SENATE, No. 1961

SECTION 1. Chapter 164 of the General Laws as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition is hereby amended by adding after section 137 a subchapter captioned “On Site Electric Generation Via Renewable Resources” and consisting of the following new sections:-

Section 138.  Net Metering.  Definitions.

The following words and phrases as used in sections 139 inclusive shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the following meanings:-

“Large Renewable Generation Facility,” a solar-net-metering or wind-net-metering facility with a generating capacity of more than 1 megawatt but less than or equal to 2 megawatts.

“Large Renewable Generation Credit”, credit equal to the excess kWhs by time of use billing period (if applicable) multiplied by the distribution company’s default service kWh charge in the load zone where the customer is located.

“Net metering,” the process of measuring the difference between electricity delivered by an electric distribution company and electricity generated by a solar-net-metering facility or wind-net-metering facility and fed back to the distribution company.

“Small renewable Generation Facility,” a solar-net-metering or wind-net-metering facility that has a generating capacity of not more than 1 megawatt.

“Small Renewable Generation Credit”, credit equal to the excess kWhs by time of use billing period (if applicable) multiplied by the sum of the distribution company’s (i) default service kWh charge in the load zone where the customer is located, (ii) distribution kWh charge, (iii) transmission kWh charge, (iv) transition kWh charge. This does not include the DSM and Renewable kWh charges.

“Solar-net-metering facility,” a facility for the production of electrical energy that:  uses sunlight to generate electricity, is located on or in the vicinity of a customer’s premise, and is intended to offset part or all of that customer’s requirements for electricity.

“Wind-net-metering facility,” a facility for the production of electrical energy that:  uses wind to generate electricity, is located on or in the vicinity of a customer’s premise, and is intended to offset part or all of that customer’s requirements for electricity.

Section 139.  Net Metering.

(A)  A distribution company customer that uses electricity generated by a small renewable generation facility may elect net metering as per the following:

(1) If the electricity generated by the small renewable generation facility during a billing period exceeds the customer’s kilowatt-hour usage during the billing period, the customer shall be billed for zero kilowatt-hour usage and the excess Small Renewable Generation Credits shall be credited to the customer’s account for the following billing period. The customer can elect to apply any such credits earned at an account to other electric service accounts with the written assent of the other account owners.

(2) If the customer’s kilowatt-hour usage exceeds the electricity generated by the small renewable generation facility during the billing period, the customer shall be billed for the net kilowatt-hour usage at the applicable rate. 

(B)  A distribution company customer that uses electricity generated by a large renewable generation facility may also elect net metering as per the following:

(1) If the electricity generated by the large renewable generation facility during a billing period exceeds the customer’s kilowatt-hour usage during the billing period, the customer shall be billed for zero kilowatt-hour usage and the excess Large Renewable Generation Credits shall be credited to the customer’s account. The customer can elect to apply any such credits earned at an account to other electric service accounts with the written assent of the other account owners.

(2) If the customer’s kilowatt-hour usage exceeds the electricity generated by the large renewable generation facility during the billing period, the customer shall be billed for the net kilowatt-hour usage at the applicable rate.

(C) The distribution portion of any Small or Large Renewable Credits and the distribution portion of any distribution company  delivery charges displaced by the small or large generation facility shall be aggregated by the distribution company and billed to all customers on an annual basis through a uniform per kilowatt-hour surcharge or surcharges.

(D) Net metering shall be implemented using a bi-directional meter that registers both the imported and exported electricity flow on an hourly basis.

(E) The aggregate amount of net metering will not exceed 1% of the distribution company’s peak load.