00                     CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 152(L&C)                                                                    
01 "An Act relating to community energy facilities."                                                                       
02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                                
03    * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section                          
04 to read:                                                                                                                
05       SHORT TITLE. This Act may be known as the Saving Alaskans Money With                                              
06 Voluntary Community Energy (SAVE) Act.                                                                                
07    * Sec. 2. AS 42.05 is amended by adding new sections to read:                                                      
08                   Article 8A. Community Energy Facilities.                                                            
09            Sec. 42.05.725. Applicability. (a) AS 42.05.725 - 42.05.735 apply to an                                    
10       electric utility that is subject to exercise of the jurisdiction of the commission that                           
11       extends to matters concerning rates and charges for public utility services.                                      
12            (b)  AS 42.05.725 - 42.05.735 do not apply to an electric system that is exempt                              
13       from net metering requirements adopted by the commission.                                                         
14            Sec. 42.05.727. Community energy programs. (a) An electric utility subject                               
15       to AS 42.05.725 - 42.05.735 shall make a community energy program available to a                                  

01 subscriber organization that requests interconnection. The electric utility shall allow                                 
02 eligible community energy facilities to interconnect to the facilities of the electric                                  
03 utility in accordance with interconnection standards approved by the commission. The                                    
04       electric utility shall submit to the commission for approval                                                      
05 (1)  a community energy tariff with subscriptions available only to the                                                 
06       retail consumers or member owners of the utility; and                                                             
07 (2)  the maximum nameplate capacity for eligible community energy                                                       
08 facilities within the utility's service area, considering the utility's load profile and                                
09 effects on the rates and reliability from interconnecting with the facilities; the utility                              
10       shall evaluate and update the nameplate capacity every two years.                                                 
11 (b)  An electric utility, or an entity contracting to sell electric energy to an                                        
12       electric utility, may own a community energy facility.                                                            
13 Sec. 42.05.729. Charges and rates. The commission shall adopt bill credit                                             
14 rates for electric utilities subject to AS 42.05.725 - 42.05.735 that consider the full                                 
15 economic value provided by community energy facilities. The commission may adopt                                        
16 a separate rate for capacity provided by a community energy facility through energy                                     
17 storage. The commission shall ensure that a community energy program does not have                                      
18 an adverse effect on the retail rates of an electric utility subject to AS 42.05.725 -                                  
19 42.05.735. An electric utility subject to AS 42.05.725 - 42.05.735 shall credit a                                       
20 subscriber for the proportional output of a community energy facility attributable to                                   
21 the subscriber. The credit must appear on the subscriber's bill within one billing cycle                                
22       of the generation of the energy by the community energy facility.                                                 
23 Sec. 42.05.731. Authority and duties of the commission. (a) The commission                                            
24 may modify or waive a requirement in AS 42.05.725 - 42.05.735, in whole or in part,                                     
25 by order. An application for modification or waiver under this section must be in                                       
26 writing and must set out the pertinent facts in sufficient detail to support a finding by                               
27 the commission that no legitimate public interest will be served by enforcing the                                       
28       requirement designated in the application.                                                                        
29 (b)  The commission may adopt by regulation additional requirements                                                     
30 pertaining to safety, power quality, and interconnection standards for community                                        
31 energy facilities if the commission considers the requirements to be necessary to                                       

01       protect public safety and system reliability.                                                                     
02            (c)  The commission shall                                                                                    
03                 (1)  establish protocols to facilitate communication between utilities                                  
04       and subscriber organizations to ensure utilities have the information necessary to                                
05       timely calculate and provide bill credits to subscribers;                                                         
06                 (2)  require a utility subject to AS 42.05.725 - 42.05.735 to modify                                    
07       existing interconnection standards, fees, and processes when necessary to facilitate                              
08       cost-effective and nondiscriminatory interconnection of community energy facilities;                              
09                 (3)  permit a utility to recover reasonable costs for the administration of                             
10       a community energy program;                                                                                       
11 (4)  facilitate the creation, financing, and accessibility of community                                                 
12       energy facilities, including those owned by nonutility third parties; and                                         
13 (5)  require that the construction of a community energy facility be                                                    
14 performed by employees of contractors and subcontractors who receive the current                                        
15 prevailing rate of wages specified in the latest determination of prevailing rate of                                    
16 wages for public construction projects issued by the Department of Labor and                                            
17       Workforce Development under AS 36.05.010.                                                                         
18 (d)  Notwithstanding another provision of this chapter, the commission may                                              
19 not consider a subscriber organization or an individual subscriber to be an electric                                    
20       utility solely because of the subscriber's participation in a community energy facility.                          
21            Sec. 42.05.735. Definitions. In AS 42.05.725 - 42.05.735,                                                  
22 (1)  "community energy facility" is a renewable energy generating                                                       
23 facility under a certificated electric utility's community energy tariff that is not                                    
24 connected to a retail consumer's electricity meter and provides all or a portion of the                                 
25       electrical energy requirements of the retail consumer;                                                            
26 (2)  "consumer" means a customer of an electric utility described in                                                    
27       AS 42.05.725 that consumes the electricity purchased from the utility;                                            
28 (3)  "electric system" means an integrated electrical system that                                                       
29       includes, at a minimum, generation and distribution of electric energy;                                           
30 (4)  "nameplate capacity" means the maximum rated output of a                                                           
31 generator, prime mover, or other electric power production equipment under specific                                     

01       conditions designated by the manufacturer;                                                                        
02                 (5)  "subscriber" means an electric consumer of an electric utility who                                 
03       owns one or more community energy facility subscriptions interconnected with the                                  
04       utility and who                                                                                                   
05                      (A)  is a residential customer of the utility; or                                                  
06                      (B)  is a commercial customer of the utility with an electricity                                   
07            demand of less than 50 kilowatt-hours per month;                                                             
08                 (6)  "subscriber organization" means a for-profit or nonprofit entity that                              
09       owns or operates one or more community energy facilities;                                                         
10                 (7)  "subscription" means a contract between a subscriber and a                                         
11       subscriber organization that owns a community energy facility.                                                    
12    * Sec. 3. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to                          
13 read:                                                                                                                   
14       TRANSITION: REGULATIONS. Within one year after the effective date of this Act,                                    
15 the Regulatory Commission of Alaska shall adopt regulations necessary to implement the                                  
16 changes made by this Act.