IN
Indiana House Bill HB1581

Indiana 2025 Regular Session

Indiana House Bill HB1581 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.
OldNewDifferences
11
22 Introduced Version
33 HOUSE BILL No. 1581
44 _____
55 DIGEST OF INTRODUCED BILL
66 Citations Affected: IC 8-1-44.
77 Synopsis: Community solar facilities. Requires the Indiana utility
88 regulatory commission (commission) to adopt rules governing
99 community solar facilities not later than July 1, 2026. Provides that, not
1010 later than 180 days after adoption of the rules, an electricity provider
1111 shall begin: (1) allowing interconnection of the electricity provider's
1212 facilities with community solar facilities in which at least three of the
1313 electricity provider's customers have entered into a subscription; and
1414 (2) crediting the electricity provider's subscribing customers for the
1515 amount of electricity from the community solar facility for which the
1616 customer subscribes. Requires the commission to: (1) establish an
1717 interconnection working group composed of representatives of
1818 electricity suppliers and other stakeholders with respect to electric
1919 utility service; and (2) implement the working group's
2020 recommendations regarding creation, revision, or elimination of
2121 policies, processes, tariffs, rules, or standards relating to the
2222 interconnection of community solar facilities and electricity suppliers
2323 as necessary for transparent, accurate, and efficient implementation of
2424 community solar facilities.
2525 Effective: July 1, 2025.
2626 Hamilton, Errington
2727 January 21, 2025, read first time and referred to Committee on Utilities, Energy and
2828 Telecommunications.
2929 2025 IN 1581—LS 7319/DI 119 Introduced
3030 First Regular Session of the 124th General Assembly (2025)
3131 PRINTING CODE. Amendments: Whenever an existing statute (or a section of the Indiana
3232 Constitution) is being amended, the text of the existing provision will appear in this style type,
3333 additions will appear in this style type, and deletions will appear in this style type.
3434 Additions: Whenever a new statutory provision is being enacted (or a new constitutional
3535 provision adopted), the text of the new provision will appear in this style type. Also, the
3636 word NEW will appear in that style type in the introductory clause of each SECTION that adds
3737 a new provision to the Indiana Code or the Indiana Constitution.
3838 Conflict reconciliation: Text in a statute in this style type or this style type reconciles conflicts
3939 between statutes enacted by the 2024 Regular Session of the General Assembly.
4040 HOUSE BILL No. 1581
4141 A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning
4242 utilities.
4343 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:
4444 1 SECTION 1. IC 8-1-44 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE AS
4545 2 A NEW CHAPTER TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY
4646 3 1, 2025]:
4747 4 Chapter 44. Community Solar Facilities
4848 5 Sec. 1. The definitions in IC 8-1-40 apply throughout this
4949 6 chapter.
5050 7 Sec. 2. As used in this chapter, "community solar facility"
5151 8 means a facility:
5252 9 (1) that generates electricity by means of a photovoltaic
5353 10 device;
5454 11 (2) that is located on a single parcel of land;
5555 12 (3) that is interconnected to the electric distribution grid;
5656 13 (4) in which at least three (3) persons located in the electricity
5757 14 provider service area in which the facility is located have
5858 15 entered into a subscription;
5959 16 (5) in which at least sixty percent (60%) of the generating
6060 17 capacity is allocated to subscriptions of twenty-five (25)
6161 2025 IN 1581—LS 7319/DI 119 2
6262 1 kilowatts or less; and
6363 2 (6) that is designed to offset the energy use of a specified set of
6464 3 subscribers, with no single subscriber having more than a
6565 4 twenty percent (20%) interest in the facility.
6666 5 Sec. 3. (a) As used in this chapter, "community solar facility
6767 6 organization" means an organization whose purpose is to
6868 7 beneficially own and operate a community solar facility for the
6969 8 subscribers to the community solar facility.
7070 9 (b) A community solar facility organization may be a for-profit,
7171 10 nonprofit, cooperative, or governmental entity authorized by
7272 11 Indiana law.
7373 12 Sec. 4. As used in this chapter, "disadvantaged business
7474 13 enterprise" has the meaning set forth in IC 5-16-6.5-1.
7575 14 Sec. 5. (a) As used in this chapter, "electricity provider" means
7676 15 an entity providing retail electricity service to customers under
7777 16 IC 8-1-2.
7878 17 (b) The term does not include an entity providing retail electric
7979 18 service under IC 8-1-2.2 or IC 8-1-13.
8080 19 Sec. 6. As used in this chapter, "low or moderate income" means
8181 20 an individual or household income of not more than eighty percent
8282 21 (80%) of the area median income based on United States
8383 22 Department of Housing and Urban Development guidelines.
8484 23 Sec. 7. As used in this chapter, "nameplate capacity" has the
8585 24 meaning set forth in 170 IAC 4-4.2-1.
8686 25 Sec. 8. As used in this chapter, "subscribing customer" means
8787 26 a retail customer of an electricity provider that enters into one (1)
8888 27 or more subscriptions with one (1) or more community solar
8989 28 facilities.
9090 29 Sec. 9. As used in this chapter, "subscription" means a contract
9191 30 between a subscriber and a community solar facility organization.
9292 31 Sec. 10. Not later than one hundred eighty (180) days after the
9393 32 commission adopts rules under section 15 of this chapter, an
9494 33 electricity provider shall begin:
9595 34 (1) allowing interconnection with the electricity provider's
9696 35 facilities by community solar facilities; and
9797 36 (2) providing bill credits under section 11 of this chapter to
9898 37 subscribing customers of the electricity provider.
9999 38 Sec. 11. (a) A community solar facility organization that
100100 39 operates a community solar facility that is interconnected with the
101101 40 facilities of an electricity provider shall, not later than the fifteenth
102102 41 day of each month, transmit to the electricity provider a report
103103 42 providing the following information:
104104 2025 IN 1581—LS 7319/DI 119 3
105105 1 (1) An updated list of subscribers to the community solar
106106 2 facility in the immediately preceding month.
107107 3 (2) The proportional output of the community solar facility
108108 4 attributable to the subscription of each subscriber identified
109109 5 under subdivision (1), calculated as follows:
110110 6 (A) If the subscriber subscribed to receive a specified
111111 7 amount of electricity from the community solar facility
112112 8 during the immediately preceding month, the subscriber's
113113 9 subscription amount is the amount of electricity the
114114 10 subscriber subscribed to receive from the community solar
115115 11 facility during the immediately preceding month.
116116 12 (B) If the subscriber subscribed to receive a specified
117117 13 proportion of the community solar facility's generated
118118 14 electricity in the immediately preceding month, the
119119 15 subscriber's subscription amount equals:
120120 16 (i) the proportion of the community solar facility's
121121 17 generated electricity the subscriber subscribed to receive
122122 18 in the immediately preceding month; multiplied by
123123 19 (ii) the amount of electricity generated by the community
124124 20 solar facility in the immediately preceding month.
125125 21 (b) An electricity provider shall provide to a subscribing
126126 22 customer of the electricity provider a credit on the customer's
127127 23 electricity bill for a billing cycle that is equal to:
128128 24 (1) the total subscription amount reported for the customer by
129129 25 the community solar facility organization under subsection
130130 26 (a)(2) for the billing cycle; multiplied by
131131 27 (2) the applicable community solar credit rate established by
132132 28 the commission in rules adopted by the commission under
133133 29 section 15 of this chapter.
134134 30 If the amount of a bill credit provided to a subscribing customer
135135 31 for a billing cycle exceeds the amount of the subscribing customer's
136136 32 bill for that billing cycle, the electricity supplier shall carry over
137137 33 the amount of the excess in subsequent billing cycles until the full
138138 34 amount of the excess has been credited to the subscribing
139139 35 customer.
140140 36 (c) An electricity provider shall, not later than the fifteenth day
141141 37 of each month, electronically report the following information to
142142 38 a community solar facility organization that operates a community
143143 39 solar facility that is interconnected with the electricity provider's
144144 40 facilities:
145145 41 (1) The proportional output of the community solar facility
146146 42 attributable to the subscription of each subscriber to the
147147 2025 IN 1581—LS 7319/DI 119 4
148148 1 community solar facility.
149149 2 (2) The bill credit provided to each subscriber to the
150150 3 community solar facility under subsection (a)(2) for the
151151 4 immediately preceding billing cycle.
152152 5 (3) The applicable community solar credit rate established by
153153 6 the commission in rules adopted by the commission under
154154 7 section 15 of this chapter.
155155 8 (d) An electricity provider shall provide bill credits under this
156156 9 section to a subscribing customer of the electricity provider for the
157157 10 life of the community solar facility to which the customer
158158 11 subscribes.
159159 12 Sec. 12. An electricity provider may not change the terms of
160160 13 service of a subscribing customer of the electricity provider on the
161161 14 basis of the subscribing customer's subscription in a community
162162 15 solar facility.
163163 16 Sec. 13. All environmental attributes of a community solar
164164 17 facility, including renewable energy certificates, are property of
165165 18 the owner of the community solar facility.
166166 19 Sec. 14. A community solar facility is eligible for any incentive
167167 20 programs offered to such facilities under applicable state or federal
168168 21 law.
169169 22 Sec. 15. (a) Not later than July 1, 2026, the commission shall
170170 23 adopt rules under IC 4-22-2 necessary for the administration of
171171 24 this chapter.
172172 25 (b) The rules adopted by the commission under this section
173173 26 must:
174174 27 (1) be consistent with the state policy expressed in
175175 28 IC 8-1-2-0.6;
176176 29 (2) establish the solar credit rate or rates to be used for
177177 30 purposes of section 11 of this chapter, which must be
178178 31 calculated to:
179179 32 (A) allow for all classes of retail electric customers to
180180 33 realize tangible economic benefits from subscribing to
181181 34 community solar facilities; and
182182 35 (B) create a viable financial market for community solar
183183 36 development;
184184 37 (3) establish uniform fees, standards, and processes for
185185 38 interconnection that:
186186 39 (A) are nondiscriminatory and not unreasonably
187187 40 burdensome for operators of community solar facilities;
188188 41 and
189189 42 (B) allow an electricity provider to recover reasonable
190190 2025 IN 1581—LS 7319/DI 119 5
191191 1 costs of interconnecting the electricity provider's facilities
192192 2 with a community solar facility;
193193 3 (4) provide for recovery by an electricity provider of
194194 4 reasonable administrative costs associated with the electricity
195195 5 provider's provision of bill credits to the electricity provider's
196196 6 subscribing customers under section 11 of this chapter;
197197 7 (5) include mechanisms to ensure that low or moderate
198198 8 income households are able to realize tangible economic
199199 9 benefits from subscribing to community solar facilities;
200200 10 (6) provide for:
201201 11 (A) transferability of a subscription; and
202202 12 (B) portability of a subscription such that the bill credit of
203203 13 a subscribing customer of an electricity provider under
204204 14 section 11 of this chapter is not affected by the subscribing
205205 15 customer's relocation within the service area of the
206206 16 electricity provider;
207207 17 (7) address whether, and conditions under which, multiple
208208 18 community solar facilities may be co-located on a single
209209 19 parcel;
210210 20 (8) provide that a community solar facility may not have a
211211 21 nameplate capacity greater than five (5) megawatts AC;
212212 22 (9) require a community solar facility organization to submit
213213 23 an annual report to the commission, in a form determined by
214214 24 the commission, that:
215215 25 (A) identifies the ownership, management, and operator
216216 26 of;
217217 27 (B) provides statistical results regarding; and
218218 28 (C) describes the community solar facility organization's
219219 29 future plans for;
220220 30 each community solar facility operated by the community
221221 31 solar facility organization;
222222 32 (10) require implementation by community solar facility
223223 33 organizations of local hiring preferences for disadvantaged
224224 34 business enterprises in a manner that meets or exceeds
225225 35 standards for disadvantaged business enterprise engagement
226226 36 in United States Department of Transportation Special
227227 37 Experimental Project No. 14 (SEP-14) for Federal Highway
228228 38 Administration and Federal Transit Administration
229229 39 contracts; and
230230 40 (11) establish consumer protection standards with regard to
231231 41 subscriptions to community solar facilities.
232232 42 (c) In addition to rules adopted under subsection (b), the
233233 2025 IN 1581—LS 7319/DI 119 6
234234 1 commission may adopt any other rules the commission considers
235235 2 appropriate or necessary for the administration of this chapter,
236236 3 including rules regarding the following:
237237 4 (1) The maximum proportion that the total nameplate
238238 5 capacity of all community solar facilities statewide may bear
239239 6 to statewide peak electricity demand, expressed as a
240240 7 percentage of the statewide peak electricity demand.
241241 8 (2) A minimum or maximum proportion of the nameplate
242242 9 capacity of a community solar facility that may be allocated
243243 10 to a specified customer class of electricity providers.
244244 11 (3) A minimum proportion of the nameplate capacity of a
245245 12 community solar facility that may be allocated to low or
246246 13 moderate income households.
247247 14 Sec. 16. Notwithstanding any other law:
248248 15 (1) a community solar facility organization is not a public
249249 16 utility subject to IC 8-1-2 solely as a result of the community
250250 17 solar facility organization's ownership or operation of a
251251 18 community solar facility; and
252252 19 (2) a subscriber is not a public utility subject to IC 8-1-2 solely
253253 20 as a result of the subscriber's subscription in a community
254254 21 solar facility.
255255 22 Sec. 17. (a) As used in this section, "working group" refers to
256256 23 the interconnection working group established under subsection
257257 24 (b).
258258 25 (b) Not later than October 1, 2025, the commission shall
259259 26 establish an interconnection working group composed of:
260260 27 (1) representatives of electricity suppliers; and
261261 28 (2) other stakeholders with respect to electric utility service.
262262 29 (c) The chairman of the commission, or the chairman's designee,
263263 30 serves:
264264 31 (1) as the chair; and
265265 32 (2) as a nonvoting member;
266266 33 of the working group.
267267 34 (d) The working group shall meet at the call of the working
268268 35 group's chair.
269269 36 (e) A majority of the members of the working group constitutes
270270 37 a quorum.
271271 38 (f) A member of the working group who is a member of the
272272 39 general assembly is a nonvoting member of the working group.
273273 40 (g) The affirmative vote of a majority of the voting members of
274274 41 the working group is required for the working group to take action
275275 42 on any measure, including adoption of the report under subsection
276276 2025 IN 1581—LS 7319/DI 119 7
277277 1 (m).
278278 2 (h) The commission shall staff and provide oversight for the
279279 3 working group.
280280 4 (i) Except as provided under subsection (l), the expenses of the
281281 5 working group shall be paid from funds appropriated to the
282282 6 commission.
283283 7 (j) A member of the working group who is not a state employee
284284 8 is not entitled to the minimum salary per diem provided by
285285 9 IC 4-10-11-2.1(b). The member is, however, entitled to
286286 10 reimbursement for mileage and traveling expenses as provided
287287 11 under IC 4-13-1-4 and other expenses actually incurred in
288288 12 connection with the member's duties as provided in the state
289289 13 policies and procedures established by the Indiana department of
290290 14 administration and approved by the budget agency.
291291 15 (k) Each member of the working group who is a state employee,
292292 16 but who is not a member of the general assembly, is entitled to
293293 17 reimbursement for mileage and traveling expenses as provided
294294 18 under IC 4-13-1-4 and other expenses actually incurred in
295295 19 connection with the member's duties as provided in the state
296296 20 policies and procedures established by the Indiana department of
297297 21 administration and approved by the budget agency.
298298 22 (l) Each member of the working group who is a member of the
299299 23 general assembly is entitled to receive the same per diem, mileage,
300300 24 and travel allowances paid to legislative members of interim study
301301 25 committees established by the legislative council. Per diem,
302302 26 mileage, and travel allowances paid under this section shall be paid
303303 27 from appropriations made to the legislative council or the
304304 28 legislative services agency.
305305 29 (m) The working group shall:
306306 30 (1) review policies, processes, tariffs, rules, and standards
307307 31 relating to the interconnection of community solar facilities
308308 32 and electricity suppliers; and
309309 33 (2) not later than March 31, 2026, submit to the commission
310310 34 a report containing the working group's recommendations
311311 35 regarding creation, revision, or elimination of policies,
312312 36 processes, tariffs, rules, or standards relating to the
313313 37 interconnection of community solar facilities and electricity
314314 38 suppliers as necessary for transparent, accurate, and efficient
315315 39 implementation of this chapter.
316316 40 (n) Not later than October 1, 2026, the commission shall adopt
317317 41 regulations necessary to implement the recommendations
318318 42 contained in the working group's report under subsection (m).
319319 2025 IN 1581—LS 7319/DI 119 8
320320 1 (o) This section expires January 1, 2027.
321321 2025 IN 1581—LS 7319/DI 119