Budget Amendment ID: FY2023-S4-862

OTH 862

Energy Services

Mr. Collins moved that the proposed new text be amended in section 3, SECTION 1. Section 134(a) of chapter 164 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2018 official edition, is hereby amended by striking out the last two sentences of the first paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following:

Such municipality or group of municipalities may enter into agreements for services to facilitate the sale and purchase of electric energy and other related services such as renewable energy credits, all of which may be considered contracts for energy or energy related services under clause thirty-three of subsection (b) of section 1 of chapter 30B. Such service agreements may be entered into by a single city, town, county, or by a group of cities, towns, or counties.

SECTION 2. Section 134(a) is hereby further amended by striking out the last sentence of the fourth paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following:

The department shall approve any plan submitted that substantially complies with and is consistent with this subsection, without any additional conditions or required modifications to the plan.  Failure to disapprove a plan submitted hereunder within 60 days of its submission date shall constitute approval thereof. Prior to its decision, the department shall conduct a public hearing.  If the department rejects a plan the municipality or group of municipalities may revise the plan to address the department’s stated reasons for the rejection and if such revised plan is submitted within thirty days of the department’s denial order, the municipality or group of municipalities shall not be required to consult with the department of energy resources regarding the revised plan or submit the revised plan for public review.   The department must review and approve, approve subject to modification, or reject any such revised plan within thirty days.  Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, the municipality or group of municipalities shall have full authority and discretion to design the municipal aggregation program operations, including, without limitation, the program funding levels, use of program funds, rates, supply terms, timing of program start, product offerings, contract terms and conditions for electric energy and energy related services and general customer education regarding the program, and, for so long as the load aggregation program is in existence, change any aspect of program administration or implementation without need to revise, amend or refile such aggregation plan with the department for approval provided that all such program administration and implementation is consistent with the requirements for load aggregation set forth in this subsection and does not otherwise violate the laws of the Commonwealth.  The department shall not direct or otherwise require revisions to an approved plan without first providing the municipality or group of municipalities notice and opportunity for a full and fair hearing.  The competitive supplier providing generation service to retail customers of an aggregation shall be exempt from the quarterly information disclosure requirements set forth in 220 CMR 11.06(4)(c) if the plan includes an alternative means for providing retail customers participating in the aggregation with the same information regarding the fuel mix, emissions, and labor characteristics of its energy supply.

SECTION 3. Section 134(a) is hereby further amended by inserting before the last sentence of the fifth paragraph the following:

After the initial automatic enrollment of customers upon the establishment of a load aggregation program in accordance with this subsection, the subsequent enrollment of new customers or accounts in the service territory of the aggregator shall be governed by the terms for such enrollment set forth in the aggregator’s plan.

SECTION 4. Section 134(a) is hereby further amended by inserting after the first sentence of the sixth paragraph the following:

To facilitate such automatic enrollment and ratepayer notification, the electric distribution company shall provide to each municipality the name and mailing addresses for all electric accounts within the municipality that are not otherwise receiving generation service from a competitive supplier.

SECTION 5. Section 134(a) is hereby further amended by inserting at the end of the sixth paragraph the following:

After obtaining approval of its plan, the aggregated entity may, at its discretion, mail information and educational materials regarding its plan to each ratepayer within the municipality. To enable such mailing, the electric distribution company shall provide to such municipality a current list of the names, mailing addresses, and service addresses of all electric customers taking distribution service within the municipality.

SECTION 6. The terms of sections 1 through 5 shall be applicable to plans pending before the department as of the effective date and the department must issue an order on such plans within 90 days of the effective date.