An Act To Amend the Laws Regarding Distributed Energy Generation and To Eliminate Gross Metering
Maine Legislature, Session 128, LD 1686
Committee: Energy, Utilities and Technology
Sponsors: SAVIELLO, DIAMOND, DILL, JACKSON, MIRAMANT, BLACK, MARTIN
Amends: 35-A MRSA §3209-A

Legislative Document
No. 1686
S.P. 622
In Senate, December 22, 2017
An Act To Amend the Laws Regarding Distributed Energy 
Generation and To Eliminate Gross Metering
(EMERGENCY)
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
203.
Received by the Secretary of the Senate on December 18, 2017.  Referred to the Committee 
on Energy, Utilities and Technology pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed.
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator SAVIELLO of Franklin.
Cosponsored by Senators: DIAMOND of Cumberland, DILL of Penobscot, JACKSON of 
Aroostook, MIRAMANT of Knox, Representatives: BLACK of Wilton, MARTIN of Eagle 
Lake.
Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not 
become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and
Whereas, the Public Utilities Commission has recently changed the rules governing 
net energy billing in a way that penalizes self-generation; and
Whereas, the costs and complexities of implementing these rule changes are 
disruptive to consumers; and
Whereas, passage of this Act as emergency legislation will avoid the 
implementation of the most costly and complex provision of the amended rules; and
Whereas, recent outages of electric power have demonstrated the need for 
predictable and fair distributed energy generation policy; and
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within 
the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as 
immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, 
therefore,
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  35-A MRSA §3209-A, as corrected by RR 2017, c. 1, §32, is repealed and 
the following enacted in its place:
§3209-A.  Net energy billing
An eligible customer may participate in net energy billing in accordance with this 
section.
1.  Definitions.  As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the 
following terms have the following meanings.
A.  "Eligible customer" means a person that obtains electricity service through a 
transmission and distribution utility and that owns or has an interest in an eligible 
facility located in that transmission and distribution utility's service territory.
B.  "Eligible facility" means an electric energy generating facility that meets 
eligibility requirements established by the commission by rule pursuant to subsection 
4.
C.  "Excess energy generation" means the amount of kilowatt-hours exported by an 
eligible customer from an eligible facility to the transmission and distribution system 
over a billing period that is greater than the amount of kilowatt-hours delivered by the 
transmission and distribution utility to that eligible customer over that same billing 
period.
D.  "Gross output" means all of the energy generated by an eligible facility during an 
applicable period, including all energy that is used to offset the usage of eligible 
customers.
E.  "Net energy" means the difference between the kilowatt-hours delivered by the 
transmission and distribution utility to an eligible customer over a billing period and 
the kilowatt-hours exported by that customer from an eligible facility to the 
transmission and distribution system over the same billing period.
F.  "Net energy billing" means a billing and metering practice under which an eligible 
customer is billed on the basis of net energy.
G.  "Shared interest" means an interest in an eligible facility shared by multiple 
eligible customers that have distinct billing accounts with a transmission and 
distribution utility.
H.  "Transmission and distribution bill" means an eligible customer's bill, over a 
billing period, for transmission and distribution utility service.
2.  Prohibition on gross output.  A transmission and distribution utility may not 
require an eligible customer to meter the gross output of an eligible facility in order to 
participate in net energy billing.
3.  Limit on accounts.  The number of eligible customers that participate in net 
energy billing through a shared interest or the number of meters associated with a shared 
interest may not exceed 50, except that the number of eligible customers or meters is 
limited to 10 for a shared interest in an eligible facility located in the service territory of a 
transmission and distribution utility located in an area administered by the independent 
system administrator for northern Maine or any successor of the independent system 
administrator for northern Maine unless the commission determines that the utility's 
billing system can accommodate more than 10 accounts or meters for the purpose of net 
energy billing.
4.  Rules.  The commission shall adopt rules governing net energy billing to 
implement this section.  The rules must apply the following percentages to the excess 
energy generation that may be applied against an eligible customer's transmission and 
distribution bill for the purposes of net energy billing:
A.  Ninety percent for an eligible customer that applies for a net energy billing 
arrangement after April 30, 2018 and before May 1, 2019;
B.  Eighty percent for an eligible customer that applies for a net energy billing 
arrangement after April 30, 2019 and before May 1, 2020; and
C.  Seventy percent for an eligible customer that applies for net energy billing 
arrangement after April 30, 2020 and before May 1, 2021.
For each 12-month period beginning after April 30, 2021, the commission by rule must 
reduce the percentage of an eligible customer's excess energy generation that may be 
applied against that customer's transmission and distribution bill for the purpose of net 
energy billing by no more than 10%.  During each such year, the reduction in the 
percentage of an eligible customer's excess energy generation that may be applied against 
that customer's transmission and distribution bill applies only to customers that apply for 
a net energy billing arrangement in that 12-month period.
The rules must specify that an eligible customer that applies for a net energy billing 
arrangement before May 1, 2018 may continue with the net energy billing arrangement 
until April 30, 2033 and that an eligible customer that applies for a net energy billing 
arrangement after April 30, 2018 may continue with that net energy billing arrangement 
until April 30th of the calendar year that is 15 years from the year in which the customer 
applied for the net energy billing arrangement.
Rules adopted or amended under this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in 
Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
Sec. 2.  Report.  The Public Utilities Commission shall submit a report to the joint 
standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over utilities and energy 
matters by January 1, 2020 that includes recommendations on how to transition from net 
energy billing as governed by the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35-A, section 3209-A to 
time-of-use rates, market-based rates or other rate designs.  The commission shall submit 
information in its report on how its recommendations:
1.  Promote distributed energy generation resources while supporting equitable 
treatment of all customers and application of cost causation principles in rate design;
2.  Integrate distributed energy generation resources to increase efficiency of the 
electric grid while reducing costs for all ratepayers;
3.  Use capabilities such as advanced metering investments by transmission and 
distribution utilities to track exports to the grid and usage and to provide actionable price 
signals to all customers, including those with distributed energy resources; and
4.  Encourage integration of and compensation for small-scale distributed energy 
resources in the regional markets.
The Public Utilities Commission shall conduct and include in its report an analysis of 
the costs and benefits to ratepayers from net energy billing in an adjudicatory proceeding.  
The analysis must include all identifiable costs and benefits for net energy billing 
participants and nonparticipants, including but not limited to the costs and benefits 
described in Public Law 2013, chapter 562, section 2.  The analysis must at a minimum 
consider costs and benefits over a 10-year period and a 25-year period.  If uncertainty 
exists with regard to a future cost or benefit, the commission shall use assumptions for 
what it considers the most likely higher-value and lower-value scenarios.  For any 
recommendation made in the report, the commission shall quantify or estimate how the 
recommended action would increase or decrease costs to ratepayers over both the short 
term and the long term and how it is likely to affect solar installations.  The commission 
shall address how the effect of the recommendation compares to the current net energy 
billing practice in terms of the effect on ratepayers and on the rate at which 
customer-sited solar photovoltaic installations are occurring in the State.
In considering rate design options, the Public Utilities Commission, in consultation 
with solar installers, transmission and distribution utilities, the Governor's Energy Office 
and the Public Advocate, shall compile the best available data on the energy production 
from customer-sited solar photovoltaic installations or other distributed energy generation 
resources in this State and on electricity usage by customers with customer-sited solar 
photovoltaic installations or other distributed energy generation resources.
The Public Utilities Commission shall also examine and report on market-based 
procurement programs for community solar projects and how such a program can be 
structured to provide benefits to ratepayers while encouraging community-based solar 
photovoltaic installations.
At least 60 days before submitting the report under this section to the joint standing 
committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over utilities and energy matters, the 
Public Utilities Commission shall post the report on its publicly accessible website.  
Within that period of time, a member of the public may submit to the commission written 
comments regarding the report.  The commission shall submit all comments received 
with the report to the committee.
The joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over utilities and 
energy matters may report out a bill based on the Public Utilities Commission's 
recommendations to the Second Regular Session of the 129th Legislature.
Sec. 3.  Rules.  The Public Utilities Commission shall amend its net energy billing 
rules before January 1, 2019 to be consistent with the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35-A, 
section 3209-A.
Emergency clause.  In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this 
legislation takes effect when approved.
SUMMARY
This bill requires a net energy billing customer that applies for a net energy billing 
arrangement after April 30, 2018 but before May 1, 2019 to receive 90% of the excess 
energy generation from an eligible facility to be applied against the customer's 
transmission and distribution bill, a customer that applies for a net energy billing 
arrangement after April 30, 2019 but before May 1, 2020 to receive 80% of the excess 
energy generation from an eligible facility to be applied against the customer's 
transmission and distribution bill and a customer that applies for a net energy billing 
arrangement after April 30, 2020 but before May 1, 2021 to receive 70% of the excess 
energy generation from an eligible facility to be applied against the customer's 
transmission and distribution bill.  It requires that in each 12-month period after April 30, 
2021, the percentage of an eligible customer's excess energy generation that applies to 
that customer's transmission and distribution bill be reduced by no more than 10% and 
that any reduction applies only to customers that apply for a net energy billing 
arrangement in that 12-month period.  It specifies that an eligible customer that applies 
for a net energy billing arrangement before May 1, 2018 may continue with the net 
energy billing arrangement until April 30, 2033 and that an eligible customer that applies 
for a net energy billing arrangement after April 30, 2018 may continue with that net 
energy billing arrangement until April 30th of the calendar year that is 15 years from the 
year in which the customer applied for the net energy billing arrangement.
This bill prohibits a transmission and distribution utility from requiring a customer to 
meter the gross output of an eligible facility in order to participate in net energy billing.  
It limits to 50 the number of eligible customers that may participate in a single shared 
interest in an eligible facility or the number of meters associated with a single shared 
interest, except in the service territory of a transmission and distribution utility located in 
an area administered by the independent system administrator for northern Maine. It 
requires the Public Utilities Commission to amend its current net energy billing rules 
before January 1, 2019 to be consistent with the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35-A, 
section 3209-A.
This bill also requires the Public Utilities Commission to submit a report by January 
1, 2020 that includes recommendations on how to transition from net energy billing to 
time-of-use rates, market-based rates or other rate design options.  In its report, the 
commission must include information regarding an analysis of costs and benefits of net 
energy billing as well as how those costs and benefits compare to any recommendations 
the commission makes in this report.