Rhode Island General Laws 39-26.1-5. Commission approvals and regulations
(a) Electric distribution companies shall submit to the commission for review and approval all long-term contracts for newly developed renewable energy resources proposed to be entered into in accordance with this chapter.
Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 39-26.1-5
- Commercially reasonable: means terms and pricing that are reasonably consistent with what an experienced power market analyst would expect to see in transactions involving newly developed renewable energy resources. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-26.1-2
- Commission: means the Rhode Island public utilities commission. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-26.1-2
- Company: means and includes a person, firm, partnership, corporation, quasi-municipal corporation, association, joint-stock association or company, and his, her, its, or their lessees, trustees, or receivers appointed by any court. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-1-2
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Electric distribution company: means a company defined in § 39-1-2, supplying standard-offer service, last-resort service, or any successor service to end-use customers, but not including the Block Island Power Company or the Pascoag Utility District. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-26.1-2
- Newly developed renewable energy resources: means electrical generation units that use exclusively an eligible renewable energy resource, and that have neither begun operation, nor have the developers of the units implemented investment or lending agreements necessary to finance the construction of the unit; provided, however, that any projects using eligible renewable energy resources and located within the state of Rhode Island that obtain project financing on or after January 1, 2009, shall qualify as newly developed renewable energy resources for purposes of the first solicitation under this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-26.1-2
(b) Unless the commission approves otherwise, all energy and capacity purchased by an electric distribution company pursuant to this chapter shall be immediately sold by the electric distribution company into the wholesale spot market; provided, however, that all such sales shall be made through arms-length transactions.
(c) Unless the commission approves otherwise, any attributes including NE-GIS certificates purchased by an electric distribution company pursuant to this chapter shall be sold through a competitive bidding process in a commercially reasonable manner.
(d) Notwithstanding any term or provision to the contrary contained in subsection (b) or (c) hereof, subject to commission approval, electric distribution companies shall be permitted, but shall not be required: (1) To use the energy, capacity, and other attributes purchased for resale to customers; and/or (2) To use the NE-GIS certificates for purposes of meeting the obligations set forth in chapter 26 of this title; provided, however, that the commission finds that such sales would not have a detrimental impact on energy markets, on the market for NE-GIS certificates, and is otherwise in the interest of utility customers.
(e) The commission shall promulgate regulations by April 1, 2010, that shall, as a condition of contract approval, require all approved projects, regardless of their location, to provide other direct economic benefits to Rhode Island, such as job creation, increased property tax revenues, or other similar revenues, deemed substantial by the commission.
(f) The electric distribution company shall file tariffs with the commission for commission review and approval that net the cost of payments made to projects under the long-term contracts against the proceeds obtained from the sale of energy, capacity, RECs, or other attributes. The difference shall be credited or charged to all distribution customers through a uniform fully reconciling annual factor in distribution rates, subject to review and approval of the commission. The reconciliation shall be designed so that customers are credited with any net savings resulting from the long-term contracts and the electric distribution company recovers all costs incurred under such contracts, as well as, recovery of the financial remuneration and incentives specified in § 39-26.1-4.
History of Section.
P.L. 2009, ch. 51, § 1; P.L. 2009, ch. 53, § 1.