BILL AS INTRODUCED S.57
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S.57 1
Introduced by Senators Watson, Bongartz, Lyons and White 2
Referred to Committee on 3
Date: 4
Subject: Public service; energy; renewable energy; solar energy; Standard 5
Offer Program 6
Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to reauthorize 7
the Standard Offer Program to award contracts for the construction of new 8
renewable energy generation projects. 9
An act relating to the Standard Offer Program 10
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 11
Sec. 1. 30 V.S.A. § 8005a is amended to read: 12
§ 8005a. STANDARD OFFER PROGRAM 13
* * * 14
(b) Eligibility. To be eligible for a standard offer under this section, a plant 15
must constitute a qualifying small power production facility under 16 U.S.C. 16
§ 796(17)(C) and 18 C.F.R. part 292, must not be a net metering system under 17
section 219a 8010 of this title, and must be a new standard offer plant. In this 18
section, “new standard offer plant” means a renewable energy plant that is 19 BILL AS INTRODUCED S.57
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located in Vermont, that has a plant capacity of 2.2 MW or less, and that is 1
commissioned on or after September 30, 2009. 2
(c) Cumulative capacity. In accordance with this subsection, the 3
Commission shall issue standard offers to new standard offer plants until a 4
cumulative plant capacity amount of 127.5 227.5 MW is reached. 5
(1) Pace. Annually commencing April 1, 2013, the Commission shall 6
increase the cumulative plant capacity of the Standard Offer Program (the 7
annual increase) until the 127.5-MW 227.5-MW cumulative plant capacity of 8
this subsection is reached. 9
(A) Annual amounts. The amount of the annual increase shall be five 10
MW for the three years commencing April 1, 2013, 7.5 MW for the three years 11
commencing April 1, 2016, and 10 MW commencing April 1, 2019, and then 12
20 MW commencing April 1, 2026. 13
(B) Blocks. Each year, a portion of the annual increase shall be 14
reserved for new standard offer plants proposed by Vermont retail electricity 15
providers (the provider block), and the remainder shall be reserved for new 16
standard offer plants proposed by persons who are not providers (the 17
independent developer block). 18
(i) The portion of the annual increase reserved for the provider 19
block shall be 10 percent for the three years commencing April 1, 2013, 15 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED S.57
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percent for the three years commencing April 1, 2016, and 20 percent 1
commencing April 1, 2019. 2
(ii) If the provider block for a given year is not fully subscribed, 3
any unsubscribed capacity within that block shall be added to the annual 4
increase for each following year until that capacity is subscribed and shall be 5
made available to new standard offer plants proposed by persons who are not 6
providers. 7
(iii) If the independent developer block for a given year is not fully 8
subscribed, any unsubscribed capacity within that block shall be added to the 9
annual increase for each following year until that capacity is subscribed and: 10
(I) shall be made available to new standard offer plants 11
proposed by persons who are not providers; and 12
(II) may be made available to a provider following a written 13
request and specific proposal submitted to and approved by the Commission. 14
[Repealed.] 15
(C) Adjustment; greenhouse gas reduction credits. The Commission 16
shall adjust the annual increase to account for greenhouse gas reduction credits 17
by multiplying the annual increase by one minus the ratio of the prior year’s 18
greenhouse gas reduction credits to that year’s statewide retail electric sales. 19 BILL AS INTRODUCED S.57
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(i) The amount of the prior year’s greenhouse gas reduction 1
credits shall be determined in accordance with subdivision subsection 8006a(a) 2
of this title. 3
(ii) The adjustment in the annual increase shall be applied 4
proportionally to the independent developer block and the provider block. 5
(iii) Greenhouse gas reduction credits used to diminish a 6
provider’s obligation under section 8004 of this title may be used to adjust the 7
annual increase under this subsection (c). 8
* * * 9
(d) Plants outside cumulative capacity. The following categories of plants 10
shall not count toward the cumulative capacity amount of subsection (c) of this 11
section, and the Commission shall make standard offers available to them 12
provided that they are otherwise eligible for such offers under this section: 13
(1) Plants using methane derived from an agricultural operation. 14
(2) New standard offer plants that the Commission determines will have 15
sufficient benefits to the operation and management of the electric grid or a 16
provider’s portion thereof because of their design, characteristics, location, or 17
any other discernible benefit. To enhance the ability of new standard offer 18
plants to mitigate transmission and distribution constraints, the Commission 19
shall require Vermont retail electricity providers and companies that own or 20
operate electric transmission facilities within the State to make sufficient 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED S.57
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information concerning these constraints available to developers who propose 1
new standard offer plants. 2
(A) By March 1, 2013, the Commission shall develop a screening 3
framework or guidelines that will provide developers with adequate 4
information regarding constrained areas in which generation having particular 5
characteristics is reasonably likely to provide sufficient benefit to allow the 6
generation to qualify for eligibility under this subdivision (2). 7
(B) Once the Commission develops the screening framework or 8
guidelines under subdivision (2)(A) of this subsection (d), the Commission 9
shall require Vermont transmission and retail electricity providers to make the 10
necessary information publicly available in a timely manner, with updates at 11
least annually. 12
(C) Nothing in this subdivision (2) shall require the disclosure of 13
information in contravention of federal law. 14
(e) Term. The term of a standard offer required by this section shall be 10 15
to 20 years, except that the term of a standard offer for a plant using solar 16
power shall be 10 to 25 years. 17
(f) Price. The categories of renewable energy for which the Commission 18
shall set standard offer prices shall include at least each of the categories 19
established pursuant to subdivision (c)(2) of this section. The Commission by 20
order shall determine and set the price paid to a plant owner for each kWh 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED S.57
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generated under a standard offer required by this section, with a goal of 1
ensuring timely development at the lowest feasible cost. The Commission 2
shall not be required to make this determination as a contested case under 3
3 V.S.A. chapter 25. 4
* * * 5
(3) Price determinations. The Commission shall take all actions 6
necessary to determine the pricing mechanism and implement the pricing 7
requirements of this subsection (f) no later than on or before March 1, 2013 for 8
effect on April 1, 2013. Annually thereafter, the Commission shall review the 9
determinations previously made under this subsection to decide whether they 10
should be modified in any respect in order to achieve the goal and 11
requirements of this subsection. Any such modification shall be effective on a 12
prospective basis commencing one month after it has been made. Once a 13
pricing determination made or modified under this subsection goes into effect, 14
subsequently executed standard offer contracts shall comply with the most 15
recently effective determination. 16
* * * 17
(g) Qualifying existing agricultural plants. Notwithstanding any other 18
provision of this section, on and after June 8, 2010, a standard offer shall be 19
available for a qualifying existing plant as defined in Sec. 3 of No. 159 of the 20
Acts of the 2009 Adj. Sess. (2010) (Act 159) 2010 Acts and Resolves No. 159, 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED S.57
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Sec. 3. The provisions of subdivision 8005(b)(2) of this title, as they existed 1
on June 4, 2010, the effective date of Act 159 2010 Acts and Resolves 2
No. 159, shall govern a standard offer under this subsection. Standard offers 3
for these plants shall not be subject to subsection (c) of this section (cumulative 4
capacity; new standard offer plants). 5
* * * 6
(s) Solar only allocations. 7
(1) Notwithstanding other provisions of this section to the contrary, 8
beginning on April 1, 2026, the Commission shall allocate the new standard 9
offer awards to new solar, wind, and hydroelectric power plants only. Of the 10
annual capacity awards under this subsection (s), two MW shall be allocated to 11
community solar projects. 12
(2) As used in this section, “community solar project” means a solar 13
plant owned by its members or an entity controlled by its members. 14
(3) The Commission shall establish a price cap on projects equal to the 15
price of the highest-cost, similarly sized solar project from the Standard Offer 16
Program from the preceding 12 months. 17
(4) If the annual allocation for community solar is not fully subscribed, 18
the Commission shall allocate the unsubscribed capacity to new standard offer 19
plants other than community solar. 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED S.57
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Sec. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE 1
This act shall take effect on passage. 2