General Assembly Raised Bill No. 860
January Session, 2017 LCO No. 3889
*03889_______ET_*
Referred to Committee on ENERGY AND TECHNOLOGY
Introduced by:
(ET)
General Assembly
Raised Bill No. 860
January Session, 2017
LCO No. 3889
*03889_______ET_*
Referred to Committee on ENERGY AND TECHNOLOGY
Introduced by:
(ET)
AN ACT CONCERNING CONTRACTS FOR ZERO EMISSION RENEWABLE ENERGY CREDITS AND LOW-EMISSION RENEWABLE ENERGY CREDITS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (c) of section 16-244r of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2017):
(c) (1) The aggregate procurement of renewable energy credits by electric distribution companies pursuant to this section shall (A) be eight million dollars in the first year, and (B) increase by an additional eight million dollars per year in years two to four, inclusive.
(2) After year four, the authority shall review contracts entered into pursuant to this section and if the cost of the technologies included in such contracts have been reduced, the authority shall seek to enter new contracts for the total of six years.
(3) After year six, the authority shall seek to enter new contracts for the total of seven years.
(A) The aggregate procurement of renewable energy credits by electric distribution companies pursuant to this subdivision shall (i) increase by an additional eight million dollars per year in years five, [and] six and seven, (ii) be [forty-eight] fifty-six million dollars in years [seven] eight to fifteen, inclusive, and (iii) decline by eight million dollars per year in years sixteen to [twenty-one] twenty-two, inclusive, provided any money not allocated in any given year may roll into the next year's available funds.
(B) For the sixth and seventh year [solicitation] solicitations, each electric distribution company shall solicit and file with the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority for its approval one or more long-term contracts with owners or developers of Class I generation projects that: (i) Emit no pollutants and that are less than one thousand kilowatts in size, located on the customer side of the revenue meter and serve the distribution system of the electric distribution company, provided such contracts do not exceed fifty per cent of the dollar amount established for [year] years six and seven under subparagraph (A) of this subdivision; and (ii) are less than two megawatts in size, located on the customer side of the revenue meter, serve the distribution system of the electric distribution company, and use Class I technologies that have no emissions of no more than 0.07 pounds per megawatt-hour of nitrogen oxides, 0.10 pounds per megawatt-hour of carbon monoxide, 0.02 pounds per megawatt-hour of volatile organic compounds, and one grain per one hundred standard cubic feet, provided such contracts do not exceed fifty per cent of the dollar amount established for [year] years six and seven under subparagraph (A) of this subdivision. The authority may give a preference to contracts for technologies manufactured, researched or developed in the state.
[(3)] (4) The production of a megawatt hour of electricity from a Class I renewable energy source first placed in service on or after July 1, 2011, shall create one renewable energy credit. A renewable energy credit shall have an effective life covering the year in which the credit was created and the following calendar year. The obligation to purchase renewable energy credits shall be apportioned to electric distribution companies based on their respective distribution system loads at the commencement of the procurement period, as determined by the authority. For contracts entered into in calendar year 2012, an electric distribution company shall not be required to enter into a contract that provides a payment of more than three hundred fifty dollars, per renewable energy credit in any year over the term of the contract. For contracts entered into in calendar years 2013 to [2017] 2018, inclusive, at least ninety days before each annual electric distribution company solicitation, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority may lower the renewable energy credit price cap specified in this subsection by three to seven per cent annually, during each of the [six] seven years of the program over the term of the contract. In the course of lowering such price cap applicable to each annual solicitation, the authority shall, after notice and opportunity for public comment, consider such factors as the actual bid results from the most recent electric distribution company solicitation and reasonably foreseeable reductions in the cost of eligible technologies.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2017 16-244r(c)
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1
July 1, 2017
16-244r(c)
Statement of Purpose:
To require electric distribution companies to solicit long-term contracts for zero emission renewable energy credits and low-emission renewable energy credits for an additional year.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]