Tennessee Valley Authority
Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act
Update - June, 2007
The public comment period for the Smart Metering, Net Metering, Interconnection of Consumer Generation, Fuel Diversity and Fossil Fuel Generation Efficiency standards ended on June 1, 2007.
View TVA staff and public comments submitted to the public record.
In 1978, Congress enacted the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) to promote:
- Conservation of energy
- Efficient use of facilities and resources
- Equitable rates to customers
PURPA set forth electric utility service and rate-making standards for consideration by state regulatory authorities and non-regulated utilities. The Act tasked state regulatory authorities and non-regulated utilities with considering whether the adoption of the proposed standards would further the Act’s objectives.
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 amended PURPA to establish five new proposed standards that the TVA Board must consider. The proposed standards are:
- Smart Metering
- Interconnection of Consumer Generation
- Net Metering
- Fossil Fuel Generation Efficiency
- Fuel Diversity
TVA’s consideration process seeks public input on the standards from which an official record will be developed for the TVA Board to review before making the required determinations as to the standards.
TVA began consideration of the Smart Metering, Net Metering, and Interconnection of Consumer Generation standards in August 2006. TVA held a series of open houses at locations across the Tennessee Valley in October 2006 to disseminate information and gather public comments on these three standards.
The public comment period for Smart Metering, Net Metering and Interconnection of Consumer Generation ended on June 1, 2007.
TVA also has initiated its consideration of the remaining two standards, specifically:
- Generator fuel source diversity planning
- Fossil fuel generation efficiency planning
Public comments regarding these standards also ended on June 1, 2007.
Listed below are additional details on the proposed standards currently under consideration.
Net Metering
Each utility shall make available upon request net metering service to any electric consumer that the electric utility serves. For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘‘net metering service’’ means service to an electric consumer under which electric energy generated by that electric consumer from an eligible on-site generating facility and delivered to the local distribution facilities may be used to offset electric energy provided by the electric utility to the electric consumer during the applicable billing period.
Smart Metering
Each electric utility shall offer each of its customer classes, and provide individual customers upon customer request, a time-based rate schedule under which the rate charged by the electric utility varies during different time periods and reflects the variance, if any, in the utility’s costs of generating and purchasing electricity at the wholesale level.
Interconnection of Consumer Generation
Each utility shall make available, upon request, interconnection service to any electric consumer that the electric utility serves. For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘‘interconnection service’’ means service to an electric consumer under which an on-site generating facility on the consumer’s premises shall be connected to the local distribution facilities.
Fossil Fuel Generation Efficiency
Each electric utility shall develop a 10-year plan to increase the efficiency of its fossil fuel generation.
Fuel Diversity
Each electric utility shall develop a plan to minimize dependence on one fuel source and to ensure that the electric energy it sells to consumers is generated using a diverse range of fuels and technologies, including renewable technologies.