An Act to Amend the Calculation of Tariff Rates and Billing Credits Under Net Energy Billing
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1465
Committee: Energy, Utilities and Technology
Sponsors: HARRINGTON
Amends: 35-A MRSA §3209-A, 35-A MRSA §3209-B

Legislative Document
No. 1465
S.P. 584
In Senate, April 5, 2023
An Act to Amend the Calculation of Tariff Rates and Billing Credits 
Under Net Energy Billing
Reference to the Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology suggested and ordered 
printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator HARRINGTON of York.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  35-A MRSA §3209-A, sub-§8, ¶B, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 370, §1 and 
reallocated by RR 2021, c. 1, Pt. A, §37 and PL 2021, c. 659, §18 and c. 705, §13, is 
amended to read:
B.  Establish the manner by which a transmission and distribution utility must apply 
such unused kilowatt-hour credits for the benefit of participants in the utility’s 
arrearage management program, which must be designed to result in each such 
participant receiving as close to an equal amount of those credits except when the 
credited amount would exceed the amount of a participant’s arrearage. The value of 
unused kilowatt-hour credits must be based on the average residential standard-offer 
rate under section 3212 for the term that coincides with the year in which the credits 
expire.
Sec. 2.  35-A MRSA §3209-B, sub-§5, as amended by PL 2021, c. 659, §19, is 
further amended to read:
5.  Tariff rate; bill credits.  The commission shall establish by rule tariff rates for 
customers participating in the program.  The initial tariff rate must be established no later 
than December 1, 2019. The tariff rate must be based on the forecast of wholesale energy 
market prices in New England determined credible by the commission for each successive 
calendar year.
A.  The tariff rate for a customer participating in net energy billing with a distributed 
generation resource described in this paragraph must equal the  standard-offer service 
rate established under section 3212 that is applicable to the customer receiving the 
credit plus 75% of the effective transmission and distribution rate for the rate class that 
includes the smallest commercial customers of the investor-owned transmission and 
distribution utility.  The tariff rate under this paragraph applies to net energy billing 
with a distributed generation resource:
(1)  With a nameplate capacity of greater than one megawatt if:
(a)  The entity developing the distributed generation resource certifies by 
affidavit with accompanying documentation to the commission that the entity, 
before September 1, 2022, commenced on-site physical work of a significant 
nature on the distributed generation resource and the entity has made and will 
continue to make continuous on-site construction efforts to advance toward 
completion of the distributed generation resource. For the purpose of this 
paragraph, continuous on-site construction efforts include, but are not limited 
to, in the context of a solar facility, the continuous installation of racks or other 
structures to affix photovoltaic panels, collectors or solar cells to a site.  The 
commission may share information contained in the affidavit submitted in 
accordance with this paragraph with a transmission and distribution utility, as 
necessary, to verify a distributed generation resource's compliance with this 
section. In administering this subsection, the commission may adopt rules 
including, but not limited to, requiring the entity that submits a sworn affidavit 
under this subparagraph to provide updated documentation to the commission 
after submission of the affidavit; or
(b)  The distributed generation resource is collocated with a net energy billing 
customer that is or net energy billing customers that are subscribed to at least 
50% of the facility's output; or
(2)  With a nameplate capacity of one megawatt or less.
A-1.  The tariff rate for a customer participating in net energy billing under this section 
with a distributed generation resource not governed by paragraph A must:
(1)  In 2022, equal the standard-offer service rate established pursuant to section 
3212 that was applicable to the rate class of the customer receiving the credit on 
December 31, 2020 plus 75% of the effective transmission and distribution rate 
that was in effect on December 31, 2020 for the rate class that includes the smallest 
commercial customers of the investor-owned transmission and distribution utility; 
and
(2)  Increase by 2.25% on January 1st of each subsequent year, beginning January 
1, 2023.
B.  A customer participating in the program must receive for electricity delivered to 
the electric grid from a distributed generation resource in which the customer has a 
financial interest a bill credit based on the tariff rate to apply against the purchased 
power supply costs of electricity delivered to the customer by the investor‑owned 
transmission and distribution utility.
C.  A bill credit under the program as described in paragraph B may be applied to any 
portion the supply charges of a customer's electricity bill.  Credits that remain unused 
at the end of any billing period may be carried forward for up to one year from the end 
of that billing period.
C-1.  The delivery charges of a customer's electricity bill may not be reduced by a credit 
pursuant to this subsection, and the electricity bill must reflect the applicable rate for 
electricity delivery for that month.
D.  A customer participating in the program who remains eligible to participate in the 
program must be allowed to receive a bill credit based on the tariff rate for a period of 
no less than 20 years from the date of first receiving the credit.
SUMMARY
This bill amends the law regarding the net energy billing program for commercial and 
institutional customers of investor-owned utilities by changing the current calculation for 
tariff rates to require the Public Utilities Commission to annually base the tariff rate on the 
forecast of wholesale energy market prices in New England and by providing that an energy 
credit may apply only to the supply charges of a customer's electricity bill rather than to 
the entirety of the bill.