General Assembly		Raised Bill No. 353
February Session, 2014		LCO No. 1908
		*01908_______ET_*
Referred to Committee on ENERGY AND TECHNOLOGY
Introduced by:
(ET)

AN ACT CONCERNING THE DEVELOPMENT OF CLASS I RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCE PROJECTS.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 16-244v of the 2014 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):

(a) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of section 16-244e, an electric distribution company, or owner or private third-party developer of generation projects that emit no pollutants, may submit a proposal to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to build, own or operate one or more generation facilities up to an aggregate of [thirty] one hundred megawatts using Class I renewable energy sources as defined in section 16-1 from July 1, [2011] 2014, to July 1, [2013] 2016. Each generation facility shall be equal to or greater than one megawatt but not more than [five] twenty megawatts. Each electric distribution company may enter into joint ownership agreements, partnerships or other agreements with [private developers to carry out the provisions of this section] the owners or private third-party developers to procure the power, renewable energy credits and capacity produced by the generation facilities at a bundled price and pursuant to twenty-year contracts. The aggregate ownership for [an] all electric distribution [company] companies pursuant to this section shall not exceed [ten] fifty megawatts. The department shall evaluate such proposals pursuant to sections 16-19 and 16-19e and may approve one or more of such proposals if it finds that the proposal serves the long-term interest of ratepayers by providing air quality benefits, economic development, fuel diversity, energy independence, improved power reliability or increased price stability. Preference shall be given to any proposal where the proposed generation facility will be located on an existing brownfield. The department (1) shall not approve any proposal supported in any form of cross subsidization by entities affiliated with the electric distribution company, and (2) shall give preference to proposals that make efficient use of existing sites and supply infrastructure. No such company may, under any circumstances, recover more than the full costs identified in a proposal, as approved by the department. Nothing in this section shall preclude the resale or other disposition of energy or associated renewable energy credits purchased by the electric distribution company, provided the distribution company shall net the cost of payments made to projects under the long-term contracts against the proceeds of the sale of energy or renewable energy credits and the difference shall be credited or charged to distribution customers through a reconciling component of electric rates as determined by the authority that is nonbypassable when switching electric suppliers.

(b) (1) The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection shall conduct two solicitations of owners or private third-party developers for generation projects that emit no pollutants. The first solicitation shall be conducted in 2014 and the second solicitation shall be conducted in 2015, provided such solicitations shall not exceed an aggregate of fifty megawatts.

(2) The electric distribution companies may conduct ongoing solicitations for Class I renewable energy source projects for submission to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection pursuant to the project size limitations described in subsection (a) of this section until all electric distribution companies reach an aggregate limit of fifty megawatts.

[(b)] (c) The company shall use the power, capacity and related products produced by such facility to meet the needs of customers served pursuant to section 16-244c.

[(c)] (d) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (1) of subsection (h) of section 16-244c, the amount of renewable energy produced from such facilities shall be applied to reduce the electric distribution company's Class I renewable energy source portfolio standard obligations.

[(d)] (e) The department shall evaluate the proposals approved pursuant to this section and report in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to energy whether proposals shall be accepted beyond July 1, [2013] 2016.

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	from passage	16-244v

Statement of Purpose:

To (1) increase the megawatt amount of generation facilities using Class I renewable energy sources that an electric distribution company or owner or private third-party developer of a generation project may own, (2) require the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to conduct solicitations for certain generation projects, and (3) allow the electric distribution companies to conduct solicitations for certain Class I renewable energy source projects.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]