Florida Senate - 2022 SB 182 By Senator Brandes 24-00067-22 2022182__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to renewable energy; amending s. 3 366.91, F.S.; defining the term “renewable energy 4 source device”; authorizing owners of commercial or 5 industrial businesses, or third parties contracted by 6 such owners, to install, maintain, and operate a 7 renewable energy source device on or about the 8 structure in which the business operates or on a 9 property that the business owns or leases; authorizing 10 owners or contracted third parties to sell electricity 11 generated from the device to certain businesses 12 regardless of whether the device is located in a 13 utility’s service territory; providing applicability; 14 authorizing utilities to recover the full cost of 15 providing services to an energy-producing business or 16 its customers, under certain circumstances; 17 authorizing utilities to install, maintain, and 18 operate certain renewable energy source devices; 19 exempting the sale of electricity produced by such 20 devices from regulation; authorizing utilities to 21 recover certain costs under certain circumstances; 22 authorizing customers to challenge such cost recovery 23 and receive refunds following a successful challenge; 24 clarifying applicability and the eligibility 25 requirements of certain energy rebate or incentive 26 programs established by law; authorizing the Florida 27 Public Service Commission to adopt rules; providing an 28 effective date. 29 30 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 31 32 Section 1. Present paragraph (f) of subsection (2) of 33 section 366.91, Florida Statutes, is redesignated as paragraph 34 (g), a new paragraph (f) is added to that subsection, and 35 subsection (10) is added to that section, to read: 36 366.91 Renewable energy.— 37 (2) As used in this section, the term: 38 (f) “Renewable energy source device” has the same meaning 39 as in s. 193.624(1). 40 (10)(a) An owner of a commercial or industrial business or 41 a contracted third party may install, maintain, and operate a 42 renewable energy source device on or about the structure in 43 which the business operates or on any property that the business 44 owns or leases. The owner of the business or the contracted 45 third party may sell the electricity generated from the device, 46 regardless of whether the device is located in a utility’s 47 service territory, to a commercial or industrial business that 48 is located immediately adjacent to the structure, within the 49 same parcel as the structure, or on an immediately adjacent 50 parcel. Such sales are not retail sales of electricity for 51 purposes of this chapter and do not subject the energy-producing 52 business to regulation under this chapter. 53 (b) A business entity is not required to purchase directly 54 or indirectly, by lease or by other contractual arrangement, the 55 electricity produced pursuant to paragraph (a). 56 (c) If the energy-producing business or its customers 57 require additional related services from a utility, such as 58 backup generation capacity or transmission services, the utility 59 may recover the full cost of providing these services. 60 (d) A utility may enter into a contract with a commercial 61 or industrial business to install, maintain, and operate any 62 type of renewable energy source device on or about the structure 63 in which the business operates and to sell the electricity 64 generated from the device to that business or to a commercial or 65 industrial business located immediately adjacent to the 66 structure, within the same parcel as the structure, or on an 67 immediately adjacent parcel. Such sales are not retail sales for 68 purposes of this chapter and are not subject to regulation under 69 this chapter. 70 (e) If the commission determines that the level of 71 reduction in electricity purchases by customers using renewable 72 energy source devices under this section is significant enough 73 to adversely impact the rates other customers pay in the rate 74 territory, the commission may approve a utility’s request to 75 recover its costs of providing capacity, generation, and 76 distribution of the electricity needed by all customers, 77 including customers using a renewable energy source device. The 78 cost recovered must be an appropriate amount of fixed costs to 79 avoid the adverse impact and may be assessed only to customers 80 engaged in activity under this section. The cost-recovery 81 elements that are intended for recovery of the fixed costs of 82 capacity, generation, and distribution of electricity must be 83 based on actual costs or on projected costs, must be approved by 84 the commission by a super majority of the voting members of the 85 commission, and are subject to adjustment. A customer may 86 challenge the cost recovery established pursuant to this 87 paragraph by filing with the commission a petition for a 88 determination as to whether the costs recovered are excessive. 89 Upon a determination by the commission of any excessive cost 90 recovery, the customer must be refunded any excess funds 91 collected by the utility. 92 (f) For the purpose of any renewable energy rebate or 93 incentive program established by law, and for application 94 exclusively in this section, the rebate or incentive is the sole 95 property of the owner of the renewable energy source device, and 96 the customer of any electricity sale pursuant to this section is 97 not eligible to receive the rebate or incentive unless the 98 customer owns the renewable energy source device. 99 (g) The commission may adopt rules to provide guidance, 100 requirements, and procedures to ensure that each utility 101 continues to recover costs, including the costs of providing 102 redundant capacity. 103 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.