Maryland 2022 Regular Session

Maryland House Bill HB1261 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2
3	3	EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTIN G LAW.
4	4	[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
5	5	hb1261
6	6
7	7	HOUSE BILL 1261
8	8	C5, M5 2lr1454
9	9	CF SB 733
10	10	By: Delegate Queen
11	11	Introduced and read first time: February 11, 2022
12	12	Assigned to: Economic Matters
13	13
14	14	A BILL ENTITLED
15	15
16	16	AN ACT concerning 1
17	17
18	18	Community Solar Energy Generating Systems Pilot Program – Alterations 2
19	19
20	20	FOR the purpose of repealing the requirement that a community solar energy generating 3
21	21	system be located in the same electric service territory as a subscriber for the 4
22	22	subscriber to receive monthly electric bill credits; requiring the Public Service 5
23	23	Commission to require an electric company to file a revised tariff and protocol related 6
24	24	to the application of bill credits by a certain date; and generally relating to the 7
25	25	Community Solar Energy Generating Systems Pilot Program. 8
26	26
27	27	BY renumbering 9
28	28	Article – Public Utilities 10
29	29	Section 7–306.2(f) and (g), respectively 11
30	30	to be Section 7–306.2(g) and (h), respectively 12
31	31	Annotated Code of Maryland 13
32	32	(2020 Replacement Volume and 2021 Supplement) 14
33	33
34	34	BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 15
35	35	Article – Public Utilities 16
36	36	Section 7–306.2(a) 17
37	37	Annotated Code of Maryland 18
38	38	(2020 Replacement Volume and 2021 Supplement) 19
39	39
40	40	BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 20
41	41	Article – Public Utilities 21
42	42	Section 7–306.2(b) and (d)(1), (5), and (6) 22
43	43	Annotated Code of Maryland 23
44	44	(2020 Replacement Volume and 2021 Supplement) 24
45	45
46	46	BY adding to 25
47	47	Article – Public Utilities 26
48	48	Section 7–306.2(f) 27 2 HOUSE BILL 1261
49	49
50	50
51	51	Annotated Code of Maryland 1
52	52	(2020 Replacement Volume and 2021 Supplement) 2
53	53
54	54	SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 3
55	55	That Section(s) 7–306.2(f) and (g), respectively, of Article – Public Utilities of the Annotated 4
56	56	Code of Maryland be renumbered to be Section(s) 7–306.2(g) and (h), respectively. 5
57	57
58	58	SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That the Laws of Maryland read 6
59	59	as follows: 7
60	60
61	61	Article – Public Utilities 8
62	62
63	63	7–306.2. 9
64	64
65	65	(a) (1) In this section the following words have the meanings indicated. 10
66	66
67	67	(2) “Baseline annual usage” means: 11
68	68
69	69	(i) a subscriber’s accumulated electricity use in kilowatt–hours for 12
70	70	the 12 months before the subscriber’s most recent subscription; or 13
71	71
72	72	(ii) for a subscriber that does not have a record of 12 months of 14
73	73	electricity use at the time of the subscriber’s most recent subscription, an estimate of the 15
74	74	subscriber’s accumulated 12 months of electricity use in kilowatt–hours, determined in a 16
75	75	manner the Commission approves. 17
76	76
77	77	(3) “Community solar energy generating system” means a solar energy 18
78	78	system that: 19
79	79
80	80	(i) is connected to the electric distribution grid serving the State; 20
81	81
82	82	(ii) [is located in the same electric service territory as its subscribers; 21
83	83
84	84	(iii)] is attached to the electric meter of a subscriber or is a separate 22
85	85	facility with its own electric meter; 23
86	86
87	87	[(iv)] (III) credits its generated electricity, or the value of its 24
88	88	generated electricity, to the bills of the subscribers to that system through virtual net 25
89	89	energy metering; 26
90	90
91	91	[(v)] (IV) has at least two subscribers but no limit to the maximum 27
92	92	number of subscribers; 28
93	93
94	94	[(vi)] (V) does not have subscriptions larger than 200 kilowatts 29
95	95	constituting more than 60% of its subscriptions; 30
96	96	HOUSE BILL 1261 3
97	97
98	98
99	99	[(vii)] (VI) has a generating capacity that does not exceed 2 1
100	100	megawatts as measured by the alternating current rating of the system’s inverter; and 2
101	101
102	102	[(viii)] (VII) may be owned by any person. 3
103	103
104	104	(4) “Program” means the Community Solar Energy Generating Systems 4
105	105	Pilot Program. 5
106	106
107	107	(5) “Subscriber” means a retail customer of an electric company that: 6
108	108
109	109	(i) holds a subscription to a community solar energy generating 7
110	110	system; and 8
111	111
112	112	(ii) has identified one or more individual meters or accounts to which 9
113	113	the subscription shall be attributed. 10
114	114
115	115	(6) “Subscriber organization” means: 11
116	116
117	117	(i) a person that owns or operates a communi ty solar energy 12
118	118	generating system; or 13
119	119
120	120	(ii) the collective group of subscribers of a community solar energy 14
121	121	generating system. 15
122	122
123	123	(7) “Subscription” means the portion of the electricity generated by a 16
124	124	community solar energy generating system that is credited to a subscriber. 17
125	125
126	126	(8) “Unsubscribed energy” means any community solar energy generating 18
127	127	system output in kilowatt–hours that is not allocated to any subscriber. 19
128	128
129	129	(9) “Virtual net energy metering” means measurement of the difference 20
130	130	between the kilowatt–hours or value of electricity that is supplied by an electric company 21
131	131	and the kilowatt–hours or value of electricity attributable to a subscription to a community 22
132	132	solar energy generating system and fed back to the electric grid over the subscriber’s billing 23
133	133	period, as calculated under the tariffs established under subsection (e)(2) of this section. 24
134	134
135	135	(b) The General Assembly finds that: 25
136	136
137	137	(1) community solar energy generating systems: 26
138	138
139	139	(i) provide residents and businesses, including those that lease 27
140	140	property, increased access to local solar electricity while encouraging private investment in 28
141	141	solar resources; 29
142	142
143	143	(ii) enhance continued diversification of the State’s energy resource 30
144	144	mix to achieve the State’s renewable energy portfolio standard and Greenhouse Gas 31
145	145	Emissions Reduction Act goals; and 32 4 HOUSE BILL 1261
146	146
147	147
148	148
149	149	(iii) provide electric companies and ratepayers the opportunity to 1
150	150	realize the many benefits associated with distributed energy; and 2
151	151
152	152	(2) it is in the public interest that the State enable the development and 3
153	153	deployment of energy generation from community solar energy generating systems in order 4
154	154	to: 5
155	155
156	156	(i) allow renters and low–income and moderate–income retail 6
157	157	electric customers to own an interest in a community solar energy generating system; 7
158	158
159	159	(ii) facilitate market entry for all potential subscribers while giving 8
160	160	priority to subscribers who are the most sensitive to market barriers; and 9
161	161
162	162	(iii) encourage developers to promote participation by renters and 10
163	163	low–income and moderate–income retail electric customers. 11
164	164
165	165	(d) (1) (i) The Commission shall establish a pilot program for a Community 12
166	166	Solar Energy Generating System Program. 13
167	167
168	168	(ii) The structure of the pilot program is as provided in this 14
169	169	subsection. 15
170	170
171	171	(5) An electric company shall use the tariff structure under subsection 16
172	172	(e)(2) of this section to provide each subscriber with the credits. 17
173	173
174	174	(6) A subscriber may not receive credit for virtual net excess generation 18
175	175	that exceeds 200% of the subscriber’s baseline annual usage. 19
176	176
177	177	(F) (1) ON OR BEFORE NOVEMBER 1, 2022, THE COMMISSION SHALL 20
178	178	DIRECT AN ELECTRIC C OMPANY PARTICIPATING IN THE PROGRAM TO FILE A 21
179	179	REVISED TARIFF AND P ROTOCOL PROVIDING FO R THE APPLICATION OF MONTHLY 22
180	180	ELECTRIC BILL CREDIT S TO THE BILL OF A SUBSCRIBER REGARDLESS OF WHETHER 23
181	181	THE COMMUNITY SOLAR EN ERGY GENERATING SYST EM IS LOCATED IN THE SAME 24
182	182	ELECTRIC SERVICE TER RITORY AS THE SUBSCR IBER. 25
183	183
184	184	(2) ON OR BEFORE JANUARY 31, 2023, THE COMMISSION SHALL 26
185	185	APPROVE OR AMEND AND APPROVE THE TARIFFS AND PROTOCOLS REQUIR ED 27
186	186	UNDER PARAGRAPH (1) OF THIS SUBSECTION . 28
187	187
188	188	SECTION 3. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect 29
189	189	October 1, 2022. 30
190	190