House Bill hb0305

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                 HB 305

        By Representative Paul






  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to generation and distribution

  3         of electricity; creating the "Florida Renewable

  4         Energy Act of 2002"; providing legislative

  5         findings and declarations; providing

  6         definitions; providing for authorized operation

  7         of cogeneration facilities under certain

  8         circumstances; requiring electric service

  9         providers to provide alternative metering to

10         certain customers; providing for agreements and

11         fees for alternative metering; providing

12         requirements and limitations on such fees;

13         specifying alternative measurements and

14         pricings of energy flow through such metering;

15         providing criteria for purchases of electricity

16         by service providers; specifying requirements

17         for distributed generation facilities;

18         authorizing the Florida Public Service

19         Commission to adopt rules specifying additional

20         standards and operational criteria; providing a

21         limitation; specifying absence of liability for

22         electric service providers and electric service

23         suppliers for certain interconnected

24         facilities; providing an effective date.

25

26  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

27

28         Section 1.  This act may be cited as the "Florida

29  Renewable Energy Act of 2002."

30         Section 2.  (1)  The Legislature finds that it is in

31  the public interest to:

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                 HB 305

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  1         (a)  Encourage private investment in renewable energy

  2  resources to expand environmentally friendly methods of

  3  generating electricity.

  4         (b)  Stimulate the economic growth of this state.

  5         (c)  Enhance the continued diversification of the

  6  energy resources used in this state.

  7         (2)  The Legislature further finds and declares that a

  8  program to provide distributed generation for eligible

  9  cogenerators is a way to encourage private investment in

10  renewable energy resources, stimulate in-state economic

11  growth, enhance the continued diversification of this state's

12  energy resource mix, and reduce interconnection and

13  administrative costs.

14         Section 3.  As used in this act:

15         (1)  "Bidirectional metering" means measuring the

16  amount of electricity supplied by an electric service provider

17  to a customer and the amount fed back to the electric service

18  provider by the customer's distributed generation facility

19  using the same meter.

20         (2)  "Cogeneration facility" means a facility, other

21  than a distributed generation facility, which produces

22  electric energy, steam, heat, or other forms of useful energy

23  which are used for industrial, commercial, heating, or cooling

24  purposes.

25         (3)  "Commission" means the Florida Public Service

26  Commission.

27         (4)  "Customer generator" means the owner and operator

28  of a distributed generation facility.

29         (5)  "Distributed generation facility" means a facility

30  owned and operated by a customer of an electric service

31  provider for the production of electrical energy that:

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                 HB 305

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  1         (a)  Uses a solar photovoltaic system, fuel cell, or

  2  wind turbine.

  3         (b)  Has a peak generating capacity of not more than

  4  10kW for a residential application and 100kW for a commercial

  5  application.

  6         (c)  Is located on the customer's premises.

  7         (d)  Operates in parallel with the electric service

  8  provider's distribution facilities.

  9         (e)  Is connected to the electric service provider's

10  distribution system on either side of the electric service

11  provider's meter.

12         (f)  Is intended primarily to offset part or all of the

13  customer generator's requirements for electricity.

14         (6)  "Electric service provider" means any electric

15  utility, electric membership corporation, or municipal

16  electric utility engaged in the business of distributing

17  electricity to retail electric customers in this state.

18         (7)  "Electric service supplier" means any electric

19  utility furnishing wholesale electric service, any municipal

20  electric utility, or cooperative.

21         (8)  "Electric utility" means any retail supplier of

22  electricity whose rates are fixed by the commission.

23         (9)  "Municipal electric utility" means a city or town

24  that owns or operates an electric utility.

25         (10)  "Person" means a natural person, corporation,

26  trust, partnership, incorporated or unincorporated

27  association, or any other legal entity.

28         (11)  "Renewable energy sources" means energy supplied

29  from technologies, including, but not limited to, photovoltaic

30  devices, biomass, fuel cells, geothermal, wind, methane from

31

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                 HB 305

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  1  wastewater treatment, and other sources as may be approved

  2  pursuant to a Florida Green Pricing Accreditation Program.

  3         Section 4.  (1)  Any person may operate a cogeneration

  4  facility without being subject to the jurisdiction or

  5  regulation of the commission if such person uses all of the

  6  electric energy, steam, or other form of useful energy

  7  produced at such cogeneration facility.  The electric energy

  8  shall not be sold to any other person except as provided in

  9  subsection (2).

10         (2)  Any person may operate a cogeneration facility and

11  sell any excess electric energy to an electric service

12  supplier without being subject to the jurisdiction or

13  regulation of the commission, provided, nothing in this act

14  shall exempt a person from compliance with federal law.

15         Section 5.  (1)  An electric service provider shall:

16         (a)  Make bidirectional metering or single directional

17  metering available to customer generators depending on how the

18  distributed generation facility is connected to the

19  distribution system of the electric service provider.

20         (b)  Enter into a written agreement with the customer

21  generator to charge the customer generator the rate

22  established by the commission in the case of an electric

23  utility, or the appropriate governing body in the case of any

24  other electric service provider or electric supplier, for

25  metering services.

26         (2)  In setting the fees for metering service, the

27  commission, or the appropriate governing body in the case of

28  any other electric service provider or electric service

29  supplier, shall include the direct costs associated with

30  interconnecting or administering metering services or

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                 HB 305

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  1  distributed generation facilities and shall not allocate such

  2  costs among the utility's entire customer base.

  3         (3)  In establishing such a fee for metering services,

  4  the electric service provider shall not charge the customer

  5  generator any standby, capacity, interconnection, or other fee

  6  or charge, other than a monthly service charge, unless agreed

  7  to by the customer generator or approved by the commission in

  8  the case of an electric utility, or by the appropriate

  9  governing body in the case of any other electric service

10  provider or electric service supplier.

11         Section 6.  Consistent with the other provisions of

12  this act, energy flow shall be measured and paid for in the

13  following manner:

14         (1)  If a distributed generation facility is connected

15  to the electric service provider's distribution system on the

16  customer generator's side of the customer's meter, the

17  electric service provider shall measure the electricity

18  produced or consumed during the billing period, in accordance

19  with normal metering practices using bidirectional metering.

20         (a)  If the electricity supplied by the electric

21  service provider exceeds the electricity generated by the

22  customer's distributed generation facility, the excess

23  electricity shall be billed to the customer by the electric

24  service provider, in accordance with tariffs filed with the

25  commission; or

26         (b)  If the electricity generated by the customer's

27  distributed generation facility exceeds the electricity

28  supplied to the customer by the electric service provider, the

29  electric service provider shall:

30         1.  Bill the customer generator for the appropriate

31  customer charges for that billing period; and

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                 HB 305

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  1         2.  Credit the customer generator for the excess

  2  kilowatt-hours generated during the billing period at an

  3  agreed to rate as filed with the commission, with such

  4  kilowatt-hour credit appearing on the bill for the billing

  5  period.

  6         (2)(a)  If a distributed generation facility is

  7  connected to the electric service provider's distribution

  8  system on the electric service provider's side of a customer

  9  generator's meter, the electric service provider shall measure

10  the electricity produced or consumed during the billing

11  period, in accordance with normal metering practices using

12  single directional metering and charge the customer generator

13  a minimum monthly fee as established in section 5.

14         (b)  If electricity is generated by the customer

15  generator's distributed generation facility for the billing

16  period, the customer generator shall be compensated at an

17  agreed to rate as filed with the commission.

18         Section 7.  (1)  An electric service provider shall

19  purchase energy from an eligible customer generator as

20  specified in section 6 solely on a first come, first served

21  basis until the cumulative generating capacity of all

22  renewable energy sources equals to 0.2 percent of the

23  utility's annual peak demand in the previous year, provided,

24  no electric service provider shall be required to purchase

25  such energy at a price above avoided energy cost unless that

26  amount of energy has been subscribed under any renewable

27  energy program.

28         (2)  Once the capacity is subscribed, an electric

29  service provider may purchase energy from an eligible customer

30  generator at a cost of energy as defined for a utility by the

31  commission in the case of an electric utility, or by the

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                 HB 305

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  1  appropriate governing body in the case of any other electric

  2  service provider or electric supplier.

  3         (3)  A distributed generation facility used by a

  4  customer generator shall include, at the customer's own

  5  expense, all equipment necessary to meet applicable safety,

  6  power quality, and interconnection requirements established by

  7  the National Electrical Code, National Electrical Safety Code,

  8  the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and

  9  Underwriters Laboratories.

10         (4)  The commission in the case of an electric utility,

11  or the appropriate governing body in the case of other

12  electric service providers or electric service suppliers,

13  after appropriate notice and opportunity for comment, may

14  adopt by rule additional safety, power quality, and

15  interconnection requirements for customer generators that the

16  commission or governing body determines are necessary to

17  protect public safety and system reliability.

18         (5)  An electric service provider may not require a

19  customer generator whose distributed generation facility meets

20  the standards in subsections (3) and (4) to comply with

21  additional safety or performance standards, perform or pay for

22  additional tests, or purchase additional liability insurance.

23         (6)  No electric service provider or electric service

24  supplier shall be liable to any person, directly or

25  indirectly, for loss of property, injury, or death resulting

26  from the interconnection of a cogeneration facility or a

27  distributed generation facility to the electrical system of

28  the provider or supplier.

29         Section 8.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

30  law.

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                 HB 305

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  2                          HOUSE SUMMARY

  3
      Creates the Florida Renewable Energy Act of 2002 to
  4    provide for interconnecting retail electric customers'
      cogeneration facilities and distributed generation
  5    facilities with electric systems of electric service
      providers and electric service suppliers and for metering
  6    and payment of electricity produced by a customer's
      cogeneration or distributed generation facility. See bill
  7    for details.

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