An Act to Eliminate the Practice of Net Energy Billing
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 0257
Sponsors: STEWART
Amends: 26 MRSA §1304, 35-A MRSA §3209-A, 35-A MRSA §3209-B, 35-A MRSA §3209-C, 35-A MRSA §3209-D, 35-A MRSA §3209-E, 35-A MRSA §3209-F, 35-A MRSA §3214, 35-A MRSA §3623, 36 MRSA §655, 36 MRSA §656, 36 MRSA §1760

Legislative Document
No. 257
S.P. 124
In Senate, January 24, 2025
An Act to Eliminate the Practice of Net Energy Billing
Received by the Secretary of the Senate on January 23, 2025.  Referred to the Committee 
on Energy, Utilities and Technology pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator STEWART of Aroostook.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  26 MRSA §1304, sub-§1-A, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 705, §2, is amended 
by amending the first blocked paragraph to read:
"Assisted project" does not include a project for which the Public Utilities Commission 
approved a term sheet or contract or otherwise provided project-specific authorization or 
approval pursuant to Title 35-A on or before June 29, 2021 or a project that is participating 
in net energy billing and that meets the requirements of Title 35-A, section 3209-A, 
subsection 7 or Title 35-A, section 3209-B.
Sec. 2.  35-A MRSA §3209-A, as amended by PL 2023, c. 230, §1 and c. 411, §2, 
is repealed.
Sec. 3.  35-A MRSA §3209-B, as amended by PL 2023, c. 411, §§3 and 4, is 
repealed.
Sec. 4.  35-A MRSA §3209-C, as enacted by PL 2023, c. 411, §5 and corrected by 
RR 2023, c. 2, Pt. A, §55, is repealed.
Sec. 5.  35-A MRSA §3209-D, sub-§1, ¶A, as enacted by PL 2023, c. 411, §6, is 
repealed and the following enacted in its place:
A.  "Distributed generation resource" means an electric generating facility that uses a 
renewable fuel or technology under section 3210, subsection 2, paragraph B‑3, is 
located in the service territory of a transmission and distribution utility in the State, has 
a nameplate capacity of at least one megawatt and not more than 2 megawatts and:  
(1) Is a member of a cluster study conducted by the transmission and distribution 
utility with which the distributed generation resource is seeking to interconnect; or
(2) Received required transmission approval from the New England independent 
system operator on or before April 30, 2024.
Sec. 6.  35-A MRSA §3209-D, sub-§5, as enacted by PL 2023, c. 411, §6, is 
repealed.
Sec. 7.  35-A MRSA §3209-E, as enacted by PL 2023, c. 411, §7, is repealed.
Sec. 8.  35-A MRSA §3209-F is enacted to read:
§3209-F.  Net energy billing requirement prohibited
The commission may not by rule or order require a transmission and distribution utility 
to allow a customer to participate in net energy billing. For the purposes of this section, 
"net energy billing" means a billing and metering practice under which a customer of a 
transmission and distribution utility has the ability to receive a bill credit or other 
adjustment of the customer's transmission and distribution service bill by delivering 
electricity to the transmission and distribution utility from an electric generating facility 
owned or operated by that customer or in which that customer has a financial interest that 
is located in the service territory of the transmission and distribution utility in the State.
Sec. 9.  35-A MRSA §3214, sub-§2, ¶B, as amended by PL 2023, c. 230, §2, is 
further amended to read:
B.  Set initial funding for programs based on an assessment of aggregate customer need 
in periodic rate cases.  The funding formula may not result in assistance being counted 
as income or as a resource in other means-tested assistance programs for low-income 
households.  To the extent possible, assistance must be provided in a manner most 
likely to prevent the loss of other federal assistance; and.
Sec. 10.  35-A MRSA §3214, sub-§2, ¶C, as enacted by PL 2023, c. 230, §2, is 
repealed.
Sec. 11.  35-A MRSA §3623, sub-§3, ¶C, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 604, §3, is 
amended to read:
C.  Satisfy the limits on net generating capacity established in subsection 2, paragraph 
A; and
Sec. 12.  35-A MRSA §3623, sub-§3, ¶D, as amended by PL 2023, c. 353, §5, is 
further amended to read:
D.  Be highly efficient, as determined by the commission on a technology-specific 
basis; and.
Sec. 13.  35-A MRSA §3623, sub-§3, ¶E, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 604, §3, is 
repealed.
Sec. 14.  36 MRSA §655, sub-§1, ¶V, as enacted by PL 2023, c. 682, §3, is 
amended to read:
V.  For property tax years beginning on or after April 1, 2025, solar energy equipment 
that generates heat or electricity if: all of the energy is used on the site where the 
property is located.
(1)  All of the energy is used on the site where the property is located;
(2)  The equipment 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
(3)  All of the energy is transmitted through the facilities of a transmission and 
distribution utility and a utility customer or customers receive a utility bill credit 
for the energy generated by the equipment pursuant to Title 35‑A, section 3209‑A 
or 3209‑B and the generator of electricity entered into a fully executed 
interconnection agreement with a transmission and distribution utility prior to June 
1, 2024.
On or before April 1st of the first property tax year for which a taxpayer claims an 
exemption under this paragraph, the taxpayer claiming the exemption shall file a report 
with the assessor.  The report must identify the property for which the exemption is 
claimed and must be made on a form prescribed by the State Tax Assessor or a 
substitute form approved by the State Tax Assessor.  The State Tax Assessor shall 
furnish copies of the form to each municipality in the State and make the forms 
available to taxpayers.
Sec. 15.  36 MRSA §656, sub-§1, ¶L, as enacted by PL 2023, c. 682, §5, is 
amended to read:
L.  For property tax years beginning on or after April 1, 2025, solar energy equipment 
that generates heat or electricity if: all of the energy is used on the site where the 
property is located.
(1)  All of the energy is used on the site where the property is located;
(2)  The equipment 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
(3)  All of the energy is transmitted through the facilities of a transmission and 
distribution utility and a utility customer or customers receive a utility bill credit 
for the energy generated by the equipment pursuant to Title 35‑A, section 3209‑A 
or 3209‑B and the generator of electricity entered into a fully executed 
interconnection agreement with a transmission and distribution utility prior to June 
1, 2024.
On or before April 1st of the first property tax year for which a taxpayer claims an 
exemption under this paragraph, the taxpayer claiming the exemption shall file a report 
with the assessor.  The report must identify the property for which the exemption is 
claimed and must be made on a form prescribed by the State Tax Assessor or a 
substitute form approved by the State Tax Assessor.  The State Tax Assessor shall 
furnish copies of the form to each municipality in the State and make the forms 
available to taxpayers.
Sec. 16.  36 MRSA §1760, sub-§80, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 286, §1, is repealed.
SUMMARY
This bill repeals the laws that authorize the Public Utilities Commission to adopt rules 
governing net energy billing and that direct the commission to establish a net energy billing 
program for commercial and institutional customers of investor-owned transmission and 
distribution utilities. It prohibits the commission from adopting rules that require a 
transmission and distribution utility to allow a customer to participate in net energy billing. 
The bill also amends the laws that reference the net energy billing programs repealed by 
this bill, including repealing the provisions of law that provide for real estate and personal 
property tax exemptions for solar energy equipment used in connection with net energy 
billing customers.