2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 40 - UTILITIES (§§ 40-1-101 — 40-43-104) › PUBLIC UTILITIES (§§ 40-1-101 — 40-17.5-105) › GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE (§§ 40-1-101 — 40-9.8-104) › Article 1 - DEFINITIONS (§§ 40-1-101 — 40-1-104) › Section 40-1-103.5 - Limited exemption of master meter operators - conditions - rules

(1)
Upon its own motion or upon application by any person who purchases gas or electric service from a regulated public utility for the purpose of delivery of such service to end users whose aggregate usage is to be measured by a master meter or other composite measurement device, the commission may exempt such person from regulation of rates under the "Public Utilities Law", articles
1
to
7
of this title 40, as the commission deems appropriate, so long as all of the following conditions are met:
(a)
Such person, referred to in this section as a "master meter operator" or "MMO", does not charge the end users, as part of its billing for utility service, for any costs in addition to the actual cost billed to the MMO by the serving utility, including without limitation costs of construction, maintenance, financing, administration, metering, or billing for the utility distribution system owned by the MMO; except that this subsection (1)(a) does not apply to refunds, rebates, rate reductions, net metering credits, or similar adjustments attributable to the use of electricity generated from retail distributed generation that is located on property owned or leased by the MMO or by a customer served by the MMO;
(b)
If the MMO bills the end users separately for service, the sum of such billings does not exceed the amount billed to the MMO by the serving utility;
(c)
If the MMO bills the end users separately for service, the MMO passes on to the end users any refunds, rebates, rate reductions, or similar adjustments it receives from the serving utility;
(d)
Any other conditions deemed necessary by the commission.
(2)
In passing on refunds, rebates, rate reductions, or similar adjustments to end users, the MMO shall notify its current end users, either by first-class mail with a certificate of mailing or by inclusion in any monthly or more frequent regular written communication, of the adjustments and inform the end users that they may claim the adjustments within ninety days after receipt of the notice. The MMO may retain any portion of the adjustments that rightfully belongs to the MMO. Upon the expiration of the ninety-day claims period, the MMO shall identify any such adjustments that are unclaimed and, if the aggregate amount unclaimed exceeds one hundred dollars, the MMO shall contribute the unclaimed amount to the fund established by the legislative commission on low-income energy and water assistance pursuant to section
40-8.5-104
.
(3)
(a)
The commission shall adopt such rules as it deems necessary to implement this section.
(b)
No later than December 31, 2022, the commission shall adopt new or amended rules that would enable landlords of multi-unit buildings and tenants in multi-unit buildings to share in the production from a net metered retail distributed generation installation. In adopting rules, the commission shall consider Colorado's greenhouse gas emission reduction goals and the need to electrify buildings, transportation, and other commercial and industrial sectors to meet those goals. The commission shall also consider rules that would encourage landlords to bear the attendant costs and to retain at least a portion of the resulting benefits in addition to any other incentives the commission finds appropriate.
Amended by 2021 Ch. 488,§16, eff. 9/7/2021.
Amended by 2021 Ch. 280,§4, eff. 6/21/2021.
L. 93: Entire section added, p. 291, § 1, effective April 7. L. 2021: IP(1), (1)(a), and (3) amended, (SB 21-261), ch. 1618, p. 1618, § 4, effective June 21; (2) amended, (HB 21-1105), ch. 3507, p. 3507, § 16, effective September 7.
Section 7 of chapter 280 (SB 21-261), Session Laws of Colorado 2021, provides that the act changing this section applies to contracts for distributed generation and energy storage facilities executed on or after June 21, 2021.
2021 Ch. 488, was passed without a safety clause. See Colo. Const. art. V, § 1(3).
For the legislative declaration in SB 21-261, see section 1 of chapter 280, Session Laws of Colorado 2021.