An Act Regarding Large-scale Community Solar Procurement
Maine Legislature, Session 128, LD 1444
Committee: Energy, Utilities and Technology
Sponsors: WOODSOME, HARVELL, BERRY, DION, SAVIELLO, GROHMAN, HARRINGTON, HIGGINS, SAMPSON, SANBORN
Amends: 35-A MRSA §3471-A, 35-A MRSA §3473

Legislative Document
No. 1444
S.P. 499
In Senate, April 13, 2017
An Act Regarding Large-scale Community Solar Procurement
Reference to the Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology suggested and ordered 
printed.
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator WOODSOME of York.
Cosponsored by Representative HARVELL of Farmington, Representative BERRY of 
Bowdoinham and
Senators: DION of Cumberland, SAVIELLO of Franklin, Representatives: GROHMAN of 
Biddeford, HARRINGTON of Sanford, HIGGINS of Dover-Foxcroft, SAMPSON of Alfred, 
SANBORN of Portland.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  35-A MRSA §3471-A is enacted to read: 
§3471-A.  Definitions 
As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms 
have the following meanings. 
1.  Credit rate.  "Credit rate" means the per kilowatt-hour rate used to calculate the 
monetary value of a subscriber's share of the output of a large-scale community solar 
distributed generation resource.  The credit rate is equal to the per kilowatt-hour rate in 
the long-term contracts entered into between the standard buyer and the project sponsor 
pursuant to this chapter and must be the same for all subscribers of the large-scale 
community solar distributed generation resource. 
2.  Distributed generation resource.  "Distributed generation resource" means an 
electric generating facility that uses a renewable fuel or technology as specified in section 
3210, subsection 2, paragraph B-3 or is a microcombined heat and power system located 
in the service territory of a transmission and distribution utility. 
3.  Kilowatt.  "Kilowatt" means 1,000 watts, measured in direct current. 
4.  Large-scale community solar distributed generation resource.  "Large-scale 
community solar distributed generation resource" means a solar distributed generation 
resource with a nameplate capacity of up to 5 megawatts, or other limit as determined by 
commission rule under section 3476, subsection 8, that is selected in a procurement in 
accordance with section 3476 and the beneficial use of the output of that solar distributed 
generation resource is owned by or allocated to subscribers. 
5.  Megawatt.  "Megawatt" means 1,000,000 watts, measured in direct current. 
6.  Microcombined heat and power system.  "Microcombined heat and power 
system" means a system that produces heat and electricity in a manner as defined by 
commission rule. 
7.  Output.  "Output" means energy, capacity, renewable energy certificates and all 
other environmental attributes and market products that are available or may become 
available from a distributed generation resource. 
8.  Project sponsor.  "Project sponsor" means an entity, its successor or its assignee 
that owns or operates a large-scale community solar distributed generation resource. 
9.  Standard solar rate.  "Standard solar rate" means the highest awarded bid rate for 
a long-term contract during the initial procurement for solar distributed generation 
resources under section 3476, subsection 2. 
10.  Subscriber.  "Subscriber" means a retail customer of a transmission and 
distribution utility who owns or has the right to a subscription and who has identified an 
account to which the subscription is attributed. 
11.  Subscription.  "Subscription" means a proportional interest in a large-scale 
community solar distributed generation resource.  Each subscription must be sized to 
represent at least one kilowatt of the resource's generating capacity, and the total expected 
annual value of all of a customer's subscriptions may not exceed 120% of the customer's 
most recent annual electricity bill. 
Sec. 2.  35-A MRSA §3473, sub-§§3 and 4 are enacted to read: 
3.  Participation in wholesale markets.  The commission and investor-owned 
transmission and distribution utilities shall take all reasonable steps to promote the 
participation of distributed generation resources in the wholesale electricity market, 
capacity market and ancillary service market. 
4.  Change in tax treatment.  If a change in federal tax laws, rules or policy 
materially modifies the burdens or costs to customers or utilities associated with the 
procurement under this chapter, the commission shall issue a report to the joint standing 
committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over energy and utilities matters 
describing the impact of these changes and recommending any actions necessary to 
maintain the benefits of the procurements under this chapter. 
Sec. 3.  35-A MRSA §§3475 to 3477 are enacted to read: 
§3475.  Standard buyer 
The standard buyer designated pursuant to this section must aggregate the output of 
the portfolio of distributed generation resources procured pursuant to this chapter and sell 
or use the output of these resources in a manner that maximizes the value of this portfolio 
of resources to all ratepayers. 
1.  Designation of standard buyer.  Each investor-owned transmission and 
distribution utility serves as the standard buyer in its service territory, except that the 
commission may designate another entity to serve as standard buyer if the commission 
determines that such a designation is in the best interest of ratepayers.  The standard 
buyer is subject to the jurisdiction of the commission. 
2.  Obligations of the standard buyer.  The standard buyer designated pursuant to 
subsection 1 shall: 
A.  Serve as counterparty to and enforce long-term contracts with project sponsors 
pursuant to section 3476; 
B.  Reimburse, when the standard buyer is not an investor-owned transmission and 
distribution utility, the investor-owned transmission and distribution utility for any 
bill credit or payment to a subscriber or project sponsor pursuant to section 3476; 
C.  Establish reasonable metering and measurement and verification requirements for 
distributed generation resources; 
D.  Provide information needed to allocate eligible costs and benefits pursuant to 
subsection 3; and 
E.  Provide to the commission aggregate data regarding the output of distributed 
generation resources. 
3.  Standard buyer cost allocation.  The commission and each standard buyer 
designated pursuant to subsection 1 shall implement a transparent mechanism to track and 
recover or distribute the eligible costs and benefits from procuring distributed generation 
resources pursuant to this chapter.  These eligible costs and benefits must be reviewed by 
the commission annually and allocated to and recovered from ratepayers of the 
transmission and distribution utility in whose territory the distributed generation resource 
is located through a process established by the commission by rule.  The process 
developed by the commission must be similar to the allocation of costs and benefits of 
long-term energy contracts in section 3210-F.  Eligible costs and benefits include: 
A.  Incremental costs of serving as the standard buyer; 
B.  All payments to customers, subscribers and project sponsors under each 
procurement pursuant to section 3476; and 
C.  All revenue from sale of the output of distributed generation resources procured 
pursuant to this chapter. 
Customers receiving service at a transmission or subtransmission voltage level as defined 
in section 10110, subsection 6 are excluded from paying any costs or receiving benefits 
associated with the procurement of distributed generation resources pursuant to this 
chapter. 
4.  Rules.  The commission shall adopt rules to implement this section.  Rules 
adopted under this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 
375, subchapter 2-A.  The commission shall ensure that the rules and procedures 
established under this chapter provide opportunities for entities other than the standard 
buyer to aggregate and sell the output of distributed generation resources in the applicable 
markets. 
§3476.  Large-scale community solar procurement 
1.  Procurement goal.  The commission shall procure 120 megawatts of large-scale 
community solar distributed generation resources by January 1, 2022.  In order to 
accomplish this goal, the commission shall conduct annual competitive solicitations, each 
for 30 megawatts of large-scale community solar distributed generation resources. 
2.  Initial procurement.  On or before March 1, 2018, the commission shall conduct 
a competitive solicitation for an initial procurement of long-term contracts for the output 
of at least 30 megawatts of large-scale community solar distributed generation resources 
as part of the procurement goal in subsection 1.  Bids must be accepted for 120 calendar 
days and reviewed based on the requirements set forth in subsections 7, 8 and 9.  The 
highest awarded bid rate must be established as the standard solar rate for all awarded 
bids in the initial procurement.  If there is more than one bid at that rate, preference will 
be given to the project that was submitted first, as determined by the time stamp showing 
when the bid was received by the commission.  The commission shall select and notify 
successful bidders no later than 30 calendar days after the bid acceptance period has 
ended. 
3.  Declining block contract rate.  For each subsequent procurement for long-term 
contracts for the output of 30 megawatts of large-scale community solar distributed 
generation resources after the initial procurement in subsection 2, the commission shall 
establish a declining block contract rate by reducing the rate awarded in the previous 
procurement by no more than 3%. 
4.  Subsequent procurements.  To ensure competition for procurements after the 
initial procurement under subsection 2 for the output of 30 megawatts of large-scale 
community solar distributed generation resources, the following standards apply: 
A.  Each procurement after the initial procurement must be open for 120 calendar 
days; 
B.  In addition to a bidder's standard bid rate, a bidder must also provide a discounted 
bid rate; 
C.  After the 120 calendar-day bid acceptance period ends, the commission shall 
review bids in accordance with subsections 7, 8 and 9; 
D.  If the total bids received in the aggregate is for less than 30 megawatts, contracts 
must be awarded to all bidders at the applicable declining block contract rate; 
E.  If the total bids received in the aggregate is for more than 30 megawatts, 
preference will be given to those bidders with the lowest discounted bid rate and 
contracts must be awarded to all selected bidders at the lowest qualified discounted 
bid rate; 
F.  If there are multiple bids at the same discounted bid rate, preference will be given 
to the project that was submitted first, as determined by the time stamp showing when 
the bid was received by the commission; and 
G.  The commission shall select and notify successful bidders no later than 30 
calendar days after the bid acceptance period has ended. 
5.  Qualification for capacity allocation.  The commission shall set standards for 
qualifications under the declining block contract rate.  All qualified projects must 
complete construction within 2 years of being awarded a contract.  The commission may 
by rule charge a capacity reservation fee to defray administrative costs. 
6.  Standard contract.  Prior to a solicitation, the commission shall develop, in 
consultation with the standard buyer, a standard contract that commits all parties to 
commercially reasonable behavior and includes provisions to ensure that projects proceed 
to commercial operation on a reasonable timeline. 
7.  Bidder eligibility.  The commission shall establish minimum requirements for 
bidders in a solicitation under this section, including, but not limited to, site control, 
development experience, completion of an interconnection application and provision of 
system details.  Bidders must demonstrate development experience through relevant 
experience and expertise in successfully developing, financing, constructing, operating 
and maintaining a large-scale solar project and fulfilling its obligation to participating 
subscribers.  The commission may by rule require bidders to pay a bidding fee to defray 
administrative costs. 
8.  Ensuring competition.  The commission shall establish standards to ensure that 
each solicitation under this section has a sufficient number of unique bidders and quantity 
of offered capacity to be competitive.  If the commission concludes based on these 
standards that a solicitation is not competitive, no bidders may be selected and the 
capacity available in that solicitation must be deferred to a subsequent solicitation.  The 
commission may by rule adjust the maximum project size eligible for a solicitation to 
ensure that there is more than one bid selected. 
9.  Bid selection.  Following review of bids in a solicitation under this section, if the 
commission determines that the solicitation is competitive pursuant to subsection 8, the 
commission shall select one or more winning bidders and direct the standard buyer to 
negotiate and enter into a contract with the winning bidder or bidders for a term of 20 
years at a specified contract rate.  The commission shall select bids that maximize 
benefits or minimize costs to all ratepayers. 
10.  Payment and minimum subscription.  The project sponsor and subscribers 
must receive the contract rate for the output of a large-scale community solar distributed 
generation resource that is fully subscribed.  For any portion not subscribed, the project 
sponsor receives the wholesale rate. 
At least 50% of the subscriptions to a large-scale community solar distributed generation 
resource must be for 25 kilowatts or less, unless a municipality accounts for more than 
50% of the subscriptions to a large-scale community solar distributed generation 
resource.  A municipality may not account for more than 70% of the subscriptions to a 
large-scale community solar distributed generation resource. 
11.  Determination of subscriber bill credit.  The bill credit to be allocated to each 
subscriber to a particular large-scale community solar distributed generation resource 
must be based on each subscriber's percentage interest of the total production of the 
large-scale community solar distributed generation resource for the previous month.  
Each billing month, the value of the credits allocated to each subscriber must be 
calculated by multiplying the number of kilowatt-hours equal to each subscriber's share 
by the credit rate.  On a monthly basis, the project sponsor shall provide to the 
transmission and distribution utility in a standardized and electronic format the 
information required to calculate the bill credit to be provided to each subscriber.  Credits 
to a subscriber must be applied against the subscriber's monthly electricity bill in 
accordance with section 3477.  The transmission and distribution utility shall provide a 
record to the project sponsor of the credits applied to the transmission and distribution 
utility's associated subscribers each month after those credits are applied to the 
subscriber's bill. 
The monthly output available for allocation as subscribed or unsubscribed energy must be 
determined by a revenue-grade meter installed and paid for by the project sponsor. 
12.  Exemption.  A project sponsor or subscriber is not considered a public utility or 
competitive electricity supplier solely as a result of the project sponsor's or subscriber's 
interest or participation in a large-scale community solar distributed generation resource. 
13.  Renewable energy credits.  The commission shall develop a standard disclosure 
to be provided by the project sponsor to all participating subscribers prior to their entering 
into a contract under this section that describes the effect of selling the renewable 
attributes of exported electricity to the standard buyer and explains how a subscriber may 
participate in the voluntary renewable energy credit market. 
14.  Consumer protection.  The commission shall establish by rule consumer 
protection standards to protect subscribers from fraud and other unfair and deceptive 
business practices.  The commission may impose administrative penalties upon a project 
sponsor in accordance with chapter 15 and may order restitution for any party injured by 
a violation for which a penalty may be assessed pursuant to chapter 15. 
The commission through its own counsel or through the Attorney General may apply to 
the Superior Court of any county of the State to enforce any lawful order made or action 
taken by the commission pursuant to this subsection.  The court may issue such orders, 
preliminary or final, as it considers proper under the facts established before it. 
15.  Disclosures.  A project sponsor selling or reselling a subscription in a large-scale 
community solar distributed generation resource or proposed large-scale community solar 
distributed generation resource shall provide a disclosure to potential subscribers that 
includes the following prior to the sale or resale of that subscription: 
A.  A good faith estimate of the annual kilowatt-hours to be delivered by the large-
scale community solar distributed generation resource based on the size of the 
subscriber's interest; 
B.  A plain language explanation of the terms under which the bill credits under 
section 3477 will be calculated; 
C.  A plain language explanation of the contract provisions regulating the disposition 
or transfer of the subscription; and 
D.  A plain language explanation of the costs and benefits to the potential subscriber, 
based on the subscriber's current usage and applicable tariff, for the term of the 
proposed contract. 
The commission may establish a standard disclosure to be provided to potential 
subscribers by a project sponsor to disclose this information or such other information as 
the commission may determine necessary to protect the interests of potential subscribers. 
16.  Transfer of subscriptions.  A subscriber may transfer or assign a subscription to 
the associated project sponsor or to any person or entity who qualifies to be a subscriber 
in the large-scale community solar distributed generation resource.  A project sponsor 
must provide a process for assignment or transfer of a subscription.  A project sponsor 
may not impose transfer fees on a subscriber who moves to a different location within the 
same utility service territory. 
17.  Project sponsor report.  One year after commercial operation of a large-scale 
community solar distributed generation resource commences, the project sponsor must 
submit to the commission a report detailing what percentage of subscribers earn less than 
the State's median income. 
18.  Rules.  The commission shall adopt rules to implement this section.  Rules 
adopted under this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 
375, subchapter 2-A. 
§3477.  Bill credits 
This section applies to any credits assigned to a customer's bill under this chapter. 
If the value of the credit to be applied to a customer's bill is less than the amount 
owed by the customer at the end of the applicable billing period, the customer must be 
billed for the difference between the amount shown on the bill and the value of the 
available credits. 
If the value of the credits to be applied to a customer's bill is greater than the amount 
owed by the customer at the end of the billing period, the remaining value of the credit 
must carry over from month to month until a specified date each year.  The commission 
shall establish a minimum of 2 standard credit expiration dates that provide customers the 
opportunity to use bill credits to the maximum extent practicable in a given 12-month 
period.  Any remaining credits as of that date must be credited to the standard buyer and 
may not be applied against any future customer bill. 
The commission shall adopt rules to implement this section.  Rules adopted under 
this section are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. 
Sec. 4.  Rules.  The Public Utilities Commission shall adopt rules to implement the 
Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35-A, sections 3475 to 3477 by January 1, 2018. 
SUMMARY 
This bill directs the Public Utilities Commission to enter into long-term contracts 
with a duration of 20 years for the procurement of 120 megawatts of large-scale 
community solar distributed generation resources by 2022. 
The bill designates a standard buyer, which the bill specifies is the investor-owned 
transmission and distribution utility in its service territory.  The bill allows the 
commission to designate another entity as the standard buyer if the commission 
determines it is in the best interest of ratepayers to do so.  The purpose of the standard 
buyer is to purchase the output of large-scale community solar distributed generation 
resources, aggregate the portfolio of distributed generation resources procured and sell or 
use the output of these resources in a manner that maximizes the value of this portfolio of 
resources to all ratepayers. 
The bill directs the commission to conduct an initial competitive solicitation for 30 
megawatts of output of large-scale community solar distributed generation by March 1, 
2018.  The bill directs the commission and standard buyer to develop a contract prior to a 
solicitation that will ensure that projects proceed to commercial operation on a reasonable 
timeline and commits all parties to commercially reasonable behavior. 
The bill gives the commission authority to establish requirements for bidder 
eligibility and standards to ensure competition in the bidding process.  The bill also 
specifies that if the solicitation is determined competitive the commission must select one 
or more winning bids and direct the standard buyer to negotiate and enter into a contract 
with the winning bidder or bidders.  If the commission concludes the solicitation is not 
competitive, no bidders may be selected and the capacity available in that solicitation 
must be deferred to a subsequent solicitation.  The bill requires the commission to select 
bids that maximize the benefits or minimize the costs to all ratepayers. 
The bill requires after the first solicitation that the highest bid rate awarded a contract 
is the standard solar rate.  For each subsequent procurement for 30 megawatts of 
large-scale community solar distributed generation resources, the commission must 
establish a declining block rate by reducing the rate awarded in the previous procurement 
by up to 3%.  Bidders in subsequent procurement must submit both a standard bid rate 
and a discounted bid rate.  The bill specifies that if the total bids received in the aggregate 
is for less than 30 megawatts in subsequent solicitations, contracts will be awarded to all 
bidders at the applicable declining block rate; however, if the total bids received in the 
aggregate is for more than 30 megawatts, preference will be given to those bidders with 
the lowest discounted bid rate and contracts must be awarded to all selected bidders at the 
lowest qualified discounted bid rate.  The bill requires that if there are multiple bids at the 
same discounted bid rate, preference will be given to the project that was submitted first, 
as determined by the time stamp showing when the bid was received by the commission. 
The bill specifies that the bill credit allocated to a subscriber to a particular large-
scale community solar distributed generation resource must be based on each subscriber's 
percentage interest of the total production of the large-scale community solar distributed 
generation resource for the previous month.  The bill requires the project sponsor to 
provide to the transmission and distribution utility, on a monthly basis, the information 
required to calculate the bill credit to be provided to each subscriber.  The bill includes 
provisions on how payments to a subscriber must be credited against the subscriber's 
monthly electricity bill. 
The bill requires the Public Utilities Commission to adopt routine technical rules 
regarding the procurement of large-scale community solar distributed generation 
resources by January 1, 2018.