Reference is to Printer's Date 3/7/18-H.
Amend the bill, as and if amended, Section 58-40-20, as contained in SECTION 4, Page 4421-11, beginning on Line 9, by striking SECTION 4 in its entirety and inserting:
/ SECTION 4. Section 58-40-20 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 58-40-20.
(A) Net energy metering rates approved
by the commission under the terms of this chapter
shall must be the exclusive net energy
metering rates available to customer-generators. Upon
commission approval, such the net energy
metering rates shall supersede all prior net energy metering
rates. Customer-generators whose net energy metering facilities
were energized prior to the availability of net energy metering
rates approved by the commission under the terms of this chapter
may remain in historic net energy metering programs through
December 31, 2020. Customer-generators whose net metering
facilities were energized prior to the effective date of this
act under net energy metering rates approved by the commission
pursuant to the terms of this chapter and in Order 2015-194 may
remain in effect through December 31, 2025.
(B) An electrical
utility shall make net energy metering available to
customer-generators on a first-come, first-served basis until
the total nameplate generating capacity of net energy metering
systems equals two four percent of the
previous five-year average of the electrical utility's South
Carolina retail peak demand. No An
electrical utility shall must not be
required to approve any an application
for interconnection from net energy metering customer-generators
if the total rated generating capacity of all applications for
interconnection from net energy metering customer-generators
already approved to date by the electrical utility equals or
exceeds two four percent of the previous
five-year average of the electrical utility's South Carolina
retail peak demand.
(C) If determined to be
prudent by the commission, the electrical utility may furnish,
install, own, and maintain metering equipment needed to measure
the kilowatt-hours purchased by the customer-generator from the
utility, the kilowatt-hours generated or delivered to the
electrical utility, and, if applicable under the utility's
tariffs, to measure the kilowatt demand delivered by the
electrical utility to the customer-generator. The electrical
utility shall have has the right to
install special metering and load research devices on the
customer-generator's equipment and the right to use the
customer-generator's communication devices for communication
with electrical utility's and the customer-generator's
equipment.
(D) The net electrical
energy measurement shall must be
calculated in the following manner:
(1)
For a customer-generator, an electrical utility shall
measure the net electrical energy produced or consumed during
the billing period in accordance with normal metering practices
for customers in the same rate class, either by employing a
single, bidirectional meter that measures the amount of
electrical energy produced and consumed, or by employing
multiple meters that separately measure the customer-generator's
consumption and production of electricity;.
Each kilowatt-hour of electricity generated by the
customer-generator must be valued, accounted for, and credited
at the utility's avoided cost;
(2)
If the electricity supplied by the electrical utility
exceeds the electricity generated by the customer-generator
during a billing period, the customer-generator
shall must be billed for the net
electricity supplied by the electrical utility in accordance
with normal practices for customers in the same rate class;
(3)
Any energy generated by the customer-generator
that which exceeds the energy supplied
by the electrical utility during a billing period
shall must not be used to offset the
nonvolumetric electricity charges for that billing period;
(4)
The utility shall maintain an account of any net excess
kWh credits accruing from the customer-generator's excess
generation and allow those kWh credits to be used to offset the
customer-generator's energy usage during future billing periods
at the utility's avoided cost. Annually, the utility
shall pay the customer-generator for any accrued net excess
generation at the utility's avoided cost for qualified
facilities, zeroing out the customer-generator's account of net
excess kWh credits.
(E) Each electrical
utility shall submit an annual net metering report to the Public
Service Commission, with a copy to the Office of Regulatory
Staff, including the following information for the previous
calendar year:
(1)
the total number of customer-generator facilities;
(2)
the estimated gross generating capacity of its net-metered
customer-generators;
(3)
the estimated net kilowatt hours received from
customer-generators.
(F) Any and all costs
prudently incurred pursuant to the provisions of this chapter by
an electrical utility as approved by the commission and any and
all commission approved benefits conferred by a
customer-generator shall must be
recoverable by each entity respectively in the electrical
utility's rates in accordance with these provisions:
(1)
The electrical utility's general rates, tariffs, and any
additional monthly charges or credits, in addition to any other
charges or credits authorized by law, to recover the costs and
confer the benefits of net energy metering shall include
such the measures necessary to ensure
that the electrical utility recovers its cost of providing
electrical service to customer-generators and customers who are
not customer-generators.
(2)
Any charges or credits prescribed in item (1), and the
terms and conditions under which they may be assessed
shall must be in accordance with a
methodology established through the proceeding described in item
(4). The methodology shall must be
supported by an analysis and calculation of the relative
benefits and costs of customer generation to the electrical
utility, the customer-generators, and those customers of the
electrical utility that who are not
customer-generators.
(3)
Upon approval of the methodology provided for in item (4),
each electrical utility shall file its analysis of the net cost
to serve customer-generators using the approved methodology and
shall propose new net energy metering rates.
(4)
No later than thirty days after the enactment of this act,
the commission shall initiate a generic proceeding for purposes
of implementing the requirements of this chapter with respect to
the net energy metering rates, tariffs, charges, and credits of
electrical utilities, specifically to establish the methodology
to set any necessary charges and credits as required under items
(1) and (2). All interested parties shall
must be allowed to participate. In its notice initiating
such the proceeding, the
commission must require the electrical utilities to propose
methodologies required by item (1) and shall allow intervening
parties to propose methodologies required by item (2). The
Office of Regulatory Staff, pursuant to the requirements of
Section 58-4-50, shall represent the public interest in this
proceeding and shall serve as a facilitator to resolve disputes
and issues between the parties to this proceeding.
(5)
In evaluating the benefits and costs of customer
generation as required by item (2), and the methodology for
calculating such the benefits and costs,
the Office of Regulatory Staff may engage third parties with
relevant prior experience conducting distributed generation
cost-benefit studies. The cost of any experts and consultants
engaged by the Office of Regulatory Staff for purposes of this
proceeding shall must be assessed to the
electrical utilities pro rata based on their five-year average
of retail peak demand and shall be are
recoverable by those electrical utilities through the base rate
for fuel costs established pursuant to Section 58-27-865.
(6)
In the event that the commission
determines that future benefits from net energy metering are
properly reflected in net metering rates because they provide
quantifiable benefits to the utility system, its customers, or
both, and to the degree such these
benefits then are not then being
recovered by the electrical utility in its base rates, then
such the future benefits
shall must be deemed an avoided cost and
shall be are recoverable pursuant to
Section 58-27-865 by the electrical utility as an incremental
cost of the distributed energy resource program.
(7)
Notwithstanding another provision of law,
customers of the utility who are not customer-generators are not
required to subsidize the costs of customer-generators.
(G) In no event
shall the net energy metering provisions of this chapter be
construed as allowing customer-generators to engage in meter
aggregation, group/joint group or joint
billing projects, and/or or virtual net
metering.
(H) The commission
shall approve an electrical utility's proposed net energy
metering rates that meet the requirements of this chapter,
provided that the commission has previously
approved that electrical utility's application to participate in
a distributed energy resource program pursuant to Chapter 39,
Title 58." /
Amend the bill further, as and if amended, by adding an appropriately numbered SECTION to read:
/ SECTION ___. Section 58-40-10 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding an appropriately lettered subsection at the end to read:
"( ) 'Avoided costs' means payments for purchases of electricity made according to an electrical utility's most recently approved or established avoided cost rates in this State or rates negotiated pursuant to PURPA in the year the costs are incurred, for purchases of electricity from qualifying facilities pursuant to Section 210 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act, the costs are to be calculated as set forth in Section 58-39-140(A)(1)." /
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.