Vermont 2025-2026 Regular Session

Vermont House Bill H0155 Compare Versions

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

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1	1	BILL AS INTRODUCED H.155
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6	6	H.155 1
7	7	Introduced by Representatives Torre of Moretown, Cordes of Bristol, 2
8	8	Goldman of Rockingham, Hunter of Manchester, Lalley of 3
9	9	Shelburne, Logan of Burlington, Masland of Thetford, Morrow 4
10	10	of Weston, and Pouech of Hinesburg 5
11	11	Referred to Committee on 6
12	12	Date: 7
13	13	Subject: Public service; energy; renewable energy; solar energy; Standard 8
14	14	Offer Program 9
15	15	Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to reauthorize 10
16	16	the Standard Offer Program to award contracts for the construction of new 11
17	17	renewable energy generation projects. 12
18	18	An act relating to the Standard Offer Program 13
19	19	It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 14
20	20	Sec. 1. 30 V.S.A. § 8005a is amended to read: 15
21	21	§ 8005a. STANDARD OFFER PROGRAM 16
22	22	* * * 17
23	23	(b) Eligibility. To be eligible for a standard offer under this section, a plant 18
24	24	must constitute a qualifying small power production facility under 16 U.S.C. 19
25	25	§ 796(17)(C) and 18 C.F.R. part 292, must not be a net metering system under 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.155
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30	30	section 219a 8010 of this title, and must be a new standard offer plant. In this 1
31	31	section, “new standard offer plant” means a renewable energy plant that is 2
32	32	located in Vermont, that has a plant capacity of 2.2 MW or less, and that is 3
33	33	commissioned on or after September 30, 2009. 4
34	34	(c) Cumulative capacity. In accordance with this subsection, the 5
35	35	Commission shall issue standard offers to new standard offer plants until a 6
36	36	cumulative plant capacity amount of 127.5 227.5 MW is reached. 7
37	37	(1) Pace. Annually commencing April 1, 2013, the Commission shall 8
38	38	increase the cumulative plant capacity of the Standard Offer Program (the 9
39	39	annual increase) until the 127.5-MW 227.5-MW cumulative plant capacity of 10
40	40	this subsection is reached. 11
41	41	(A) Annual amounts. The amount of the annual increase shall be five 12
42	42	MW for the three years commencing April 1, 2013, 7.5 MW for the three years 13
43	43	commencing April 1, 2016, and 10 MW commencing April 1, 2019, and then 14
44	44	20 MW commencing April 1, 2026. 15
45	45	(B) Blocks. Each year, a portion of the annual increase shall be 16
46	46	reserved for new standard offer plants proposed by Vermont retail electricity 17
47	47	providers (the provider block), and the remainder shall be reserved for new 18
48	48	standard offer plants proposed by persons who are not providers (the 19
49	49	independent developer block). 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.155
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54	54	(i) The portion of the annual increase reserved for the provider 1
55	55	block shall be 10 percent for the three years commencing April 1, 2013, 15 2
56	56	percent for the three years commencing April 1, 2016, and 20 percent 3
57	57	commencing April 1, 2019. 4
58	58	(ii) If the provider block for a given year is not fully subscribed, 5
59	59	any unsubscribed capacity within that block shall be added to the annual 6
60	60	increase for each following year until that capacity is subscribed and shall be 7
61	61	made available to new standard offer plants proposed by persons who are not 8
62	62	providers. 9
63	63	(iii) If the independent developer block for a given year is not fully 10
64	64	subscribed, any unsubscribed capacity within that block shall be added to the 11
65	65	annual increase for each following year until that capacity is subscribed and: 12
66	66	(I) shall be made available to new standard offer plants 13
67	67	proposed by persons who are not providers; and 14
68	68	(II) may be made available to a provider following a written 15
69	69	request and specific proposal submitted to and approved by the Commission. 16
70	70	[Repealed.] 17
71	71	(C) Adjustment; greenhouse gas reduction credits. The Commission 18
72	72	shall adjust the annual increase to account for greenhouse gas reduction credits 19
73	73	by multiplying the annual increase by one minus the ratio of the prior year’s 20
74	74	greenhouse gas reduction credits to that year’s statewide retail electric sales. 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.155
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79	79	(i) The amount of the prior year’s greenhouse gas reduction 1
80	80	credits shall be determined in accordance with subdivision subsection 8006a(a) 2
81	81	of this title. 3
82	82	(ii) The adjustment in the annual increase shall be applied 4
83	83	proportionally to the independent developer block and the provider block. 5
84	84	(iii) Greenhouse gas reduction credits used to diminish a 6
85	85	provider’s obligation under section 8004 of this title may be used to adjust the 7
86	86	annual increase under this subsection (c). 8
87	87	* * * 9
88	88	(d) Plants outside cumulative capacity. The following categories of plants 10
89	89	shall not count toward the cumulative capacity amount of subsection (c) of this 11
90	90	section, and the Commission shall make standard offers available to them 12
91	91	provided that they are otherwise eligible for such offers under this section: 13
92	92	(1) Plants using methane derived from an agricultural operation. 14
93	93	(2) New standard offer plants that the Commission determines will have 15
94	94	sufficient benefits to the operation and management of the electric grid or a 16
95	95	provider’s portion thereof because of their design, characteristics, location, or 17
96	96	any other discernible benefit. To enhance the ability of new standard offer 18
97	97	plants to mitigate transmission and distribution constraints, the Commission 19
98	98	shall require Vermont retail electricity providers and companies that own or 20
99	99	operate electric transmission facilities within the State to make sufficient 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.155
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104	104	information concerning these constraints available to developers who propose 1
105	105	new standard offer plants. 2
106	106	(A) By March 1, 2013, the Commission shall develop a screening 3
107	107	framework or guidelines that will provide developers with adequate 4
108	108	information regarding constrained areas in which generation having particular 5
109	109	characteristics is reasonably likely to provide sufficient benefit to allow the 6
110	110	generation to qualify for eligibility under this subdivision (2). 7
111	111	(B) Once the Commission develops the screening framework or 8
112	112	guidelines under subdivision (2)(A) of this subsection (d), the Commission 9
113	113	shall require Vermont transmission and retail electricity providers to make the 10
114	114	necessary information publicly available in a timely manner, with updates at 11
115	115	least annually. 12
116	116	(C) Nothing in this subdivision (2) shall require the disclosure of 13
117	117	information in contravention of federal law. 14
118	118	(e) Term. The term of a standard offer required by this section shall be 10 15
119	119	to 20 years, except that the term of a standard offer for a plant using solar 16
120	120	power shall be 10 to 25 years. 17
121	121	(f) Price. The categories of renewable energy for which the Commission 18
122	122	shall set standard offer prices shall include at least each of the categories 19
123	123	established pursuant to subdivision (c)(2) of this section. The Commission by 20
124	124	order shall determine and set the price paid to a plant owner for each kWh 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.155
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129	129	generated under a standard offer required by this section, with a goal of 1
130	130	ensuring timely development at the lowest feasible cost. The Commission 2
131	131	shall not be required to make this determination as a contested case under 3
132	132	3 V.S.A. chapter 25. 4
133	133	* * * 5
134	134	(3) Price determinations. The Commission shall take all actions 6
135	135	necessary to determine the pricing mechanism and implement the pricing 7
136	136	requirements of this subsection (f) no later than on or before March 1, 2013 for 8
137	137	effect on April 1, 2013. Annually thereafter, the Commission shall review the 9
138	138	determinations previously made under this subsection to decide whether they 10
139	139	should be modified in any respect in order to achieve the goal and 11
140	140	requirements of this subsection. Any such modification shall be effective on a 12
141	141	prospective basis commencing one month after it has been made. Once a 13
142	142	pricing determination made or modified under this subsection goes into effect, 14
143	143	subsequently executed standard offer contracts shall comply with the most 15
144	144	recently effective determination. 16
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146	146	(g) Qualifying existing agricultural plants. Notwithstanding any other 18
147	147	provision of this section, on and after June 8, 2010, a standard offer shall be 19
148	148	available for a qualifying existing plant as defined in Sec. 3 of No. 159 of the 20
149	149	Acts of the 2009 Adj. Sess. (2010) (Act 159) 2010 Acts and Resolves No. 159, 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.155
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154	154	Sec. 3. The provisions of subdivision 8005(b)(2) of this title, as they existed 1
155	155	on June 4, 2010, the effective date of Act 159 2010 Acts and Resolves 2
156	156	No. 159, shall govern a standard offer under this subsection. Standard offers 3
157	157	for these plants shall not be subject to subsection (c) of this section (cumulative 4
158	158	capacity; new standard offer plants). 5
159	159	* * * 6
160	160	(s) Solar only allocations. 7
161	161	(1) Notwithstanding other provisions of this section to the contrary, 8
162	162	beginning on April 1, 2026, the Commission shall allocate the new standard 9
163	163	offer awards to new solar, wind, and hydroelectric power plants only. Of the 10
164	164	annual capacity awards under this subsection (s), two MW shall be allocated to 11
165	165	community solar projects. 12
166	166	(2) As used in this section, “community solar project” means a solar 13
167	167	plant owned by its members or an entity controlled by its members. 14
168	168	(3) The Commission shall establish a price cap on projects equal to the 15
169	169	price of the highest-cost, similarly sized solar project from the Standard Offer 16
170	170	Program from the preceding 12 months. 17
171	171	(4) If the annual allocation for community solar is not fully subscribed, 18
172	172	the Commission shall allocate the unsubscribed capacity to new standard offer 19
173	173	plants other than community solar. 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.155
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178	178	Sec. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE 1
179	179	This act shall take effect on passage. 2