
§4422.  Definitions 
As used in this chapter, unless the context indicates otherwise, the following terms 
have the following meanings. 
1.  Net carbon addition.  "Net carbon addition" means an addition of carbon to the 
atmospheric carbon cycle that was previously sequestered in a form of fossil fuel or any 
waste product or byproduct of a fossil fuel. 
2.  Renewable energy opportunity county.  "Renewable energy opportunity county" 
means a county where the average weekly wages are at or below the mean average 
weekly wages for the State as defined by the average of the 10 most recent years of 
Department of Labor statistics. 
3.  Small renewable electric generator.  "Small renewable electric generator" means 
a system for the generation of electricity that contributes no net carbon additions to the 
atmosphere, is no greater than 500 kilowatts in size, is majority owned by a person or 
entity that owns less than 500 kilowatts of electricity generating capacity in the State and 
uses the following renewable energy resources in this State: 
A.  Solar photovoltaic panels or solar thermal or concentrating solar systems; 
B.  Generators fueled by methane from sewage treatment facilities, landfills or 
agricultural waste; 
C.  Generators fueled by combustion of biomass; 
D.  Tidal power projects; and 
E.  Wind energy. 
4.  Utilized public property.  "Utilized public property" means: 
A.  A building or parking lot owned by the State or a county or municipal 
government; 
B.  A school or school property that obtains the majority of its funding through 
taxpayer dollars; or 
C.  Other property owned by a governmental unit that is not managed as a historic 
site, public reserved land or state park. 
5.  Value added.  "Value added" means a monetary total of all labor and materials 
added to a product at each stage prior to sale to a wholesaler or consumer. 
§4423.  Connection to transmission and distribution utility's distribution system 
A transmission and distribution utility shall connect a small renewable electric 
generator to the existing electricity distribution system within 90 days of a request by a 
small renewable electric generator. 
1.  Interconnection standards.  The commission by rule shall establish reasonable 
standards for the interconnection of small renewable electric generators with the 
transmission and distribution systems of transmission and distribution utilities. The 
standards must be consistent with generally accepted industry practices and guidelines 
and must be established to ensure the reliability of electric service and the safety of 
customers, transmission and distribution utilities' employees and the general public. 
2.  Costs.  The costs associated with the interconnection must be included in the rates 
under section 4425 as long as electric transmission lines already exist at the location of or 
within 500 feet of the small renewable electric generator. If the small renewable electric 
generator is more than 500 feet from existing electric transmission lines, the small 
renewable electric generator bears the cost of interconnection. 
3.  Fines.  A transmission and distribution utility that fails to connect a small 
renewable electric generator to the transmission and distribution utility's distribution 
system is subject to fines of not more than $100 per day that the transmission and 
distribution utility is in violation of this subsection. 
§4424.  Standard contract 
The commission shall draft and make available a standard contract, with a duration of 
not less than 20 years, for electricity purchases by a transmission and distribution utility 
from a small renewable electric generator. 
1.  Classes.  The contract must set the prices to be paid for each kilowatt-hour 
generated by each class, as described in section 4425, subsection 1, of small renewable 
electric generator. 
2.  Deadline.  The commission shall adopt rules establishing the terms and conditions 
for the standard contract no later than July 1, 2015. 
3.  Contract.  On request of a small renewable electric generator, a transmission and 
distribution utility must enter into a power purchase agreement by the standard contract 
and at the proper classification to purchase all electricity from that small renewable 
electric generator for a period of not less than 20 years. 
4.  Transferable.  Executed contracts must be site specific and transferable. 
§4425.  Rates and terms 
The commission shall set just and reasonable rates, as modified under sections 4423 
and 4427, sufficient to provide revenues to operate and to attract necessary capital and 
investment for small renewable electric generators to be paid by electric utilities to small 
renewable electric generators under the standard contract under section 4424. 
1.  Classes.  The rates must establish specific classes of small renewable electric 
generators, both by type of renewable resource used and by amount of annual electrical 
output, and for specific time periods of the contract's duration. 
2.  Rates.  The commission shall establish rates to provide revenue for the following 
purposes: 
A.  To pay for current expenses for operating and maintaining the generating system; 
B.  To pay the annual principal and interest due of loans for the construction of the 
generating system; 
C.  To provide for an annual contribution, amortized over the life of the generating 
system, to a contingency reserve fund up to an amount equal to 25% of the 
operational budget for the generating system; 
D.  To make up for the avoided cost, if any, of building or purchasing additional 
nonrenewable generated electricity; 
E.  To pay for any and all other reasonable costs and expenses related to generating 
electricity by the small renewable electric generator; 
F.  To pay a minimum annual return of at least 3% and not more than 7% to an 
efficiently designed small renewable electric generator for contracts initiated in the 
first 2 years after July 1, 2015 for all renewable resources except solar photovoltaic 
energy. Thereafter, every 2 years, the commission may reduce the minimum annual 
return by 0.5%; 
G.  To pay a minimum annual return of at least 8% and not less than 10% to an 
efficiently designed solar photovoltaic-powered small renewable electric generator 
for contracts initiated in the first 2 years after July 1, 2015 for all installations made 
over existing parking lots in existence for at least 10 years and mounted onto roofs 
and buildings that have been in existance for at least 10 years. Thereafter, every 2 
years, the commission may reduce the minimum annual return by 0.5%; and 
H.  To pay a reasonable annual return of not more than 5% for contracts initiated in 
the first 2 years after July 1, 2015 to all other efficiently designed small renewable 
solar-powered generators. Thereafter, every 2 years, the commission may reduce the 
minimum annual return by 0.5%. 
3.  Incentives.  The commission shall include the following incentives in each class 
calculated on the rate established pursuant to subsection 2. 
A.  A small renewable electric generator certified as having at least 70% of its value 
added in the State, exclusive of installation costs, must receive a 20% premium in 
addition to the rates under section 4425. This incentive must be paid in addition to all 
other incentives included in this section. 
B.  A small renewable electric generator certified as having at least 50% of its value 
added in a renewable energy opportunity county must receive a 10% premium in 
addition to the rates under section 4425. This incentive must be paid in addition to all 
other incentives included in this section. 
C.  A small renewable electric generator that is installed on utilized public property 
must receive a 5% premium in addition to the rates under section 4425 if the net 
income generated from such production is used for governmental purposes and can 
be demonstrated to have reduced taxes. This incentive must be paid in addition to all 
other incentives included in this section. 
D.  A small renewable electric generator that uses naturally produced methane from 
manure, decaying biomass or from landfills must receive a 10% premium in addition 
to the rates under section 4425. This incentive must be paid in addition to all other 
incentives included in this section. 
4.  Design of rates; rulemaking.  The commission shall adopt rules by July 1, 2015 
for the design of the rates under this section. 
§4426.  Surcharge 
The commission shall, after notice and hearing, biannually establish a renewable 
energy factor that must be a nonbypassable surcharge payable by every customer of a 
transmission and distribution utility. The surcharge must be payable by all customer 
classes. The commission shall set the surcharge at a level sufficient to pay the costs of 
electricity purchased under section 4425 and any interconnection costs under section 
4423. For the purpose of this section, "nonbypassable surcharge" means charges applied 
to all customer billings in a given region whether they receive service from a local utility 
or from a competitive supplier. These charges include transition charges, access charges, 
regional levies and taxes. The surcharge is payable by all suppliers on a kilowatt-usage 
basis. 
§4427.  Review 
The commission shall review the rates established in section 4425 by January 1, 2016 
and every 2 years thereafter and adjust those rates for new contracts as necessary to 
account for inflation, assist in the profitable development of small renewable electric 
generators, prevent excessive profits for small renewable electric generators and prevent 
unnecessary costs to ratepayers. The commission shall reduce the rates in section 4425 to 
reflect any federal or state subsidies, tax credits or other incentives that a small renewable 
electric generator may receive. 
§4428.  Report 
By July 15, 2015 and once every 4 years thereafter, the commission shall file a report 
with the Governor and Legislature that must include the following: 
1.  Kilowatt-hours.  The kilowatt-hours of electricity purchased from small 
renewable electric generators; 
2.  Number.  The number of new small renewable electric generators in the State and 
the environmental effects of the addition of those generators; 
3.  Recommendations.  Recommendations from the public or the commission for 
legislation and changes to the rates and the terms of the standard contract that are in the 
public interest; and 
4.  Actions.  Actions taken by the commission to implement this chapter. 
Small renewable electric generators shall, upon request, provide the commission any 
information that may be relevant to the commission's performing its duties under this 
chapter. 
§4429.  Rules 
The commission shall adopt rules to implement this chapter. Rules adopted under this 
section are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. 
SUMMARY 
This bill requires the Public Utilities Commission to establish a renewable energy 
resources feed-in tariff program to encourage the rapid and sustainable development of 
renewable energy resources and technology for environmentally healthy generation of 
electricity. It requires that utilities purchase renewably produced electricity from all 
qualified suppliers. It sets the rate that electric utilities must pay for such power. It 
requires that utilities enter into a standard contract with all renewable energy suppliers for 
a set term. It establishes for the Public Utilities Commission management and oversight 
responsibilities.