Amendment ID: S1973-18-R1

Redraft Amendment 18

Solar Incentive Program

Mr. Downing, Ms. Chang-Diaz and Mr. Pacheco move to amend the bill by inserting after section 1 the following 7 sections:-

“SECTION 1A. Section 3 of chapter 25A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the definition of “Commissioner” the following definition:-

“Community-shared solar facility”, a Class I, Class II or Class III net metering facility, as defined in section 138 of chapter 164 of the General Laws, with 3 or more eligible recipients of net metering credits; provided, however, that not more than 50 per cent of the credits produced by the facility shall be allocated to 2 such recipients; and provided further, that each of the remaining recipients shall receive not more than the amount of credits produced annually by 25 kW AC capacity.

SECTION IB. Said chapter 25A is further amended by inserting after section 11I the following section:-

Section 11J. (a) The department shall develop a solar incentive program to encourage continued development of solar photovoltaic technology by residential, commercial, governmental and industrial electricity customers throughout the commonwealth. The goal shall be to develop a sustainable long-term framework that effectively balances promoting clean energy and costs to ratepayers.

(b) After notice and opportunity for public comment, the department shall, prior to the installation of 1600 megawatts, or MW, of solar capacity in the commonwealth, promulgate rules and regulations to implement an incentive program structure which: (i) promotes the orderly transition to a stable, equitable and self-sustaining solar market in which the solar incentive levels are equivalent to those offered in broader renewable programs available in the commonwealth; (ii) considers underlying system costs including, but not limited to, module costs, balance of system costs, installation costs and soft costs; (iii) takes into account electricity revenues and any federal or state incentives;  (iv) relies on market-based mechanisms and price signals as much as possible to set incentive levels; (v) minimizes direct and indirect program costs and barriers; (vi) features a known or easily estimated budget to achieve program goals through the use of an adjustable block incentive framework or other stable, declining incentive framework; (vii) differentiates incentive levels to support diverse installation types that provide unique benefits which may include differentiation by utility service territory; (viii) promotes energy justice and equitable access to the benefits of solar energy, including support of community-shared solar projects; (ix) promotes investor confidence through long-term incentive revenue certainty and market stability; and (x) is adaptable to changing market conditions.

(c) The department shall ensure that onsite solar renewable generating sources qualified under subsection (g) of section 11F and applicable regulations shall continue to be subject to and receive the benefits conferred under programs established under said subsection (g). For purposes of this subsection, “qualified” shall mean an eligible renewable energy source that has received either a statement of qualification or an assurance of qualification from the department as those terms are defined in 225 CMR 14.00  prior to any regulation adopted under this section.

(d) The department may develop incentives to promote the equitable growth of solar generation across service territories or a mechanism to share the costs of solar generation across service territories prior to the development of a new solar program established pursuant to subsection (b).

SECTION 1C.  Section 138 of chapter 164 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the definition of “Renewable energy” the following definition:-

“Solar net metering credit” a credit equal to the excess kilowatt-hours by time of use billing period, if applicable, multiplied by the sum of the distribution company’s: (i) default service kilowatt-hour charge in the ISO-NE load zone where the customer is located; (ii) distribution kilowatt-hour charge; (iii) transmission kilowatt-hour charge; and (iv) transition kilowatt-hour charge; provided, however, that “solar net metering credit” shall not include the demand side management and renewable energy kilowatt-hour charges set forth in sections 19 and 20 of chapter 25.  The department may adjust the distribution kilowatt-hour charge after public notification and hearing.

SECTION 1D. Section 139 of said chapter 164, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after subsection (b) the following subsection:

(b ½) A solar net metering facility, for which less than 67 per cent of its electrical energy on an annual basis is used by an onsite load, that submits an application to the system of assurance under subsection (g) after December 31, 2016 shall generate solar net metering credits.  If the electricity generated by a solar net metering facility during a billing period exceeds the customer’s kilowatt-hour usage during the billing period, the customer shall be billed for 0 kilowatt-hour usage and the excess solar net metering credits shall be credited to the customer’s account. Credits may be carried forward from month to month. A solar net metering facility may designate customers of the same distribution company to which the net metering facility is interconnected and that are located in the same ISO-NE load zone to receive such credits in amounts attributed to such customers by the solar net metering facility. Written notice of the identities of the customers so designated and the amounts of the credits to be attributed to those customers shall be in such form as the distribution company shall reasonably require.  In the instance of a class III solar net metering facility, a distribution company may elect not to allocate such credits and instead may purchase solar net metering credits from the facility at the rates provided in this section.

SECTION IE. Said section 139 of said chapter 164, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in lines 45 and 47, the words “or Class III” and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following words:-  , Class III or solar.

SECTION IF. Said section 139 of said chapter 164, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by of striking out subsection (f) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:-

(f) The aggregate net metering capacity for solar net metering facilities shall be 1600 megawatts of installed solar capacity, shared across each distribution company’s service territory. The maximum amount of generating capacity eligible for net metering by a municipality or other governmental entity shall be 10 megawatts.

SECTION IG. Said chapter 139 of said chapter 164 is hereby further amended by striking out subsection (f), inserted by section 1F, and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:-

(f) No aggregate net metering cap shall apply to solar net metering facilities with the exception that the maximum amount of generating capacity eligible for net metering by a municipality or other governmental entity shall be 10 megawatts.”; and

by adding the following section:-

SECTION 10. Section 1G shall take effect upon the installation of 1600 megawatts of solar capacity in the commonwealth.