SB984: Electric utilities; net metering.

Legislative Summary

Electric utilities; net metering. Provides that a contract that provides for the ownership, maintenance, or operation of an electrical generating facility by a third party through a lease agreement with fixed monthly payments does not constitute the sale of electricity and does not cause an eligible customer-generator or the third party that owns, maintains, or operates the electrical generating facility through such a lease agreement to be considered an electric utility. The bill prohibits an eligible customer-generator or eligible agricultural customer-generator from being required to provide proof of liability insurance or to purchase additional liability insurance as a condition of interconnection. The bill exempts eligible customer-generators and eligible agricultural customer-generators that operate a battery storage device in conjunction with an electrical generating facility from standby charges. The bill provides that net metering provisions do not limit the ability of an eligible customer-generator or eligible agricultural customer-generator to participate in a distributed energy resource aggregation or other retail program involving demand response, energy efficiency, or peak reduction from dispatch of onsite battery service, provided that the compensation received is in exchange for a distinct service that is not already compensated by net metering credits for electricity exported to the electric distribution system.