Code of Maine Rules › 95 - INDEPENDENT AGENCIES › 648 - EFFICIENCY MAINE TRUST › Chapter 2 - ADMINISTRATION OF TRUST, BUDGETING, PROJECT SELECTION CRITERIA AND PROCEDURES, MONITORING, AND EVALUATION REQUIREMENTS › Section 648-2-5 - THRESHOLD CRITERIA FOR PROPOSAL SCREENING

Current through 2024-29, July 17, 2024
A.
				Programs or Projects Designed to Reduce Electricity Consumption
1. Modified Societal Test. Eligibility to be
				considered for funding pursuant to section 4(A) of this Chapter for a program
				or project designed to reduce kilowatt-hour consumption shall be determined by
				means of this subsection. Electricity conservation programs that are reasonably
				likely to have a positive net present value will be deemed to have passed the
				threshold test for eligibility to compete for funding by the Trust. Costs and
				benefits will be considered regardless of whether they are paid or experienced
				by the participant, the Trust or any other individual, business, government
				agency or other entity.
2. Program
				Benefits. The test that is applicable for screening applications for Trust
				funding is a modified societal test under which program benefits include,
				without limitation, the following:
a.
				Electric generation costs that will not be incurred as a result of the program
				or project. These include energy and capacity costs, using estimates of market
				prices and adjusting for line losses. These estimates may be differentiated by
				time periods that influence market prices, including but not limited to peak
				and off-peak periods and summer and winter periods;
b. Transmission and distribution costs that
				will not be incurred as a result of the program or project, using estimates of
				transmission and distribution utility marginal transmission and distribution
				costs. These estimates may be differentiated by time periods that influence
				costs;
c. Fossil fuel costs that
				will not be incurred as a result of the program or project, using estimated
				savings in oil, gas or other fossil fuel use at estimated fossil fuel
				prices;
d. Other resource benefits,
				such as reduced water and sewer costs; and
e. Non-resource benefits such as reduced
				operations and maintenance costs, job training opportunities and workforce
				development, general economic development and environmental benefits, to the
				extent that such benefits can be accurately and reasonably quantified and
				attributed to the program or project.
3. Program Costs. Program costs will include
				the following:
a. Direct program costs,
				including program design, administration, implementation, marketing, evaluation
				and other reasonably identifiable costs associated with the program or
				project;
b. Measure costs, such as
				the incremental costs of an energy efficiency measure, including installation,
				over an equivalent baseline measurement, in the case of new construction or
				replacement programs. In the case of retrofit programs, measure costs are the
				full costs of the energy efficiency measure, including installation, less any
				salvage value for the replaced measure; and
c. Ongoing customer costs, including costs
				such as increased operation and maintenance costs and lost economic development
				opportunities, to the extent that such costs can be accurately and reasonably
				quantified and attributed to the program or project.
4. Net Present Value. Satisfaction of the
				modified societal test shall be determined based on the net present value of
				the costs and benefits over the expected life of each measure. The discount
				rate used for present value calculations shall be the current yield of
				long-term U.S. Treasury securities (ten years or more), adjusted for
				inflation.
5. Post-program effects.
				For those programs or projects that are expected to influence the development
				of self-sustaining markets, calculations under this section will be for a
				reasonable additional period after the program is terminated in order to
				capture post-program market effects.