Code of Vermont Rules › Agency 30 - PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION › Sub-Agency 000 - GENERAL › Chapter 048 - 5.100 CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATION OF NET METERING SYSTEMS › Section 30 000 048 - 5.100 CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATION OF NET METERING SYSTEMS

Current through June, 2024
Section 5.101 Purpose
			 and Scope
This rule establishes the standards and procedures
				governing application for, and issuance or revocation of, a
				certificate of public good for net metering systems under the
				provisions of
				30 V.S.A §§
											219a,
				219b and
				248.
				This rule also incorporates the technical specifications related to
				interconnection requirements and safety standards for net metering
				systems.
This rule is applicable to all net metered
				installations in Vermont, and applies to every person, firm, company,
				corporation and municipality engaged in the construction or operation
				of any net metering system which is or shall become subject to the
				jurisdiction of this Board.
Section 5.102 Definitions
For
				the purposes of this rule, the following definitions apply:
(A) "Account" means a unique
			 identifier assigned by the serving electric utility to a customer for
			 billing purposes. A customer account may include one or more
			 meters.
(B) "Billing
			 Meter" means an electric meter that measures the consumption of
			 electricity by a utility customer.
(C) "Board" means the Public
			 Service Board of the State of Vermont.
(D) "Conditional waiver of a
			 criterion of
			 30
			 V.S.A. §
											248 " means that the
			 requirements for the presentation of evidence under the criterion, a
			 specific review of the project by the Board under the criterion, and
			 the development of specific findings of facts for the criterion by
			 the Board will be waived, unless any party, or the Board on its own
			 motion, raises, and the Board finds that the application raises, a
			 significant issue under the criterion.
(E) "Customer" means a retail
			 electric consumer.
(F)
			 "Department" means the Department of Public Service of the State of
			 Vermont.
(G) "Facility"
			 means a structure or piece of equipment and associated machinery and
			 fixtures that generates electricity. A group of structures or pieces
			 of equipment shall be considered one facility if it uses the same
			 fuel source and infrastructure and is located in close proximity.
			 Common ownership shall be relevant but not sufficient to determine
			 that such a group constitutes a facility.
(H) "Group net metering" means a
			 group of customers, or a single customer with multiple electric
			 meters, located within the same electric company service territory,
			 where the customer or customers have elected to combine meters in
			 order to offset that billing against a net-metered system.
(I) "kW" means kilowatt or
			 kilowatts (AC).
(J) "kWh"
			 means kilowatt hours.
(K)
			 "Net metering" means measuring the difference between the electricity
			 supplied to a customer and the electricity fed back by a net metering
			 system(s) during the customer's billing period.
(L) "Net metering system" means a
			 facility, as defined in this subsection, that is no more than 500 kW
			 capacity; operates in parallel with facilities of the electric
			 distribution system; is intended primarily to offset part or all of
			 the customer's or group's own electricity requirements; is located on
			 the customer's or a member of the group's premises; and employs a
			 renewable energy source produced using a technology that relies on a
			 resource that is being consumed at a harvest rate at or below its
			 natural regeneration rate pursuant to
			 30 V.S.A. §
											8002(2); or is a
			 combined heat and power system with a capacity up to 20 kW that meets
			 the definition of a combined heat and power facility under 10 V.S.A.
			 § 6523(b)(2). A net metering customer or group may employ one or
			 more net metering systems.
(M) "Net Metering Technical
			 Specifications" mean the technical and safety requirements for
			 interconnection of net metering systems with electric companies'
			 distribution systems as attached in Appendix A (Tables 1 through 5).
			 From time to time, the Board may, after opportunity for comment, by
			 rule amendment or order, modify or revise the
			 specifications.
(N) "Peak
			 Demand" means the highest monthly peak reported in either the
			 electric company's FERC form 1, page 401b, column (d); or the
			 electric company's Electric Annual Report to the Vermont Department
			 of Public Service for the Year End, page E-8, column (b).
(O) "Production Meter" means an
			 electric meter that measures the amount of kWh produced by a
			 net-metered generation source.
(P) "Net Metering Application Form"
			 means the current Board application form for net metering systems in
			 effect at the time the form is filed. From time to time the Board may
			 modify or revise such application form.
(Q) "Net Metering Registration
			 Form" means the current Board registration form for net-metered
			 photovoltaic systems in effect at the time the form is filed. From
			 time to time the Board may modify or revise such registration
			 form.
(R) "Residential rate" means the kWh rate component of the
				serving utility's general residential rate schedule that consists of
				two rate components: a service charge and a kWh rate, excluding
				time-of-use and demand rates. If a utility's general residential rate
				schedule includes inclining block rates, the residential rate shall
				be the highest of those block rates.
(S) "Technical evidentiary hearing"
			 means a quasi-judicial proceeding, under the Board's Rules of
			 Practice, where all parties have opportunity to present evidence and
			 to cross-examine witnesses presented by other parties.
(T) "Time-of-Use Meter" means an
			 electric meter that measures the consumption of electricity at the
			 time it is consumed.