1     
INDEPENDENT ENERGY PRODUCER AMENDMENTS

2     
2016 GENERAL SESSION

3     
STATE OF UTAH

4     
Chief Sponsor: Francis D. Gibson

5     
Senate Sponsor: Wayne A. Harper

6     

7     LONG TITLE
8     General Description:
9          This bill amends provisions related to an independent energy producer.
10     Highlighted Provisions:
11          This bill:
12          ▸     exempts, from regulation by the Public Service Commission as a public utility,
13     under certain conditions, an independent energy producer that provides energy to a
14     residential customer participating in a net metering program in an area served by an
15     electrical corporation with more than 200,000 retail customers in the state;
16          ▸     provides that an agreement between an independent energy producer and a customer
17     shall contain certain provisions; and
18          ▸     provides that a public utility is obligated to serve a customer in the public utility's
19     service area that is partially served by an independent energy producer.
20     Money Appropriated in this Bill:
21          None
22     Other Special Clauses:
23          None
24     Utah Code Sections Affected:
25     AMENDS:
26          54-2-1, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2014, Chapters 20, 381, and 388
27          54-15-108, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2014, Chapter 381
28     ENACTS:
29          54-2-201, Utah Code Annotated 1953

30     

31     Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
32          Section 1. Section 54-2-1 is amended to read:
33          54-2-1. Definitions.
34          As used in this title:
35          (1) "Avoided costs" means the incremental costs to an electrical corporation of electric
36     energy or capacity or both that, due to the purchase of electric energy or capacity or both from
37     small power production or cogeneration facilities, the electrical corporation would not have to
38     generate itself or purchase from another electrical corporation.
39          (2) "Cogeneration facility":
40          (a) means a facility that produces:
41          (i) electric energy; and
42          (ii) steam or forms of useful energy, including heat, that are used for industrial,
43     commercial, heating, or cooling purposes; and
44          (b) is a qualifying cogeneration facility under federal law.
45          (3) "Commission" means the Public Service Commission of Utah.
46          (4) "Commissioner" means a member of the commission.
47          (5) (a) "Corporation" includes an association and a joint stock company having any
48     powers or privileges not possessed by individuals or partnerships.
49          (b) "Corporation" does not include towns, cities, counties, conservancy districts,
50     improvement districts, or other governmental units created or organized under any general or
51     special law of this state.
52          (6) "Distribution electrical cooperative" includes an electrical corporation that:
53          (a) is a cooperative;
54          (b) conducts a business that includes the retail distribution of electricity the cooperative
55     purchases or generates for the cooperative's members; and
56          (c) is required to allocate or distribute savings in excess of additions to reserves and
57     surplus on the basis of patronage to the cooperative's:

58          (i) members; or
59          (ii) patrons.
60          (7) (a) "Electrical corporation" includes every corporation, cooperative association, and
61     person, their lessees, trustees, and receivers, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any
62     electric plant, or in any way furnishing electric power for public service or to its consumers or
63     members for domestic, commercial, or industrial use, within this state.
64          (b) "Electrical corporation" does not include:
65          (i) an independent energy producer;
66          (ii) where electricity is generated on or distributed by the producer solely for the
67     producer's own use, or the use of the producer's tenants, or the use of members of an
68     association of unit owners formed under Title 57, Chapter 8, Condominium Ownership Act,
69     and not for sale to the public generally;
70          (iii) an eligible customer who provides electricity for the eligible customer's own use or
71     the use of the eligible customer's tenant or affiliate; or
72          (iv) a nonutility energy supplier who sells or provides electricity to:
73          (A) an eligible customer who has transferred the eligible customer's service to the
74     nonutility energy supplier in accordance with Section 54-3-32; or
75          (B) the eligible customer's tenant or affiliate.
76          (c) "Electrical corporation" does not include an entity that sells electric vehicle battery
77     charging services, unless the entity conducts another activity in the state that subjects the entity
78     to the jurisdiction and regulation of the commission as an electrical corporation.
79          (8) "Electric plant" includes all real estate, fixtures, and personal property owned,
80     controlled, operated, or managed in connection with or to facilitate the production, generation,
81     transmission, delivery, or furnishing of electricity for light, heat, or power, and all conduits,
82     ducts, or other devices, materials, apparatus, or property for containing, holding, or carrying
83     conductors used or to be used for the transmission of electricity for light, heat, or power.
84          (9) "Eligible customer" means a person who:
85          (a) on December 31, 2013:

86          (i) was a customer of a public utility that, on December 31, 2013, had more than
87     200,000 retail customers in this state; and
88          (ii) owned an electric plant that is an electric generation plant that, on December 31,
89     2013, had a generation name plate capacity of greater than 150 megawatts; and
90          (b) produces electricity:
91          (i) from a qualifying power production facility for sale to a public utility in this state;
92          (ii) primarily for the eligible customer's own use; or
93          (iii) for the use of the eligible customer's tenant or affiliate.
94          (10) "Eligible customer's tenant or affiliate" means one or more tenants or affiliates:
95          (a) of an eligible customer; and
96          (b) who are primarily engaged in an activity:
97          (i) related to the eligible customer's core mining or industrial businesses; and
98          (ii) performed on real property that is:
99          (A) within a 25-mile radius of the electric plant described in Subsection (9)(a)(ii); and
100          (B) owned by, controlled by, or under common control with, the eligible customer.
101          (11) "Gas corporation" includes every corporation and person, their lessees, trustees,
102     and receivers, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any gas plant for public service
103     within this state or for the selling or furnishing of natural gas to any consumer or consumers
104     within the state for domestic, commercial, or industrial use, except in the situation that:
105          (a) gas is made or produced on, and distributed by the maker or producer through,
106     private property:
107          (i) solely for the maker's or producer's own use or the use of the maker's or producer's
108     tenants; and
109          (ii) not for sale to others;
110          (b) gas is compressed on private property solely for the owner's own use or the use of
111     the owner's employees as a motor vehicle fuel; or
112          (c) gas is compressed by a retailer of motor vehicle fuel on the retailer's property solely
113     for sale as a motor vehicle fuel.

114          (12) "Gas plant" includes all real estate, fixtures, and personal property owned,
115     controlled, operated, or managed in connection with or to facilitate the production, generation,
116     transmission, delivery, or furnishing of gas, natural or manufactured, for light, heat, or power.
117          (13) "Heat corporation" includes every corporation and person, their lessees, trustees,
118     and receivers, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any heating plant for public service
119     within this state.
120          (14) (a) "Heating plant" includes all real estate, fixtures, machinery, appliances, and
121     personal property controlled, operated, or managed in connection with or to facilitate the
122     production, generation, transmission, delivery, or furnishing of artificial heat.
123          (b) "Heating plant" does not include either small power production facilities or
124     cogeneration facilities.
125          (15) "Independent energy producer" means every electrical corporation, person,
126     corporation, or government entity, their lessees, trustees, or receivers, that own, operate,
127     control, or manage an independent power production or cogeneration facility.
128          (16) "Independent power production facility" means a facility that:
129          (a) produces electric energy solely by the use, as a primary energy source, of biomass,
130     waste, a renewable resource, a geothermal resource, or any combination of the preceding
131     sources; or
132          (b) is a qualifying power production facility.
133          (17) "Nonutility energy supplier" means a person that:
134          (a) has received market-based rate authority from the Federal Energy Regulatory
135     Commission in accordance with 16 U.S.C. Sec. 824d, 18 C.F.R. Part 35, Filing of Rate
136     Schedules and Tariffs, or applicable Federal Energy Regulatory Commission orders; or
137          (b) owns, leases, operates, or manages an electric plant that is an electric generation
138     plant that:
139          (i) has a capacity of greater than 100 megawatts; and
140          (ii) is hosted on the site of an eligible customer that consumes the output of the electric
141     plant, in whole or in part, for the eligible customer's own use or the use of the eligible

142     customer's tenant or affiliate.
143          (18) "Private telecommunications system" includes all facilities for the transmission of
144     signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, messages, data, or other information of any nature by
145     wire, radio, lightwaves, or other electromagnetic means, excluding mobile radio facilities, that
146     are owned, controlled, operated, or managed by a corporation or person, including their lessees,
147     trustees, receivers, or trustees appointed by any court, for the use of that corporation or person
148     and not for the shared use with or resale to any other corporation or person on a regular basis.
149          (19) (a) "Public utility" includes every railroad corporation, gas corporation, electrical
150     corporation, distribution electrical cooperative, wholesale electrical cooperative, telephone
151     corporation, telegraph corporation, water corporation, sewerage corporation, heat corporation,
152     and independent energy producer not described in [Subsection (19)(d),] Section 54-2-201
153     where the service is performed for, or the commodity delivered to, the public generally, or in
154     the case of a gas corporation or electrical corporation where the gas or electricity is sold or
155     furnished to any member or consumers within the state for domestic, commercial, or industrial
156     use.
157          (b) (i) If any railroad corporation, gas corporation, electrical corporation, telephone
158     corporation, telegraph corporation, water corporation, sewerage corporation, heat corporation,
159     or independent energy producer not described in [Subsection (19)(d)] Section 54-2-201,
160     performs a service for or delivers a commodity to the public, it is considered to be a public
161     utility, subject to the jurisdiction and regulation of the commission and this title.
162          (ii) If a gas corporation, independent energy producer not described in [Subsection
163     (19)(d)] Section 54-2-201, or electrical corporation sells or furnishes gas or electricity to any
164     member or consumers within the state, for domestic, commercial, or industrial use, for which
165     any compensation or payment is received, it is considered to be a public utility, subject to the
166     jurisdiction and regulation of the commission and this title.
167          (c) Any corporation or person not engaged in business exclusively as a public utility as
168     defined in this section is governed by this title in respect only to the public utility owned,
169     controlled, operated, or managed by the corporation or person, and not in respect to any other

170     business or pursuit.
171          [(d) An independent energy producer is exempt from the jurisdiction and regulations of
172     the commission with respect to an independent power production facility if it meets the
173     requirements of Subsection (19)(d)(i), (ii), (iii), or (iv), or any combination of these:]
174          [(i) the commodity or service is produced or delivered, or both, by an independent
175     energy producer solely for a use described in Subsections (7)(b)(ii) through (iv) or for the use
176     of state-owned facilities;]
177          [(ii) the commodity or service is sold by an independent energy producer solely to an
178     electrical corporation or other wholesale purchaser;]
179          [(iii) (A) the commodity or service produced or delivered by the independent energy
180     producer is delivered to an entity that controls, is controlled by, or affiliated with the
181     independent energy producer or to a user located on real property managed or controlled by the
182     independent energy producer; and]
183          [(B) the real property on which the service or commodity is used is contiguous to real
184     property that is owned or controlled by the independent energy producer or is separated only by
185     a public road or an easement for a public road; or]
186          [(iv) the independent energy producer:]
187          [(A) supplies energy for direct consumption by a customer that is:]
188          [(I) a United States governmental entity, including an entity of the United States
189     military, or a county, municipality, city, town, other political subdivision, local district, special
190     service district, state institution of higher education, school district, charter school, or any
191     entity within the state system of public education; or]
192          [(II) an entity qualifying as a charitable organization under 26 U.S.C. Sec. 501(c)(3)
193     operated for religious, charitable, or educational purposes that is exempt from federal income
194     tax and able to demonstrate its tax-exempt status;]
195          [(B) supplies energy to the customer through use of a customer generation system, as
196     defined in Section 54-15-102, for use on the real property where the customer generation
197     system is located;]

198          [(C) supplies energy using a customer generation system designed to supply the lesser
199     of:]
200          [(I) no more than 90% of the average annual consumption of electricity by the
201     customer at that site, based on an annualized billing period; or]
202          [(II) the maximum size allowable under net metering provisions, defined in Section
203     54-15-102;]
204          [(D) notifies the customer before installing the customer generation system of:]
205          [(I) all costs the customer is required to pay for the customer generation system,
206     including any interconnection costs; and]
207          [(II) the potential for future changes in amounts paid by the customer for energy
208     received from the public utility and the possibility of changes to the customer fees or charges to
209     the customer associated with net metering and generation;]
210          [(E) enters into and performs in accordance with an interconnection agreement with a
211     public utility providing retail electric service where the real property on which the customer
212     generation system is located, with the rates, terms, and conditions of the retail service and
213     interconnection agreement subject to approval by the governing authority of the public utility,
214     as defined in Subsection 54-15-102(8); and]
215          [(F) installs the relevant customer generation system by December 31, 2021.]
216          [(e)] (d) Any person or corporation defined as an electrical corporation or public utility
217     under this section may continue to serve its existing customers subject to any order or future
218     determination of the commission in reference to the right to serve those customers.
219          [(f)] (e) (i) "Public utility" does not include any person that is otherwise considered a
220     public utility under this Subsection (19) solely because of that person's ownership of an interest
221     in an electric plant, cogeneration facility, or small power production facility in this state if all of
222     the following conditions are met:
223          (A) the ownership interest in the electric plant, cogeneration facility, or small power
224     production facility is leased to:
225          (I) a public utility, and that lease has been approved by the commission;

226          (II) a person or government entity that is exempt from commission regulation as a
227     public utility; or
228          (III) a combination of Subsections (19)[(f)](e)(i)(A)(I) and (II);
229          (B) the lessor of the ownership interest identified in Subsection (19)[(f)](e)(i)(A) is:
230          (I) primarily engaged in a business other than the business of a public utility; or
231          (II) a person whose total equity or beneficial ownership is held directly or indirectly by
232     another person engaged in a business other than the business of a public utility; and
233          (C) the rent reserved under the lease does not include any amount based on or
234     determined by revenues or income of the lessee.
235          (ii) Any person that is exempt from classification as a public utility under Subsection
236     (19)[(f)](e)(i) shall continue to be so exempt from classification following termination of the
237     lessee's right to possession or use of the electric plant for so long as the former lessor does not
238     operate the electric plant or sell electricity from the electric plant. If the former lessor operates
239     the electric plant or sells electricity, the former lessor shall continue to be so exempt for a
240     period of 90 days following termination, or for a longer period that is ordered by the
241     commission. This period may not exceed one year. A change in rates that would otherwise
242     require commission approval may not be effective during the 90-day or extended period
243     without commission approval.
244          [(g)] (f) "Public utility" does not include any person that provides financing for, but has
245     no ownership interest in an electric plant, small power production facility, or cogeneration
246     facility. In the event of a foreclosure in which an ownership interest in an electric plant, small
247     power production facility, or cogeneration facility is transferred to a third-party financer of an
248     electric plant, small power production facility, or cogeneration facility, then that third-party
249     financer is exempt from classification as a public utility for 90 days following the foreclosure,
250     or for a longer period that is ordered by the commission. This period may not exceed one year.
251          [(h)] (g) (i) The distribution or transportation of natural gas for use as a motor vehicle
252     fuel does not cause the distributor or transporter to be a "public utility," unless the commission,
253     after notice and a public hearing, determines by rule that it is in the public interest to regulate

254     the distributers or transporters, but the retail sale alone of compressed natural gas as a motor
255     vehicle fuel may not cause the seller to be a "public utility."
256          (ii) In determining whether it is in the public interest to regulate the distributors or
257     transporters, the commission shall consider, among other things, the impact of the regulation
258     on the availability and price of natural gas for use as a motor fuel.
259          [(i)] (h) "Public utility" does not include:
260          (i) an eligible customer who provides electricity for the eligible customer's own use or
261     the use of the eligible customer's tenant or affiliate; or
262          (ii) a nonutility energy supplier that sells or provides electricity to:
263          (A) an eligible customer who has transferred the eligible customer's service to the
264     nonutility energy supplier in accordance with Section 54-3-32; or
265          (B) the eligible customer's tenant or affiliate.
266          [(j)] (i) "Public utility" does not include an entity that sells electric vehicle battery
267     charging services, unless the entity conducts another activity in the state that subjects the entity
268     to the jurisdiction and regulation of the commission as a public utility.
269          (j) "Public utility" does not include an independent energy producer that is not subject
270     to regulation by the commission as a public utility under Section 54-2-201.
271          (20) "Purchasing utility" means any electrical corporation that is required to purchase
272     electricity from small power production or cogeneration facilities pursuant to the Public Utility
273     Regulatory Policies Act, 16 U.S.C. [Section] Sec. 824a-3.
274          (21) "Qualifying power producer" means a corporation, cooperative association, or
275     person, or the lessee, trustee, and receiver of the corporation, cooperative association, or
276     person, who owns, controls, operates, or manages any qualifying power production facility or
277     cogeneration facility.
278          (22) "Qualifying power production facility" means a facility that:
279          (a) produces electrical energy solely by the use, as a primary energy source, of biomass,
280     waste, a renewable resource, a geothermal resource, or any combination of the preceding
281     sources;

282          (b) has a power production capacity that, together with any other facilities located at
283     the same site, is no greater than 80 megawatts; and
284          (c) is a qualifying small power production facility under federal law.
285          (23) "Railroad" includes every commercial, interurban, and other railway, other than a
286     street railway, and each branch or extension of a railway, by any power operated, together with
287     all tracks, bridges, trestles, rights-of-way, subways, tunnels, stations, depots, union depots,
288     yards, grounds, terminals, terminal facilities, structures, and equipment, and all other real
289     estate, fixtures, and personal property of every kind used in connection with a railway owned,
290     controlled, operated, or managed for public service in the transportation of persons or property.
291          (24) "Railroad corporation" includes every corporation and person, their lessees,
292     trustees, and receivers, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any railroad for public
293     service within this state.
294          (25) (a) "Sewerage corporation" includes every corporation and person, their lessees,
295     trustees, and receivers, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any sewerage system for
296     public service within this state.
297          (b) "Sewerage corporation" does not include private sewerage companies engaged in
298     disposing of sewage only for their stockholders, or towns, cities, counties, conservancy
299     districts, improvement districts, or other governmental units created or organized under any
300     general or special law of this state.
301          (26) "Telegraph corporation" includes every corporation and person, their lessees,
302     trustees, and receivers, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any telegraph line for
303     public service within this state.
304          (27) "Telegraph line" includes all conduits, ducts, poles, wires, cables, instruments, and
305     appliances, and all other real estate, fixtures, and personal property owned, controlled,
306     operated, or managed in connection with or to facilitate communication by telegraph, whether
307     that communication be had with or without the use of transmission wires.
308          (28) (a) "Telephone corporation" means any corporation or person, and their lessees,
309     trustee, receivers, or trustees appointed by any court, who owns, controls, operates, manages, or

310     resells a public telecommunications service as defined in Section 54-8b-2.
311          (b) "Telephone corporation" does not mean a corporation, partnership, or firm
312     providing:
313          (i) intrastate telephone service offered by a provider of cellular, personal
314     communication systems (PCS), or other commercial mobile radio service as defined in 47
315     U.S.C. Sec. 332 that has been issued a covering license by the Federal Communications
316     Commission;
317          (ii) Internet service; or
318          (iii) resold intrastate toll service.
319          (29) "Telephone line" includes all conduits, ducts, poles, wires, cables, instruments,
320     and appliances, and all other real estate, fixtures, and personal property owned, controlled,
321     operated, or managed in connection with or to facilitate communication by telephone whether
322     that communication is had with or without the use of transmission wires.
323          (30) "Transportation of persons" includes every service in connection with or
324     incidental to the safety, comfort, or convenience of the person transported, and the receipt,
325     carriage, and delivery of that person and that person's baggage.
326          (31) "Transportation of property" includes every service in connection with or
327     incidental to the transportation of property, including in particular its receipt, delivery,
328     elevation, transfer, switching, carriage, ventilation, refrigeration, icing, dunnage, storage, and
329     hauling, and the transmission of credit by express companies.
330          (32) "Water corporation" includes every corporation and person, their lessees, trustees,
331     and receivers, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any water system for public service
332     within this state. It does not include private irrigation companies engaged in distributing water
333     only to their stockholders, or towns, cities, counties, water conservancy districts, improvement
334     districts, or other governmental units created or organized under any general or special law of
335     this state.
336          (33) (a) "Water system" includes all reservoirs, tunnels, shafts, dams, dikes, headgates,
337     pipes, flumes, canals, structures, and appliances, and all other real estate, fixtures, and personal

338     property owned, controlled, operated, or managed in connection with or to facilitate the
339     diversion, development, storage, supply, distribution, sale, furnishing, carriage, appointment,
340     apportionment, or measurement of water for power, fire protection, irrigation, reclamation, or
341     manufacturing, or for municipal, domestic, or other beneficial use.
342          (b) "Water system" does not include private irrigation companies engaged in
343     distributing water only to their stockholders.
344          (34) "Wholesale electrical cooperative" includes every electrical corporation that is:
345          (a) in the business of the wholesale distribution of electricity it has purchased or
346     generated to its members and the public; and
347          (b) required to distribute or allocate savings in excess of additions to reserves and
348     surplus to members or patrons on the basis of patronage.
349          Section 2. Section 54-2-201 is enacted to read:
350     
Part 2. Exemption from Commission Jurisdiction

351          54-2-201. Independent energy producer --- Exemption from commission
352     jurisdiction.
353          (1) As used in this section:
354          (a) "Customer generation system" means the same as that term is defined in Section
355     54-15-102.
356          (b) "Net metering program" means the same as that term is defined in Section
357     54-15-102.
358          (2) An independent energy producer is exempt from regulation by the commission as a
359     public utility for an independent power production facility if the independent energy producer
360     produces a commodity or delivers a service:
361          (a) solely for the use of a state-owned facility;
362          (b) not for sale to the public, without charge, solely for the use of:
363          (i) the independent energy producer;
364          (ii) an independent energy producer's tenant; or
365          (iii) an association of unit owners formed under Title 57, Chapter 8, Condominium

366     Ownership Act;
367          (c) for sale solely to an electrical corporation or other wholesale purchaser; or
368          (d) (i) for use by:
369          (A) an entity the independent energy producer controls, is controlled by, or is an
370     affiliate of; or
371          (B) a user located on real property that the independent energy producer manages or
372     controls; and
373          (ii) for use on real property that is contiguous to, or is separated only by a public road
374     or easement from, real property that the independent energy producer owns or controls.
375          (3) In addition to the exemptions described in Subsection (2), an independent energy
376     producer that supplies energy, for direct consumption by a customer, via a customer generation
377     system, is exempt from regulation by the commission as a public utility for an independent
378     power production facility if:
379          (a) the customer is:
380          (i) a United States governmental entity, including an entity of the United States
381     military;
382          (ii) a state entity, including a political subdivision of the state;
383          (iii) a state institution of higher education;
384          (iv) a school district, charter school, or an entity within the state system of public
385     education;
386          (v) a federal income tax exempt charitable organization under 26 U.S.C. Sec. 501(c)(3)
387     that can provide proof of the entity's tax-exempt status; or
388          (vi) a residential customer participating in a net metering program in an area served by
389     an electrical corporation with more than 200,000 retail customers in the state;
390          (b) the customer generation system is:
391          (i) for use on the real property where the customer generation system is located; and
392          (ii) designed to supply a maximum amount of electricity equal to the lesser of:
393          (A) 90% of the customer's average annual electricity consumption, based on an

394     annualized billing period; or
395          (B) the maximum amount allowed under a net metering program, as defined in Section
396     54-15-102;
397          (c) the independent energy producer notifies the customer, before installing the
398     customer generation system, of:
399          (i) the total cost a customer is required to pay for the customer generation system,
400     including an interconnection cost; and
401          (ii) the potential for a change in:
402          (A) the amount the customer pays for energy from a public utility; and
403          (B) customer fees associated with net metering and generation;
404          (d) the independent energy producer enters into an interconnection agreement:
405          (i) with a public utility that provides retail electric service to the real property on which
406     the customer generation system is located; and
407          (ii) that is subject to approval by a public utility's governing authority; and
408          (e) except for a customer described in Subsection (3)(a)(vi), the independent energy
409     producer installs the customer generation system by December 31, 2021.
410          (4) An independent energy producer that supplies electric service to a customer
411     described in Subsection (3)(a)(vi) via a customer generation system shall provide the electric
412     service under an agreement that includes:
413          (a) the notification described in Subsection (3)(c);
414          (b) a description of the incentives, including any renewable energy certificate,
415     generated by the agreement, or by the installation or use of the customer generation system;
416          (c) a description of an incentive described in Subsection (4)(b) that the customer
417     forfeits or assigns to the independent energy producer under the agreement;
418          (d) the property, equipment, or liability that the independent energy producer will
419     insure under the agreement, and what property, equipment, or liability that the customer is
420     responsible for insuring; and
421          (e) the Internet address of a Division of Public Utilities website, if any, that describes

422     considerations for a net metering customer.
423          (5) An independent energy producer may not provide electric service to a customer
424     described in Subsection (3)(a)(vi) until the commission makes the first determination about a
425     net metering program under which the independent energy producer will provide service
426     required by Subsection 54-15-105.1(2), and the determination becomes final agency action.
427          (6) A public utility shall serve a customer in the public utility's service area that is
428     partially served by an independent energy producer.
429          Section 3. Section 54-15-108 is amended to read:
430          54-15-108. Damages and fines for connecting a customer generation system to
431     more than one customer.
432          If an independent energy producer [defined in Section 54-2-1] that is supplying energy
433     to a customer [as described in Subsection 54-2-1(19)(d)(iv)] described in Subsection
434     54-2-201(3)(a) violates the [limitations set forth in Subsection 54-2-1(19)(d)(iv)(B)] limitation
435     described in Subsection 54-2-201(3)(b)(i), the commission may:
436          (1) award damages to an electrical corporation for actual and consequential damages to
437     the electrical corporation; and
438          (2) assess a fine against the independent energy producer or person responsible for the
439     violation.