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H.B. 145

             1     

RENEWABLE ENERGY FINANCING PROVISIONS

             2     
2010 GENERAL SESSION

             3     
STATE OF UTAH

             4     
Chief Sponsor: Bradley G. Last

             5     
Senate Sponsor: Stephen H. Urquhart

             6     
             7      LONG TITLE
             8      General Description:
             9          This bill addresses the definition of a public utility and definitions related to net
             10      metering programs.
             11      Highlighted Provisions:
             12          This bill:
             13          .    excludes from the definition of a "public utility" an independent energy producer
             14      that provides service to a customer on the real property where an independent power
             15      production facility is located;
             16          .    changes definitions to provide that a facility used to supply energy for a specific
             17      customer may qualify as a customer generation system under Title 54, Chapter 15,
             18      Net Metering of Electricity; and
             19          .    makes technical changes.
             20      Monies 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 2008, Chapter 374
             27          54-15-102, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2008, Chapter 244


             28     
             29      Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
             30          Section 1. Section 54-2-1 is amended to read:
             31           54-2-1. Definitions.
             32          As used in this title:
             33          (1) "Avoided costs" means the incremental costs to an electrical corporation of electric
             34      energy or capacity or both [which] that, due to the purchase of electric energy or capacity or
             35      both from small power production or cogeneration facilities, the electrical corporation would
             36      not have to generate itself or purchase from another electrical corporation.
             37          (2) "Cogeneration facility":
             38          (a) means a facility [which] that produces:
             39          (i) electric energy; and
             40          (ii) steam or forms of useful energy, including heat, [which] that are used for industrial,
             41      commercial, heating, or cooling purposes; and
             42          (b) is a qualifying cogeneration facility under federal law.
             43          (3) "Commission" means the Public Service Commission of Utah.
             44          (4) "Commissioner" means a member of the commission.
             45          (5) (a) "Corporation" includes an association[,] and a joint stock company having any
             46      powers or privileges not possessed by individuals or partnerships.
             47          (b) "Corporation" does not include towns, cities, counties, conservancy districts,
             48      improvement districts, or other governmental units created or organized under any general or
             49      special law of this state.
             50          (6) "Distribution electrical cooperative" includes an electrical corporation that:
             51          (a) is a cooperative;
             52          (b) conducts a business that includes the retail distribution of electricity the cooperative
             53      purchases or generates for the cooperative's members; and
             54          (c) is required to allocate or distribute savings in excess of additions to reserves and
             55      surplus on the basis of patronage to the cooperative's:
             56          (i) members; or
             57          (ii) patrons.
             58          (7) "Electrical corporation" includes every corporation, cooperative association, and


             59      person, their lessees, trustees, and receivers, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any
             60      electric plant, or in any way furnishing electric power for public service or to its consumers or
             61      members for domestic, commercial, or industrial use, within this state, except independent
             62      energy producers, and except where electricity is generated on or distributed by the producer
             63      solely for the producer's own use, or the use of the producer's tenants, or for the use of
             64      members of an association of unit owners formed under Title 57, Chapter 8, Condominium
             65      Ownership Act, and not for sale to the public generally.
             66          (8) "Electric plant" includes all real estate, fixtures, and personal property owned,
             67      controlled, operated, or managed in connection with or to facilitate the production, generation,
             68      transmission, delivery, or furnishing of electricity for light, heat, or power, and all conduits,
             69      ducts, or other devices, materials, apparatus, or property for containing, holding, or carrying
             70      conductors used or to be used for the transmission of electricity for light, heat, or power.
             71          (9) "Gas corporation" includes every corporation and person, their lessees, trustees, and
             72      receivers, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any gas plant for public service within
             73      this state or for the selling or furnishing of natural gas to any consumer or consumers within the
             74      state for domestic, commercial, or industrial use, except in the situation that:
             75          (a) gas is made or produced on, and distributed by the maker or producer through,
             76      private property:
             77          (i) solely for the maker's or producer's own use or the use of the maker's or producer's
             78      tenants; and
             79          (ii) not for sale to others;
             80          (b) gas is compressed on private property solely for the owner's own use or the use of
             81      the owner's employees as a motor vehicle fuel; or
             82          (c) gas is compressed by a retailer of motor vehicle fuel on the retailer's property solely
             83      for sale as a motor vehicle fuel.
             84          (10) "Gas plant" includes all real estate, fixtures, and personal property owned,
             85      controlled, operated, or managed in connection with or to facilitate the production, generation,
             86      transmission, delivery, or furnishing of gas, natural or manufactured, for light, heat, or power.
             87          (11) "Heat corporation" includes every corporation and person, their lessees, trustees,
             88      and receivers, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any heating plant for public service
             89      within this state.


             90          (12) (a) "Heating plant" includes all real estate, fixtures, machinery, appliances, and
             91      personal property controlled, operated, or managed in connection with or to facilitate the
             92      production, generation, transmission, delivery, or furnishing of artificial heat.
             93          (b) "Heating plant" does not include either small power production facilities or
             94      cogeneration facilities.
             95          (13) "Independent energy producer" means every electrical corporation, person,
             96      corporation, or government entity, their lessees, trustees, or receivers, that own, operate,
             97      control, or manage an independent power production or cogeneration facility.
             98          (14) "Independent power production facility" means a facility that:
             99          (a) produces electric energy solely by the use, as a primary energy source, of biomass,
             100      waste, a renewable resource, a geothermal resource, or any combination of the preceding
             101      sources; or
             102          (b) is a qualifying power production facility.
             103          (15) "Private telecommunications system" includes all facilities for the transmission of
             104      signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, messages, data, or other information of any nature by
             105      wire, radio, lightwaves, or other electromagnetic means, excluding mobile radio facilities, that
             106      are owned, controlled, operated, or managed by a corporation or person, including their lessees,
             107      trustees, receivers, or trustees appointed by any court, for the use of that corporation or person
             108      and not for the shared use with or resale to any other corporation or person on a regular basis.
             109          (16) (a) "Public utility" includes every railroad corporation, gas corporation, electrical
             110      corporation, distribution electrical cooperative, wholesale electrical cooperative, telephone
             111      corporation, telegraph corporation, water corporation, sewerage corporation, heat corporation,
             112      and independent energy producer not described in Subsection (16)(d), where the service is
             113      performed for, or the commodity delivered to, the public generally, or in the case of a gas
             114      corporation or electrical corporation where the gas or electricity is sold or furnished to any
             115      member or consumers within the state for domestic, commercial, or industrial use.
             116          (b) (i) If any railroad corporation, gas corporation, electrical corporation, telephone
             117      corporation, telegraph corporation, water corporation, sewerage corporation, heat corporation,
             118      or independent energy producer not described in Subsection (16)(d), performs a service for or
             119      delivers a commodity to the public, it is considered to be a public utility, subject to the
             120      jurisdiction and regulation of the commission and this title.


             121          (ii) If a gas corporation, independent energy producer not described in Subsection
             122      (16)(d), or electrical corporation sells or furnishes gas or electricity to any member or
             123      consumers within the state, for domestic, commercial, or industrial use, for which any
             124      compensation or payment is received, it is considered to be a public utility, subject to the
             125      jurisdiction and regulation of the commission and this title.
             126          (c) Any corporation or person not engaged in business exclusively as a public utility as
             127      defined in this section is governed by this title in respect only to the public utility owned,
             128      controlled, operated, or managed by the corporation or person, and not in respect to any other
             129      business or pursuit.
             130          (d) An independent energy producer is exempt from the jurisdiction and regulations of
             131      the commission with respect to an independent power production facility if it meets the
             132      requirements of Subsection (16)(d)(i), (ii), [or] (iii), or (iv), or any combination of these:
             133          (i) the commodity or service is produced or delivered, or both, by an independent
             134      energy producer solely for the uses exempted in Subsection (7) or for the use of state-owned
             135      facilities;
             136          (ii) the commodity or service is sold by an independent energy producer solely to an
             137      electrical corporation or other wholesale purchaser; [or]
             138          (iii) (A) the commodity or service produced or delivered by the independent energy
             139      producer is delivered to an entity [which] that controls, is controlled by, or affiliated with the
             140      independent energy producer or to a user located on real property managed or controlled by the
             141      independent energy producer; and
             142          (B) the real property on which the service or commodity is used is contiguous to real
             143      property which is owned or controlled by the independent energy producer. Parcels of real
             144      property separated solely by public roads or easements for public roads shall be considered as
             145      contiguous for purposes of this Subsection (16)[.]; or
             146          (iv) the commodity or service produced or delivered by the independent energy
             147      producer is for the independent energy producer's own use or the use of an independent energy
             148      producer's customer that uses the commodity or service on the real property where the power
             149      production facility is located, provided that the power production facility is a customer
             150      generation system as described in Chapter 15, Net Metering of Electricity, except that excess
             151      electricity not used in accordance with this Subsection (16)(d)(iv) may be supplied to an


             152      electrical corporation where the independent energy producer's customer participates in a net
             153      metering program in accordance with Chapter 15, Net Metering of Electricity.
             154          (e) Any person or corporation defined as an electrical corporation or public utility
             155      under this section may continue to serve its existing customers subject to any order or future
             156      determination of the commission in reference to the right to serve those customers.
             157          (f) (i) "Public utility" does not include any person that is otherwise considered a public
             158      utility under this Subsection (16) solely because of that person's ownership of an interest in an
             159      electric plant, cogeneration facility, or small power production facility in this state if all of the
             160      following conditions are met:
             161          (A) the ownership interest in the electric plant, cogeneration facility, or small power
             162      production facility is leased to:
             163          (I) a public utility, and that lease has been approved by the commission;
             164          (II) a person or government entity that is exempt from commission regulation as a
             165      public utility; or
             166          (III) a combination of Subsections (16)(f)(i)(A)(I) and (II);
             167          (B) the lessor of the ownership interest identified in Subsection (16)(f)(i)(A) is:
             168          (I) primarily engaged in a business other than the business of a public utility; or
             169          (II) a person whose total equity or beneficial ownership is held directly or indirectly by
             170      another person engaged in a business other than the business of a public utility; and
             171          (C) the rent reserved under the lease does not include any amount based on or
             172      determined by revenues or income of the lessee.
             173          (ii) Any person that is exempt from classification as a public utility under Subsection
             174      (16)(f)(i) shall continue to be so exempt from classification following termination of the
             175      lessee's right to possession or use of the electric plant for so long as the former lessor does not
             176      operate the electric plant or sell electricity from the electric plant. If the former lessor operates
             177      the electric plant or sells electricity, the former lessor shall continue to be so exempt for a
             178      period of 90 days following termination, or for a longer period that is ordered by the
             179      commission. This period may not exceed one year. A change in rates that would otherwise
             180      require commission approval may not be effective during the 90-day or extended period
             181      without commission approval.
             182          (g) "Public utility" does not include any person that provides financing for, but has no


             183      ownership interest in an electric plant, small power production facility, or cogeneration facility.
             184      In the event of a foreclosure in which an ownership interest in an electric plant, small power
             185      production facility, or cogeneration facility is transferred to a third-party financer of an electric
             186      plant, small power production facility, or cogeneration facility, then that third-party financer is
             187      exempt from classification as a public utility for 90 days following the foreclosure, or for a
             188      longer period that is ordered by the commission. This period may not exceed one year.
             189          (h) (i) The distribution or transportation of natural gas for use as a motor vehicle fuel
             190      does not cause the distributor or transporter to be a "public utility," unless the commission,
             191      after notice and a public hearing, determines by rule that it is in the public interest to regulate
             192      the distributers or transporters, but the retail sale alone of compressed natural gas as a motor
             193      vehicle fuel may not cause the seller to be a "public utility."
             194          (ii) In determining whether it is in the public interest to regulate the distributors or
             195      transporters, the commission shall consider, among other things, the impact of the regulation
             196      on the availability and price of natural gas for use as a motor fuel.
             197          (17) "Purchasing utility" means any electrical corporation that is required to purchase
             198      electricity from small power production or cogeneration facilities pursuant to the Public Utility
             199      Regulatory Policies Act, 16 U.S.C. Section 824a-3.
             200          (18) "Qualifying power producer" means a corporation, cooperative association, or
             201      person, or the lessee, trustee, and receiver of the corporation, cooperative association, or
             202      person, who owns, controls, operates, or manages any qualifying power production facility or
             203      cogeneration facility.
             204          (19) "Qualifying power production facility" means a facility that:
             205          (a) produces electrical energy solely by the use, as a primary energy source, of biomass,
             206      waste, a renewable resource, a geothermal resource, or any combination of the preceding
             207      sources;
             208          (b) has a power production capacity that, together with any other facilities located at
             209      the same site, is no greater than 80 megawatts; and
             210          (c) is a qualifying small power production facility under federal law.
             211          (20) "Railroad" includes every commercial, interurban, and other railway, other than a
             212      street railway, and each branch or extension of a railway, by any power operated, together with
             213      all tracks, bridges, trestles, rights-of-way, subways, tunnels, stations, depots, union depots,


             214      yards, grounds, terminals, terminal facilities, structures, and equipment, and all other real
             215      estate, fixtures, and personal property of every kind used in connection with a railway owned,
             216      controlled, operated, or managed for public service in the transportation of persons or property.
             217          (21) "Railroad corporation" includes every corporation and person, their lessees,
             218      trustees, and receivers, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any railroad for public
             219      service within this state.
             220          (22) (a) "Sewerage corporation" includes every corporation and person, their lessees,
             221      trustees, and receivers, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any sewerage system for
             222      public service within this state.
             223          (b) "Sewerage corporation" does not include private sewerage companies engaged in
             224      disposing of sewage only for their stockholders, or towns, cities, counties, conservancy
             225      districts, improvement districts, or other governmental units created or organized under any
             226      general or special law of this state.
             227          (23) "Telegraph corporation" includes every corporation and person, their lessees,
             228      trustees, and receivers, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any telegraph line for
             229      public service within this state.
             230          (24) "Telegraph line" includes all conduits, ducts, poles, wires, cables, instruments, and
             231      appliances, and all other real estate, fixtures, and personal property owned, controlled,
             232      operated, or managed in connection with or to facilitate communication by telegraph, whether
             233      that communication be had with or without the use of transmission wires.
             234          (25) (a) "Telephone corporation" means any corporation or person, and their lessees,
             235      trustee, receivers, or trustees appointed by any court, who owns, controls, operates, manages, or
             236      resells a public telecommunications service as defined in Section 54-8b-2 .
             237          (b) "Telephone corporation" does not mean a corporation, partnership, or firm
             238      providing:
             239          (i) intrastate telephone service offered by a provider of cellular, personal
             240      communication systems (PCS), or other commercial mobile radio service as defined in 47
             241      U.S.C. Sec. 332 that has been issued a covering license by the Federal Communications
             242      Commission;
             243          (ii) Internet service; or
             244          (iii) resold intrastate toll service.


             245          (26) "Telephone line" includes all conduits, ducts, poles, wires, cables, instruments,
             246      and appliances, and all other real estate, fixtures, and personal property owned, controlled,
             247      operated, or managed in connection with or to facilitate communication by telephone whether
             248      that communication is had with or without the use of transmission wires.
             249          (27) "Transportation of persons" includes every service in connection with or
             250      incidental to the safety, comfort, or convenience of the person transported, and the receipt,
             251      carriage, and delivery of that person and that person's baggage.
             252          (28) "Transportation of property" includes every service in connection with or
             253      incidental to the transportation of property, including in particular its receipt, delivery,
             254      elevation, transfer, switching, carriage, ventilation, refrigeration, icing, dunnage, storage, and
             255      hauling, and the transmission of credit by express companies.
             256          (29) "Water corporation" includes every corporation and person, their lessees, trustees,
             257      and receivers, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any water system for public service
             258      within this state. It does not include private irrigation companies engaged in distributing water
             259      only to their stockholders, or towns, cities, counties, water conservancy districts, improvement
             260      districts, or other governmental units created or organized under any general or special law of
             261      this state.
             262          (30) (a) "Water system" includes all reservoirs, tunnels, shafts, dams, dikes, headgates,
             263      pipes, flumes, canals, structures, and appliances, and all other real estate, fixtures, and personal
             264      property owned, controlled, operated, or managed in connection with or to facilitate the
             265      diversion, development, storage, supply, distribution, sale, furnishing, carriage, appointment,
             266      apportionment, or measurement of water for power, fire protection, irrigation, reclamation, or
             267      manufacturing, or for municipal, domestic, or other beneficial use.
             268          (b) "Water system" does not include private irrigation companies engaged in
             269      distributing water only to their stockholders.
             270          (31) "Wholesale electrical cooperative" includes every electrical corporation that is:
             271          (a) in the business of the wholesale distribution of electricity it has purchased or
             272      generated to its members and the public; and
             273          (b) required to distribute or allocate savings in excess of additions to reserves and
             274      surplus to members or patrons on the basis of patronage.
             275          Section 2. Section 54-15-102 is amended to read:


             276           54-15-102. Definitions.
             277          As used in this chapter:
             278          (1) "Annualized billing period" means a 12-month billing cycle beginning on April 1 of
             279      one year and ending on March 31 of the following year.
             280          (2) "Customer-generated electricity" means electricity that:
             281          (a) is generated by a customer generation system for a customer participating in a net
             282      metering program [from a customer generation system];
             283          (b) exceeds the electricity the customer needs for the customer's own use; and
             284          (c) is supplied to the electrical corporation administering the net metering program.
             285          (3) "Customer generation system":
             286          (a) means [a customer-owned or customer-leased] an eligible facility[, operated by the
             287      customer,] that is used to supply energy to or for a specific customer that:
             288          (i) has a generating capacity of:
             289          (A) not more than 25 kilowatts for a residential facility; or
             290          (B) not more than 2 megawatts for a non-residential facility, unless the governing
             291      authority approves a greater generation capacity;
             292          (ii) is located on, or adjacent to, the premises of the electrical corporation's customer,
             293      subject to the electrical corporation's service requirements;
             294          (iii) operates in parallel and is interconnected with the electrical corporation's
             295      distribution facilities;
             296          (iv) is intended primarily to offset part or all of the customer's requirements for
             297      electricity; and
             298          (v) is controlled by an inverter or switchgear; and
             299          (b) includes an electric generator and its accompanying equipment package.
             300          (4) "Eligible facility" means a facility that uses energy derived from one of the
             301      following to generate electricity:
             302          (a) solar photovoltaic and solar thermal energy;
             303          (b) wind energy;
             304          (c) hydrogen;
             305          (d) organic waste;
             306          (e) hydroelectric energy;


             307          (f) waste gas and waste heat capture or recovery;
             308          (g) biomass and biomass byproducts, except for the combustion of:
             309          (i) wood that has been treated with chemical preservatives such as creosote,
             310      pentachlorophenol, or chromated copper arsenate; or
             311          (ii) municipal waste in a solid form;
             312          (h) forest or rangeland woody debris from harvesting or thinning conducted to improve
             313      forest or rangeland ecological health and to reduce wildfire risk;
             314          (i) agricultural residues;
             315          (j) dedicated energy crops;
             316          (k) landfill gas or biogas produced from organic matter, wastewater, anaerobic
             317      digesters, or municipal solid waste; or
             318          (l) geothermal energy.
             319          (5) "Equipment package" means a group of components connecting an electric
             320      generator to an electric distribution system, including all interface equipment and the interface
             321      equipment's controls, switchgear, inverter, and other interface devices.
             322          (6) "Excess customer-generated electricity" means the amount of customer-generated
             323      electricity in excess of the customer's consumption from the customer generation system during
             324      a monthly billing period, as measured at the electrical corporation's meter.
             325          (7) "Fuel cell" means a device in which the energy of a reaction between a fuel and an
             326      oxidant is converted directly and continuously into electrical energy.
             327          (8) "Governing authority" means:
             328          (a) for a distribution electrical cooperative, its board of directors; and
             329          (b) for each other electrical corporation, the Public Service Commission.
             330          (9) "Inverter" means a device that:
             331          (a) converts direct current power into alternating current power that is compatible with
             332      power generated by an electrical corporation; and
             333          (b) has been designed, tested, and UL certified to UL1741 and installed and operated in
             334      accordance with IEEE1547 standards.
             335          (10) "Net electricity" means the difference, as measured at the meter owned by the
             336      electrical corporation between:
             337          (a) the amount of electricity that an electrical corporation supplies to a customer


             338      participating in a net metering program; and
             339          (b) the amount of customer-generated electricity delivered to the electrical corporation.
             340          (11) "Net metering" means measuring the amount of net electricity for the applicable
             341      billing period.
             342          (12) "Net metering program" means a program administered by an electrical
             343      corporation whereby a customer with a customer generation system may:
             344          (a) generate electricity primarily for the customer's own use;
             345          (b) supply customer-generated electricity to the electrical corporation; and
             346          (c) if net metering results in excess customer-generated electricity during a billing
             347      period, receive a credit under Section 54-15-104 .
             348          (13) "Switchgear" means the combination of electrical disconnects, fuses, or circuit
             349      breakers:
             350          (a) used to:
             351          (i) isolate electrical equipment; and
             352          (ii) de-energize equipment to allow work to be performed or faults downstream to be
             353      cleared; and
             354          (b) that is:
             355          (i) designed, tested, and UL certified to UL1741; and
             356          (ii) installed and operated in accordance with IEEE1547 standards.




Legislative Review Note
    as of 2-12-10 3:55 PM


Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel


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