(a)  The board shall have the power to:

(1)  Develop and recommend to the public utilities commission, for review and approval, ceiling prices for standard contracts under the distributed-generation standard contracts;

(2)  Develop and recommend to the commission adjustments up or down to the annual target for standard contracts for the following program year;

(3)  Monitor and evaluate performance under the distributed-generation standard contracts act, including an assessment of ratepayer impact and the project selection process, to be submitted annually in a report to the governor and the general assembly as provided in subsection (b);

(4)  Participate in proceedings of the public utilities commission that pertain to the purposes of the board;

(5)  In order to provide funding for the purposes of engaging consultants and professional services as necessary and appropriate for the board to fulfill its duties and purposes, an allocation of no less than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) from unused portions of Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (“RGGI”) auction proceeds not dedicated to efficiency measures but to overhead expenses shall be transmitted from the office of energy resources to the board.

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(b)  On January 15 of each year, the office of energy resources shall submit to the governor, the president of the senate, and the speaker of the house of representatives, an annual jobs, economic impact, and environmental impact study on the distributed-generation standard contracts program. The study shall include, but not be limited to, environmental benefits, including carbon emission reductions from the installations; economic impacts including, but not limited to, direct and indirect jobs created; system reliability improvements; property and income tax benefits; and ratepayer impacts including, but not limited to, hedges against general inflation and fuel price volatility, short-term price impacts, and wholesale price suppression.