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Sub. S. B. No. 310 As Enrolled
(130th General Assembly)
(Substitute Senate Bill Number 310)
AN ACT
To amend sections 3706.25, 4928.01, 4928.20, 4928.53,
4928.64, 4928.65, and 4928.66, to amend, for the
purpose of adopting a new section number as
indicated in parentheses, section 4928.65
(4928.645), and to enact new section 4928.65 and
sections 4928.112, 4928.641, 4928.643, 4928.644,
4928.662, 4928.6610, 4928.6611, 4928.6612,
4928.6613, 4928.6614, 4928.6615, and 4928.6616 of
the Revised Code to make changes to the renewable
energy, energy efficiency, and peak demand
reduction requirements, to prohibit the imposition
of a waiting period before enrolling an eligible
customer in the percentage of income payment plan,
and to create a study committee.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio:
SECTION 1. That sections 3706.25, 4928.01, 4928.20, 4928.53,
4928.64, 4928.65, and 4928.66 be amended, section 4928.65
(4928.645) be amended for the purpose of adopting a new section
number as indicated in parentheses, and new section 4928.65 and
sections 4928.112, 4928.641, 4928.643, 4928.644, 4928.662,
4928.6610, 4928.6611, 4928.6612, 4928.6613, 4928.6614, 4928.6615,
and 4928.6616 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:
Sec. 3706.25. As used in sections 3706.25 to 3706.30 of the
Revised Code:
(A) "Advanced energy project" means any technologies,
products, activities, or management practices or strategies that
facilitate the generation or use of electricity or energy and that
reduce or support the reduction of energy consumption or support
the production of clean, renewable energy for industrial,
distribution, commercial, institutional, governmental, research,
not-for-profit, or residential energy users including, but not
limited to, advanced energy resources and renewable energy
resources. "Advanced energy project" includes any project
described in division (A), (B), or (C) of section 4928.621 of the
Revised Code.
(B) "Advanced energy resource" means any of the following:
(1) Any method or any modification or replacement of any
property, process, device, structure, or equipment that increases
the generation output of an electric generating facility to the
extent such efficiency is achieved without additional carbon
dioxide emissions by that facility;
(2) Any distributed generation system consisting of customer
cogeneration technology, primarily to meet the energy needs of the
customer's facilities;
(3) Advanced nuclear energy technology consisting of
generation III technology as defined by the nuclear regulatory
commission; other, later technology; or significant improvements
to existing facilities;
(4) Any fuel cell used in the generation of electricity,
including, but not limited to, a proton exchange membrane fuel
cell, phosphoric acid fuel cell, molten carbonate fuel cell, or
solid oxide fuel cell;
(5) Advanced solid waste or construction and demolition
debris conversion technology, including, but not limited to,
advanced stoker technology, and advanced fluidized bed
gasification technology, that results in measurable greenhouse gas
emissions reductions as calculated pursuant to the United States
environmental protection agency's waste reduction model (WARM).
(C) "Air contaminant source" has the same meaning as in
section 3704.01 of the Revised Code.
(D) "Cogeneration technology" means technology that produces
electricity and useful thermal output simultaneously.
(E) "Renewable energy resource" means solar photovoltaic or
solar thermal energy, wind energy, power produced by a
hydroelectric facility, power produced by a run-of-the-river
hydroelectric facility placed in service on or after January 1,
1980, that is located within this state, relies upon the Ohio
river, and operates, or is rated to operate, at an aggregate
capacity of forty or more megawatts, geothermal energy, fuel
derived from solid wastes, as defined in section 3734.01 of the
Revised Code, through fractionation, biological decomposition, or
other process that does not principally involve combustion,
biomass energy, energy produced by cogeneration technology that is
placed into service on or before December 31, 2015, and for which
more than ninety per cent of the total annual energy input is from
combustion of a waste or byproduct gas from an air contaminant
source in this state, which source has been in operation since on
or before January 1, 1985, provided that the cogeneration
technology is a part of a facility located in a county having a
population of more than three hundred sixty-five thousand but less
than three hundred seventy thousand according to the most recent
federal decennial census, biologically derived methane gas, heat
captured from a generator of electricity, boiler, or heat
exchanger fueled by biologically derived methane gas, or energy
derived from nontreated by-products of the pulping process or wood
manufacturing process, including bark, wood chips, sawdust, and
lignin in spent pulping liquors. "Renewable energy resource"
includes, but is not limited to, any fuel cell used in the
generation of electricity, including, but not limited to, a proton
exchange membrane fuel cell, phosphoric acid fuel cell, molten
carbonate fuel cell, or solid oxide fuel cell; wind turbine
located in the state's territorial waters of Lake Erie; methane
gas emitted from an abandoned coal mine; storage facility that
will promote the better utilization of a renewable energy resource
that primarily generates off peak; or distributed generation
system used by a customer to generate electricity from any such
energy. As used in this division, "hydroelectric facility" means a
hydroelectric generating facility that is located at a dam on a
river, or on any water discharged to a river, that is within or
bordering this state or within or bordering an adjoining state and
meets all of the following standards:
(1) The facility provides for river flows that are not
detrimental for fish, wildlife, and water quality, including
seasonal flow fluctuations as defined by the applicable licensing
agency for the facility.
(2) The facility demonstrates that it complies with the water
quality standards of this state, which compliance may consist of
certification under Section 401 of the "Clean Water Act of 1977,"
91 Stat. 1598, 1599, 33 U.S.C. 1341, and demonstrates that it has
not contributed to a finding by this state that the river has
impaired water quality under Section 303(d) of the "Clean Water
Act of 1977," 114 Stat. 870, 33 U.S.C. 1313.
(3) The facility complies with mandatory prescriptions
regarding fish passage as required by the federal energy
regulatory commission license issued for the project, regarding
fish protection for riverine, anadromous, and catadromous fish.
(4) The facility complies with the recommendations of the
Ohio environmental protection agency and with the terms of its
federal energy regulatory commission license regarding watershed
protection, mitigation, or enhancement, to the extent of each
agency's respective jurisdiction over the facility.
(5) The facility complies with provisions of the "Endangered
Species Act of 1973," 87 Stat. 884, 16 U.S.C. 1531 to 1544, as
amended.
(6) The facility does not harm cultural resources of the
area. This can be shown through compliance with the terms of its
federal energy regulatory commission license or, if the facility
is not regulated by that commission, through development of a plan
approved by the Ohio historic preservation office, to the extent
it has jurisdiction over the facility.
(7) The facility complies with the terms of its federal
energy regulatory commission license or exemption that are related
to recreational access, accommodation, and facilities or, if the
facility is not regulated by that commission, the facility
complies with similar requirements as are recommended by resource
agencies, to the extent they have jurisdiction over the facility;
and the facility provides access to water to the public without
fee or charge.
(8) The facility is not recommended for removal by any
federal agency or agency of any state, to the extent the
particular agency has jurisdiction over the facility.
Sec. 4928.01. (A) As used in this chapter:
(1) "Ancillary service" means any function necessary to the
provision of electric transmission or distribution service to a
retail customer and includes, but is not limited to, scheduling,
system control, and dispatch services; reactive supply from
generation resources and voltage control service; reactive supply
from transmission resources service; regulation service; frequency
response service; energy imbalance service; operating
reserve-spinning reserve service; operating reserve-supplemental
reserve service; load following; back-up supply service;
real-power loss replacement service; dynamic scheduling; system
black start capability; and network stability service.
(2) "Billing and collection agent" means a fully independent
agent, not affiliated with or otherwise controlled by an electric
utility, electric services company, electric cooperative, or
governmental aggregator subject to certification under section
4928.08 of the Revised Code, to the extent that the agent is under
contract with such utility, company, cooperative, or aggregator
solely to provide billing and collection for retail electric
service on behalf of the utility company, cooperative, or
aggregator.
(3) "Certified territory" means the certified territory
established for an electric supplier under sections 4933.81 to
4933.90 of the Revised Code.
(4) "Competitive retail electric service" means a component
of retail electric service that is competitive as provided under
division (B) of this section.
(5) "Electric cooperative" means a not-for-profit electric
light company that both is or has been financed in whole or in
part under the "Rural Electrification Act of 1936," 49 Stat. 1363,
7 U.S.C. 901, and owns or operates facilities in this state to
generate, transmit, or distribute electricity, or a not-for-profit
successor of such company.
(6) "Electric distribution utility" means an electric utility
that supplies at least retail electric distribution service.
(7) "Electric light company" has the same meaning as in
section 4905.03 of the Revised Code and includes an electric
services company, but excludes any self-generator to the extent
that it consumes electricity it so produces, sells that
electricity for resale, or obtains electricity from a generating
facility it hosts on its premises.
(8) "Electric load center" has the same meaning as in section
4933.81 of the Revised Code.
(9) "Electric services company" means an electric light
company that is engaged on a for-profit or not-for-profit basis in
the business of supplying or arranging for the supply of only a
competitive retail electric service in this state. "Electric
services company" includes a power marketer, power broker,
aggregator, or independent power producer but excludes an electric
cooperative, municipal electric utility, governmental aggregator,
or billing and collection agent.
(10) "Electric supplier" has the same meaning as in section
4933.81 of the Revised Code.
(11) "Electric utility" means an electric light company that
has a certified territory and is engaged on a for-profit basis
either in the business of supplying a noncompetitive retail
electric service in this state or in the businesses of supplying
both a noncompetitive and a competitive retail electric service in
this state. "Electric utility" excludes a municipal electric
utility or a billing and collection agent.
(12) "Firm electric service" means electric service other
than nonfirm electric service.
(13) "Governmental aggregator" means a legislative authority
of a municipal corporation, a board of township trustees, or a
board of county commissioners acting as an aggregator for the
provision of a competitive retail electric service under authority
conferred under section 4928.20 of the Revised Code.
(14) A person acts "knowingly," regardless of the person's
purpose, when the person is aware that the person's conduct will
probably cause a certain result or will probably be of a certain
nature. A person has knowledge of circumstances when the person is
aware that such circumstances probably exist.
(15) "Level of funding for low-income customer energy
efficiency programs provided through electric utility rates" means
the level of funds specifically included in an electric utility's
rates on October 5, 1999, pursuant to an order of the public
utilities commission issued under Chapter 4905. or 4909. of the
Revised Code and in effect on October 4, 1999, for the purpose of
improving the energy efficiency of housing for the utility's
low-income customers. The term excludes the level of any such
funds committed to a specific nonprofit organization or
organizations pursuant to a stipulation or contract.
(16) "Low-income customer assistance programs" means the
percentage of income payment plan program, the home energy
assistance program, the home weatherization assistance program,
and the targeted energy efficiency and weatherization program.
(17) "Market development period" for an electric utility
means the period of time beginning on the starting date of
competitive retail electric service and ending on the applicable
date for that utility as specified in section 4928.40 of the
Revised Code, irrespective of whether the utility applies to
receive transition revenues under this chapter.
(18) "Market power" means the ability to impose on customers
a sustained price for a product or service above the price that
would prevail in a competitive market.
(19) "Mercantile customer" means a commercial or industrial
customer if the electricity consumed is for nonresidential use and
the customer consumes more than seven hundred thousand kilowatt
hours per year or is part of a national account involving multiple
facilities in one or more states.
(20) "Municipal electric utility" means a municipal
corporation that owns or operates facilities to generate,
transmit, or distribute electricity.
(21) "Noncompetitive retail electric service" means a
component of retail electric service that is noncompetitive as
provided under division (B) of this section.
(22) "Nonfirm electric service" means electric service
provided pursuant to a schedule filed under section 4905.30 of the
Revised Code or pursuant to an arrangement under section 4905.31
of the Revised Code, which schedule or arrangement includes
conditions that may require the customer to curtail or interrupt
electric usage during nonemergency circumstances upon notification
by an electric utility.
(23) "Percentage of income payment plan arrears" means funds
eligible for collection through the percentage of income payment
plan rider, but uncollected as of July 1, 2000.
(24) "Person" has the same meaning as in section 1.59 of the
Revised Code.
(25) "Advanced energy project" means any technologies,
products, activities, or management practices or strategies that
facilitate the generation or use of electricity or energy and that
reduce or support the reduction of energy consumption or support
the production of clean, renewable energy for industrial,
distribution, commercial, institutional, governmental, research,
not-for-profit, or residential energy users, including, but not
limited to, advanced energy resources and renewable energy
resources. "Advanced energy project" also includes any project
described in division (A), (B), or (C) of section 4928.621 of the
Revised Code.
(26) "Regulatory assets" means the unamortized net regulatory
assets that are capitalized or deferred on the regulatory books of
the electric utility, pursuant to an order or practice of the
public utilities commission or pursuant to generally accepted
accounting principles as a result of a prior commission
rate-making decision, and that would otherwise have been charged
to expense as incurred or would not have been capitalized or
otherwise deferred for future regulatory consideration absent
commission action. "Regulatory assets" includes, but is not
limited to, all deferred demand-side management costs; all
deferred percentage of income payment plan arrears;
post-in-service capitalized charges and assets recognized in
connection with statement of financial accounting standards no.
109 (receivables from customers for income taxes); future nuclear
decommissioning costs and fuel disposal costs as those costs have
been determined by the commission in the electric utility's most
recent rate or accounting application proceeding addressing such
costs; the undepreciated costs of safety and radiation control
equipment on nuclear generating plants owned or leased by an
electric utility; and fuel costs currently deferred pursuant to
the terms of one or more settlement agreements approved by the
commission.
(27) "Retail electric service" means any service involved in
supplying or arranging for the supply of electricity to ultimate
consumers in this state, from the point of generation to the point
of consumption. For the purposes of this chapter, retail electric
service includes one or more of the following "service
components": generation service, aggregation service, power
marketing service, power brokerage service, transmission service,
distribution service, ancillary service, metering service, and
billing and collection service.
(28) "Starting date of competitive retail electric service"
means January 1, 2001.
(29) "Customer-generator" means a user of a net metering
system.
(30) "Net metering" means measuring the difference in an
applicable billing period between the electricity supplied by an
electric service provider and the electricity generated by a
customer-generator that is fed back to the electric service
provider.
(31) "Net metering system" means a facility for the
production of electrical energy that does all of the following:
(a) Uses as its fuel either solar, wind, biomass, landfill
gas, or hydropower, or uses a microturbine or a fuel cell;
(b) Is located on a customer-generator's premises;
(c) Operates in parallel with the electric utility's
transmission and distribution facilities;
(d) Is intended primarily to offset part or all of the
customer-generator's requirements for electricity.
(32) "Self-generator" means an entity in this state that owns
or hosts on its premises an electric generation facility that
produces electricity primarily for the owner's consumption and
that may provide any such excess electricity to another entity,
whether the facility is installed or operated by the owner or by
an agent under a contract.
(33) "Rate plan" means the standard service offer in effect
on the effective date of the amendment of this section by S.B. 221
of the 127th general assembly, July 31, 2008.
(34) "Advanced energy resource" means any of the following:
(a) Any method or any modification or replacement of any
property, process, device, structure, or equipment that increases
the generation output of an electric generating facility to the
extent such efficiency is achieved without additional carbon
dioxide emissions by that facility;
(b) Any distributed generation system consisting of customer
cogeneration technology;
(c) Clean coal technology that includes a carbon-based
product that is chemically altered before combustion to
demonstrate a reduction, as expressed as ash, in emissions of
nitrous oxide, mercury, arsenic, chlorine, sulfur dioxide, or
sulfur trioxide in accordance with the American society of testing
and materials standard D1757A or a reduction of metal oxide
emissions in accordance with standard D5142 of that society, or
clean coal technology that includes the design capability to
control or prevent the emission of carbon dioxide, which design
capability the commission shall adopt by rule and shall be based
on economically feasible best available technology or, in the
absence of a determined best available technology, shall be of the
highest level of economically feasible design capability for which
there exists generally accepted scientific opinion;
(d) Advanced nuclear energy technology consisting of
generation III technology as defined by the nuclear regulatory
commission; other, later technology; or significant improvements
to existing facilities;
(e) Any fuel cell used in the generation of electricity,
including, but not limited to, a proton exchange membrane fuel
cell, phosphoric acid fuel cell, molten carbonate fuel cell, or
solid oxide fuel cell;
(f) Advanced solid waste or construction and demolition
debris conversion technology, including, but not limited to,
advanced stoker technology, and advanced fluidized bed
gasification technology, that results in measurable greenhouse gas
emissions reductions as calculated pursuant to the United States
environmental protection agency's waste reduction model (WARM);
(g) Demand-side management and any energy efficiency
improvement;
(h) Any new, retrofitted, refueled, or repowered generating
facility located in Ohio, including a simple or combined-cycle
natural gas generating facility or a generating facility that uses
biomass, coal, modular nuclear, or any other fuel as its input;
(i) Any uprated capacity of an existing electric generating
facility if the uprated capacity results from the deployment of
advanced technology.
"Advanced energy resource" does not include a waste energy
recovery system that is, or has been, included in an energy
efficiency program of an electric distribution utility pursuant to
requirements under section 4928.66 of the Revised Code.
(35) "Air contaminant source" has the same meaning as in
section 3704.01 of the Revised Code.
(36) "Cogeneration technology" means technology that produces
electricity and useful thermal output simultaneously.
(37)(a) "Renewable energy resource" means any of the
following:
(i) Solar photovoltaic or solar thermal energy;
(ii) Wind energy;
(iii) Power produced by a hydroelectric facility;
(iv) Power produced by a run-of-the-river hydroelectric
facility placed in service on or after January 1, 1980, that is
located within this state, relies upon the Ohio river, and
operates, or is rated to operate, at an aggregate capacity of
forty or more megawatts;
(v) Geothermal energy;
(v)(vi) Fuel derived from solid wastes, as defined in section
3734.01 of the Revised Code, through fractionation, biological
decomposition, or other process that does not principally involve
combustion;
(vi)(vii) Biomass energy;
(vii)(viii) Energy produced by cogeneration technology that
is placed into service on or before December 31, 2015, and for
which more than ninety per cent of the total annual energy input
is from combustion of a waste or byproduct gas from an air
contaminant source in this state, which source has been in
operation since on or before January 1, 1985, provided that the
cogeneration technology is a part of a facility located in a
county having a population of more than three hundred sixty-five
thousand but less than three hundred seventy thousand according to
the most recent federal decennial census;
(viii)(ix) Biologically derived methane gas;
(ix)(x) Heat captured from a generator of electricity,
boiler, or heat exchanger fueled by biologically derived methane
gas;
(xi) Energy derived from nontreated by-products of the
pulping process or wood manufacturing process, including bark,
wood chips, sawdust, and lignin in spent pulping liquors.
"Renewable energy resource" includes, but is not limited to,
any fuel cell used in the generation of electricity, including,
but not limited to, a proton exchange membrane fuel cell,
phosphoric acid fuel cell, molten carbonate fuel cell, or solid
oxide fuel cell; wind turbine located in the state's territorial
waters of Lake Erie; methane gas emitted from an abandoned coal
mine; waste energy recovery system placed into service or
retrofitted on or after the effective date of the amendment of
this section by S.B. 315 of the 129th general assembly, September
10, 2012, except that a waste energy recovery system described in
division (A)(38)(b) of this section may be included only if it was
placed into service between January 1, 2002, and December 31,
2004; storage facility that will promote the better utilization of
a renewable energy resource; or distributed generation system used
by a customer to generate electricity from any such energy.
"Renewable energy resource" does not include a waste energy
recovery system that is, or was, on or after January 1, 2012,
included in an energy efficiency program of an electric
distribution utility pursuant to requirements under section
4928.66 of the Revised Code.
(b) As used in division (A)(37) of this section,
"hydroelectric facility" means a hydroelectric generating facility
that is located at a dam on a river, or on any water discharged to
a river, that is within or bordering this state or within or
bordering an adjoining state and meets all of the following
standards:
(i) The facility provides for river flows that are not
detrimental for fish, wildlife, and water quality, including
seasonal flow fluctuations as defined by the applicable licensing
agency for the facility.
(ii) The facility demonstrates that it complies with the
water quality standards of this state, which compliance may
consist of certification under Section 401 of the "Clean Water Act
of 1977," 91 Stat. 1598, 1599, 33 U.S.C. 1341, and demonstrates
that it has not contributed to a finding by this state that the
river has impaired water quality under Section 303(d) of the
"Clean Water Act of 1977," 114 Stat. 870, 33 U.S.C. 1313.
(iii) The facility complies with mandatory prescriptions
regarding fish passage as required by the federal energy
regulatory commission license issued for the project, regarding
fish protection for riverine, anadromous, and catadromous fish.
(iv) The facility complies with the recommendations of the
Ohio environmental protection agency and with the terms of its
federal energy regulatory commission license regarding watershed
protection, mitigation, or enhancement, to the extent of each
agency's respective jurisdiction over the facility.
(v) The facility complies with provisions of the "Endangered
Species Act of 1973," 87 Stat. 884, 16 U.S.C. 1531 to 1544, as
amended.
(vi) The facility does not harm cultural resources of the
area. This can be shown through compliance with the terms of its
federal energy regulatory commission license or, if the facility
is not regulated by that commission, through development of a plan
approved by the Ohio historic preservation office, to the extent
it has jurisdiction over the facility.
(vii) The facility complies with the terms of its federal
energy regulatory commission license or exemption that are related
to recreational access, accommodation, and facilities or, if the
facility is not regulated by that commission, the facility
complies with similar requirements as are recommended by resource
agencies, to the extent they have jurisdiction over the facility;
and the facility provides access to water to the public without
fee or charge.
(viii) The facility is not recommended for removal by any
federal agency or agency of any state, to the extent the
particular agency has jurisdiction over the facility.
(38) "Waste energy recovery system" means either of the
following:
(a) A facility that generates electricity through the
conversion of energy from either of the following:
(i) Exhaust heat from engines or manufacturing, industrial,
commercial, or institutional sites, except for exhaust heat from a
facility whose primary purpose is the generation of electricity;
(ii) Reduction of pressure in gas pipelines before gas is
distributed through the pipeline, provided that the conversion of
energy to electricity is achieved without using additional fossil
fuels.
(b) A facility at a state institution of higher education as
defined in section 3345.011 of the Revised Code that recovers
waste heat from electricity-producing engines or combustion
turbines and that simultaneously uses the recovered heat to
produce steam, provided that the facility was placed into service
between January 1, 2002, and December 31, 2004.
(39) "Smart grid" means capital improvements to an electric
distribution utility's distribution infrastructure that improve
reliability, efficiency, resiliency, or reduce energy demand or
use, including, but not limited to, advanced metering and
automation of system functions.
(40) "Combined heat and power system" means the coproduction
of electricity and useful thermal energy from the same fuel source
designed to achieve thermal-efficiency levels of at least sixty
per cent, with at least twenty per cent of the system's total
useful energy in the form of thermal energy.
(B) For the purposes of this chapter, a retail electric
service component shall be deemed a competitive retail electric
service if the service component is competitive pursuant to a
declaration by a provision of the Revised Code or pursuant to an
order of the public utilities commission authorized under division
(A) of section 4928.04 of the Revised Code. Otherwise, the service
component shall be deemed a noncompetitive retail electric
service.
Sec. 4928.112. (A) In the event of an interruption of
electric service during a period of emergency or disaster, an
electric distribution utility's service restoration plan shall
give priority to hospitals that are customers of the electric
distribution utility.
(B) If requested by a hospital that is its customer, an
electric distribution utility shall confer at least biennially
with that hospital regarding power quality issues and concerns
related to the utility's facilities, including voltage sags,
spikes, and harmonic disturbances, in an effort to minimize those
events or their impact on the hospital.
(C) The public utilities commission shall adopt rules to
carry out this section.
Sec. 4928.20. (A) The legislative authority of a municipal
corporation may adopt an ordinance, or the board of township
trustees of a township or the board of county commissioners of a
county may adopt a resolution, under which, on or after the
starting date of competitive retail electric service, it may
aggregate in accordance with this section the retail electrical
loads located, respectively, within the municipal corporation,
township, or unincorporated area of the county and, for that
purpose, may enter into service agreements to facilitate for those
loads the sale and purchase of electricity. The legislative
authority or board also may exercise such authority jointly with
any other such legislative authority or board. For customers that
are not mercantile customers, an ordinance or resolution under
this division shall specify whether the aggregation will occur
only with the prior, affirmative consent of each person owning,
occupying, controlling, or using an electric load center proposed
to be aggregated or will occur automatically for all such persons
pursuant to the opt-out requirements of division (D) of this
section. The aggregation of mercantile customers shall occur only
with the prior, affirmative consent of each such person owning,
occupying, controlling, or using an electric load center proposed
to be aggregated. Nothing in this division, however, authorizes
the aggregation of the retail electric loads of an electric load
center, as defined in section 4933.81 of the Revised Code, that is
located in the certified territory of a nonprofit electric
supplier under sections 4933.81 to 4933.90 of the Revised Code or
an electric load center served by transmission or distribution
facilities of a municipal electric utility.
(B) If an ordinance or resolution adopted under division (A)
of this section specifies that aggregation of customers that are
not mercantile customers will occur automatically as described in
that division, the ordinance or resolution shall direct the board
of elections to submit the question of the authority to aggregate
to the electors of the respective municipal corporation, township,
or unincorporated area of a county at a special election on the
day of the next primary or general election in the municipal
corporation, township, or county. The legislative authority or
board shall certify a copy of the ordinance or resolution to the
board of elections not less than ninety days before the day of the
special election. No ordinance or resolution adopted under
division (A) of this section that provides for an election under
this division shall take effect unless approved by a majority of
the electors voting upon the ordinance or resolution at the
election held pursuant to this division.
(C) Upon the applicable requisite authority under divisions
(A) and (B) of this section, the legislative authority or board
shall develop a plan of operation and governance for the
aggregation program so authorized. Before adopting a plan under
this division, the legislative authority or board shall hold at
least two public hearings on the plan. Before the first hearing,
the legislative authority or board shall publish notice of the
hearings once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of
general circulation in the jurisdiction or as provided in section
7.16 of the Revised Code. The notice shall summarize the plan and
state the date, time, and location of each hearing.
(D) No legislative authority or board, pursuant to an
ordinance or resolution under divisions (A) and (B) of this
section that provides for automatic aggregation of customers that
are not mercantile customers as described in division (A) of this
section, shall aggregate the electrical load of any electric load
center located within its jurisdiction unless it in advance
clearly discloses to the person owning, occupying, controlling, or
using the load center that the person will be enrolled
automatically in the aggregation program and will remain so
enrolled unless the person affirmatively elects by a stated
procedure not to be so enrolled. The disclosure shall state
prominently the rates, charges, and other terms and conditions of
enrollment. The stated procedure shall allow any person enrolled
in the aggregation program the opportunity to opt out of the
program every three years, without paying a switching fee. Any
such person that opts out before the commencement of the
aggregation program pursuant to the stated procedure shall default
to the standard service offer provided under section 4928.14 or
division (D) of section 4928.35 of the Revised Code until the
person chooses an alternative supplier.
(E)(1) With respect to a governmental aggregation for a
municipal corporation that is authorized pursuant to divisions (A)
to (D) of this section, resolutions may be proposed by initiative
or referendum petitions in accordance with sections 731.28 to
731.41 of the Revised Code.
(2) With respect to a governmental aggregation for a township
or the unincorporated area of a county, which aggregation is
authorized pursuant to divisions (A) to (D) of this section,
resolutions may be proposed by initiative or referendum petitions
in accordance with sections 731.28 to 731.40 of the Revised Code,
except that:
(a) The petitions shall be filed, respectively, with the
township fiscal officer or the board of county commissioners, who
shall perform those duties imposed under those sections upon the
city auditor or village clerk.
(b) The petitions shall contain the signatures of not less
than ten per cent of the total number of electors in,
respectively, the township or the unincorporated area of the
county who voted for the office of governor at the preceding
general election for that office in that area.
(F) A governmental aggregator under division (A) of this
section is not a public utility engaging in the wholesale purchase
and resale of electricity, and provision of the aggregated service
is not a wholesale utility transaction. A governmental aggregator
shall be subject to supervision and regulation by the public
utilities commission only to the extent of any competitive retail
electric service it provides and commission authority under this
chapter.
(G) This section does not apply in the case of a municipal
corporation that supplies such aggregated service to electric load
centers to which its municipal electric utility also supplies a
noncompetitive retail electric service through transmission or
distribution facilities the utility singly or jointly owns or
operates.
(H) A governmental aggregator shall not include in its
aggregation the accounts of any of the following:
(1) A customer that has opted out of the aggregation;
(2) A customer in contract with a certified electric services
company;
(3) A customer that has a special contract with an electric
distribution utility;
(4) A customer that is not located within the governmental
aggregator's governmental boundaries;
(5) Subject to division (C) of section 4928.21 of the Revised
Code, a customer who appears on the "do not aggregate" list
maintained under that section.
(I) Customers that are part of a governmental aggregation
under this section shall be responsible only for such portion of a
surcharge under section 4928.144 of the Revised Code that is
proportionate to the benefits, as determined by the commission,
that electric load centers within the jurisdiction of the
governmental aggregation as a group receive. The proportionate
surcharge so established shall apply to each customer of the
governmental aggregation while the customer is part of that
aggregation. If a customer ceases being such a customer, the
otherwise applicable surcharge shall apply. Nothing in this
section shall result in less than full recovery by an electric
distribution utility of any surcharge authorized under section
4928.144 of the Revised Code. Nothing in this section shall result
in less than the full and timely imposition, charging, collection,
and adjustment by an electric distribution utility, its assignee,
or any collection agent, of the phase-in-recovery charges
authorized pursuant to a final financing order issued pursuant to
sections 4928.23 to 4928.2318 of the Revised Code.
(J) On behalf of the customers that are part of a
governmental aggregation under this section and by filing written
notice with the public utilities commission, the legislative
authority that formed or is forming that governmental aggregation
may elect not to receive standby service within the meaning of
division (B)(2)(d) of section 4928.143 of the Revised Code from an
electric distribution utility in whose certified territory the
governmental aggregation is located and that operates under an
approved electric security plan under that section. Upon the
filing of that notice, the electric distribution utility shall not
charge any such customer to whom competitive retail electric
generation service is provided by another supplier under the
governmental aggregation for the standby service. Any such
consumer that returns to the utility for competitive retail
electric service shall pay the market price of power incurred by
the utility to serve that consumer plus any amount attributable to
the utility's cost of compliance with the alternative renewable
energy resource provisions of section 4928.64 of the Revised Code
to serve the consumer. Such market price shall include, but not be
limited to, capacity and energy charges; all charges associated
with the provision of that power supply through the regional
transmission organization, including, but not limited to,
transmission, ancillary services, congestion, and settlement and
administrative charges; and all other costs incurred by the
utility that are associated with the procurement, provision, and
administration of that power supply, as such costs may be approved
by the commission. The period of time during which the market
price and alternative renewable energy resource amount shall be so
assessed on the consumer shall be from the time the consumer so
returns to the electric distribution utility until the expiration
of the electric security plan. However, if that period of time is
expected to be more than two years, the commission may reduce the
time period to a period of not less than two years.
(K) The commission shall adopt rules to encourage and promote
large-scale governmental aggregation in this state. For that
purpose, the commission shall conduct an immediate review of any
rules it has adopted for the purpose of this section that are in
effect on the effective date of the amendment of this section by
S.B. 221 of the 127th general assembly, July 31, 2008. Further,
within the context of an electric security plan under section
4928.143 of the Revised Code, the commission shall consider the
effect on large-scale governmental aggregation of any
nonbypassable generation charges, however collected, that would be
established under that plan, except any nonbypassable generation
charges that relate to any cost incurred by the electric
distribution utility, the deferral of which has been authorized by
the commission prior to the effective date of the amendment of
this section by S.B. 221 of the 127th general assembly, July 31,
2008.
Sec. 4928.53. (A) Beginning July 1, 2000, the director of
development is hereby authorized to administer the low-income
customer assistance programs. For that purpose, the public
utilities commission shall cooperate with and provide such
assistance as the director requires for administration of the
low-income customer assistance programs. The director shall
consolidate the administration of and redesign and coordinate the
operations of those programs within the department to provide, to
the maximum extent possible, for efficient program administration
and a one-stop application and eligibility determination process
at the local level for consumers.
(B)(1) Not later than March 1, 2000, the director, in
accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, shall adopt
rules to carry out sections 4928.51 to 4928.58 of the Revised Code
and ensure the effective and efficient administration and
operation of the low-income customer assistance programs. The
rules shall take effect on
the July 1, 2000.
(2) The director's authority to adopt rules under this
division for the Ohio energy credit program shall be subject to
such rule-making authority as is conferred on the director by
sections 5117.01 to 5117.12 of the Revised Code, as amended by
Sub. S.B. No. 3 of the 123rd general assembly, except that rules
initially adopted by the director for the Ohio energy credit
program shall incorporate the substance of those sections as they
exist on the effective date of this section.
(3) The director's authority to adopt rules under this
division for the percentage of income payment plan program shall
include authority to adopt rules prescribing criteria for customer
eligibility and policies regarding payment and crediting
arrangements and responsibilities, procedures for verifying
customer eligibility, procedures for disbursing public funds to
suppliers and otherwise administering funds under the director's
jurisdiction, and requirements as to timely remittances of
revenues described in division (B) of section 4928.51 of the
Revised Code. The rules shall prohibit the imposition of a waiting
period before enrolling an eligible customer in the percentage of
income payment plan. The director's authority in division (B)(3)
of this section excludes authority to prescribe service
disconnection and customer billing policies and procedures and to
address complaints against suppliers under the percentage of
payment plan program, which excluded authority shall be exercised
by the public utilities commission, in coordination with the
director. Rules adopted by the director under this division for
the percentage of income payment plan program shall specify a
level of payment responsibility to be borne by an eligible
customer based on a percentage of the customer's income. Rules
initially adopted by the director for the percentage of income
payment plan program shall incorporate the eligibility criteria
and payment arrangement and responsibility policies set forth in
rule 4901:1-18-04(B) of the Ohio Administrative Code in effect on
the effective date of this section.
Sec. 4928.64. (A)(1) As used in sections 4928.64 and 4928.65
of the Revised Code this section, "alternative qualifying
renewable energy resource" means an advanced energy resource or a
renewable energy resource, as defined in section 4928.01 of the
Revised Code that has a placed-in-service date of on or after
January 1, 1998, or after with respect to any run-of-the-river
hydroelectric facility, an in-service date on or after January 1,
1980; a renewable energy resource created on or after January 1,
1998, by the modification or retrofit of any facility placed in
service prior to January 1, 1998; or a mercantile customer-sited
advanced energy resource or renewable energy resource, whether new
or existing, that the mercantile customer commits for integration
into the electric distribution utility's demand-response, energy
efficiency, or peak demand reduction programs as provided under
division (A)(2)(c) of section 4928.66 of the Revised Code,
including, but not limited to, any of the following:
(a) A resource that has the effect of improving the
relationship between real and reactive power;
(b) A resource that makes efficient use of waste heat or
other thermal capabilities owned or controlled by a mercantile
customer;
(c) Storage technology that allows a mercantile customer more
flexibility to modify its demand or load and usage
characteristics;
(d) Electric generation equipment owned or controlled by a
mercantile customer that uses an advanced energy resource or
a
renewable energy resource;
(e) Any advanced energy resource or renewable energy resource
of the mercantile customer that can be utilized effectively as
part of any advanced energy resource plan of an electric
distribution utility and would otherwise qualify as an alternative
energy resource if it were utilized directly by an electric
distribution utility.
(2) For the purpose of this section and as it considers
appropriate, the public utilities commission may classify any new
technology as such an advanced energy resource or a qualifying
renewable energy resource.
(B)(1) By 2025 2027 and thereafter, an electric distribution
utility shall provide from alternative qualifying renewable energy
resources, including, at its discretion, alternative qualifying
renewable energy resources obtained pursuant to an electricity
supply contract, a portion of the electricity supply required for
its standard service offer under section 4928.141 of the Revised
Code, and an electric services company shall provide a portion of
its electricity supply for retail consumers in this state from
alternative qualifying renewable energy resources, including, at
its discretion, alternative qualifying renewable energy resources
obtained pursuant to an electricity supply contract. That portion
shall equal twenty-five twelve and one-half per cent of the total
number of kilowatt hours of electricity sold by the subject
utility or company to any and all retail electric consumers whose
electric load centers are served by that utility and are located
within the utility's certified territory or, in the case of an
electric services company, are served by the company and are
located within this state. However, nothing in this section
precludes a utility or company from providing a greater
percentage. The baseline for a utility's or company's compliance
with the alternative energy resource requirements of this section
shall be the average of such total kilowatt hours it sold in the
preceding three calendar years, except that the commission may
reduce a utility's or company's baseline to adjust for new
economic growth in the utility's certified territory or, in the
case of an electric services company, in the company's service
area in this state.
Of the alternative energy resources implemented by the
subject utility or company by 2025 and thereafter:
(1) Half may be generated from advanced energy resources;
(2) At least half The portion required under division (B)(1)
of this section shall be generated from renewable energy
resources, including one-half per cent from solar energy
resources, in accordance with the following benchmarks:
By end of year |
Renewable energy resources |
Solar energy resources |
|
|
2009 |
0.25% |
0.004% |
|
|
2010 |
0.50% |
0.010% |
|
|
2011 |
1% |
0.030% |
|
|
2012 |
1.5% |
0.060% |
|
|
2013 |
2% |
0.090% |
|
|
2014 |
2.5% |
0.12% |
|
|
2015 |
3.5 2.5% |
0.15 0.12% |
|
|
2016 |
4.5 2.5% |
0.18 0.12% |
|
|
2017 |
5.5 3.5% |
0.22 0.15% |
|
|
2018 |
6.5 4.5% |
0.26 0.18% |
|
|
2019 |
7.5 5.5% |
0.3 0.22% |
|
|
2020 |
8.5 6.5% |
0.34 0.26% |
|
|
2021 |
9.5 7.5% |
0.38 0.3% |
|
|
2022 |
10.5 8.5% |
0.42 0.34% |
|
|
2023 |
11.5 9.5% |
0.46 0.38% |
|
|
2024 and each calendar year thereafter |
12.5 10.5% |
0.5 0.42% |
|
|
2025 |
11.5% |
0.46% |
|
|
2026 and each calendar year thereafter |
12.5% |
0.5%. |
|
|
(3) At least one-half of the The qualifying renewable energy
resources implemented by the utility or company shall be met
through either:
(a) Through facilities located in this state; the remainder
shall be met with or
(b) With resources that can be shown to be deliverable into
this state.
(C)(1) The commission annually shall review an electric
distribution utility's or electric services company's compliance
with the most recent applicable benchmark under division (B)(2) of
this section and, in the course of that review, shall identify any
undercompliance or noncompliance of the utility or company that it
determines is weather-related, related to equipment or resource
shortages for
advanced energy or qualifying renewable energy
resources as applicable, or is otherwise outside the utility's or
company's control.
(2) Subject to the cost cap provisions of division (C)(3) of
this section, if the commission determines, after notice and
opportunity for hearing, and based upon its findings in that
review regarding avoidable undercompliance or noncompliance, but
subject to division (C)(4) of this section, that the utility or
company has failed to comply with any such benchmark, the
commission shall impose a renewable energy compliance payment on
the utility or company.
(a) The compliance payment pertaining to the solar energy
resource benchmarks under division (B)(2) of this section shall be
an amount per megawatt hour of undercompliance or noncompliance in
the period under review,
starting at four as follows:
(i) Three hundred fifty dollars for 2009, four 2014, 2015,
and 2016;
(ii) Two hundred fifty dollars for 2010 2017 and 2011, and
similarly 2018;
(iii) Two hundred dollars for 2019 and 2020;
(iv) Similarly reduced every two years thereafter through
2024 2026 by fifty dollars, to a minimum of fifty dollars.
(b) The compliance payment pertaining to the renewable energy
resource benchmarks under division (B)(2) of this section shall
equal the number of additional renewable energy credits that the
electric distribution utility or electric services company would
have needed to comply with the applicable benchmark in the period
under review times an amount that shall begin at forty-five
dollars and shall be adjusted annually by the commission to
reflect any change in the consumer price index as defined in
section 101.27 of the Revised Code, but shall not be less than
forty-five dollars.
(c) The compliance payment shall not be passed through by the
electric distribution utility or electric services company to
consumers. The compliance payment shall be remitted to the
commission, for deposit to the credit of the advanced energy fund
created under section 4928.61 of the Revised Code. Payment of the
compliance payment shall be subject to such collection and
enforcement procedures as apply to the collection of a forfeiture
under sections 4905.55 to 4905.60 and 4905.64 of the Revised Code.
(3) An electric distribution utility or an electric services
company need not comply with a benchmark under division (B)(1) or
(2) of this section to the extent that its reasonably expected
cost of that compliance exceeds its reasonably expected cost of
otherwise producing or acquiring the requisite electricity by
three per cent or more. The cost of compliance shall be calculated
as though any exemption from taxes and assessments had not been
granted under section 5727.75 of the Revised Code.
(4)(a) An electric distribution utility or electric services
company may request the commission to make a force majeure
determination pursuant to this division regarding all or part of
the utility's or company's compliance with any minimum benchmark
under division (B)(2) of this section during the period of review
occurring pursuant to division (C)(2) of this section. The
commission may require the electric distribution utility or
electric services company to make solicitations for renewable
energy resource credits as part of its default service before the
utility's or company's request of force majeure under this
division can be made.
(b) Within ninety days after the filing of a request by an
electric distribution utility or electric services company under
division (C)(4)(a) of this section, the commission shall determine
if qualifying renewable energy resources are reasonably available
in the marketplace in sufficient quantities for the utility or
company to comply with the subject minimum benchmark during the
review period. In making this determination, the commission shall
consider whether the electric distribution utility or electric
services company has made a good faith effort to acquire
sufficient qualifying renewable energy or, as applicable, solar
energy resources to so comply, including, but not limited to, by
banking or seeking renewable energy resource credits or by seeking
the resources through long-term contracts. Additionally, the
commission shall consider the availability of
qualifying
renewable energy or solar energy resources in this state and other
jurisdictions in the PJM interconnection regional transmission
organization, L.L.C., or its successor and the
midwest
midcontinent independent system operator or its successor.
(c) If, pursuant to division (C)(4)(b) of this section, the
commission determines that qualifying renewable energy or solar
energy resources are not reasonably available to permit the
electric distribution utility or electric services company to
comply, during the period of review, with the subject minimum
benchmark prescribed under division (B)(2) of this section, the
commission shall modify that compliance obligation of the utility
or company as it determines appropriate to accommodate the
finding. Commission modification shall not automatically reduce
the obligation for the electric distribution utility's or electric
services company's compliance in subsequent years. If it modifies
the electric distribution utility or electric services company
obligation under division (C)(4)(c) of this section, the
commission may require the utility or company, if sufficient
renewable energy resource credits exist in the marketplace, to
acquire additional renewable energy resource credits in subsequent
years equivalent to the utility's or company's modified obligation
under division (C)(4)(c) of this section.
(5) The commission shall establish a process to provide for
at least an annual review of the alternative renewable energy
resource market in this state and in the service territories of
the regional transmission organizations that manage transmission
systems located in this state. The commission shall use the
results of this study to identify any needed changes to the amount
of the renewable energy compliance payment specified under
divisions (C)(2)(a) and (b) of this section. Specifically, the
commission may increase the amount to ensure that payment of
compliance payments is not used to achieve compliance with this
section in lieu of actually acquiring or realizing energy derived
from qualifying renewable energy resources. However, if the
commission finds that the amount of the compliance payment should
be otherwise changed, the commission shall present this finding to
the general assembly for legislative enactment.
(D)(1) The commission annually shall submit to the general
assembly in accordance with section 101.68 of the Revised Code a
report describing all of the following:
(a)(1) The compliance of electric distribution utilities and
electric services companies with division (B) of this section;
(b)(2) The average annual cost of renewable energy credits
purchased by utilities and companies for the year covered in the
report;
(c)(3) Any strategy for utility and company compliance or for
encouraging the use of alternative qualifying renewable energy
resources in supplying this state's electricity needs in a manner
that considers available technology, costs, job creation, and
economic impacts.
The commission shall begin providing the information
described in division (D)(1)(b)(2) of this section in each report
submitted after the effective date of the amendment of this
section by S.B. 315 of the 129th general assembly September 10,
2012. The commission shall allow and consider public comments on
the report prior to its submission to the general assembly.
Nothing in the report shall be binding on any person, including
any utility or company for the purpose of its compliance with any
benchmark under division (B) of this section, or the enforcement
of that provision under division (C) of this section.
(2) The governor, in consultation with the commission
chairperson, shall appoint an alternative energy advisory
committee. The committee shall examine available technology for
and related timetables, goals, and costs of the alternative energy
resource requirements under division (B) of this section and shall
submit to the commission a semiannual report of its
recommendations.
(E) All costs incurred by an electric distribution utility in
complying with the requirements of this section shall be
bypassable by any consumer that has exercised choice of supplier
under section 4928.03 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 4928.641. (A) If an electric distribution utility has
executed a contract before April 1, 2014, to procure renewable
energy resources and there are ongoing costs associated with that
contract that are being recovered from customers through a
bypassable charge as of the effective date of S.B. 310 of the
130th general assembly, that cost recovery shall continue on a
bypassable basis until the prudently incurred costs associated
with that contract are fully recovered.
(B) Division (A) of this section applies only to costs
associated with the original term of a contract described in that
division and entered into before April 1, 2014. This section does
not permit recovery of costs associated with an extension of such
a contract. This section does not permit recovery of costs
associated with an amendment of such a contract if that amendment
was made on or after April 1, 2014.
Sec. 4928.643. (A) Except as provided in division (B) of
this section and section 4928.644 of the Revised Code, the
baseline for an electric distribution utility's or an electric
services company's compliance with the qualified renewable energy
resource requirements of section 4928.64 of the Revised Code shall
be the average of total kilowatt hours sold by the utility or
company in the preceding three calendar years to the following:
(1) In the case of an electric distribution utility, any and
all retail electric consumers whose electric load centers are
served by that utility and are located within the utility's
certified territory;
(2) In the case of an electric services company, any and all
retail electric consumers who are served by the company and are
located within this state.
(B) Beginning with compliance year 2014, a utility or company
may choose for its baseline for compliance with the qualified
renewable energy resource requirements of section 4928.64 of the
Revised Code to be the total kilowatt hours sold to the applicable
consumers, as described in division (A)(1) or (2) of this section,
in the applicable compliance year.
(C) A utility or company that uses the baseline permitted
under division (B) of this section may use the baseline described
in division (A) of this section in any subsequent compliance year.
A utility or company that makes this switch shall use the baseline
described in division (A) of this section for at least three
consecutive compliance years before again using the baseline
permitted under division (B) of this section.
Sec. 4928.644. The public utilities commission may reduce
either baseline described in section 4928.643 of the Revised Code
to adjust for new economic growth in the electric distribution
utility's certified territory or in the electric services
company's service area in this state.
Sec. 4928.65 4928.645. (A) An electric distribution utility
or electric services company may use, for the purpose of complying
with the requirements under divisions (B)(1) and (2) of section
4928.64 of the Revised Code, renewable energy credits any time in
the five calendar years following the date of their purchase or
acquisition from any entity, including, but not limited to, a the
following:
(1) A mercantile customer or an;
(2) An owner or operator of a hydroelectric generating
facility that is located at a dam on a river, or on any water
discharged to a river, that is within or bordering this state or
within or bordering an adjoining state,
for the purpose of
complying with the renewable energy and solar energy resource
requirements of division (B)(2) of section 4928.64 of the Revised
Code or that produces power that can be shown to be deliverable
into this state;
(3) A seller of compressed natural gas that has been produced
from biologically derived methane gas, provided that the seller
may only provide renewable energy credits for metered amounts of
gas. The
(B)(1) The public utilities commission shall adopt rules
specifying that one unit of credit shall equal one megawatt hour
of electricity derived from renewable energy resources, except
that, for a generating facility of seventy-five megawatts or
greater that is situated within this state and has committed by
December 31, 2009, to modify or retrofit its generating unit or
units to enable the facility to generate principally from biomass
energy by June 30, 2013, each megawatt hour of electricity
generated principally from that biomass energy shall equal, in
units of credit, the product obtained by multiplying the actual
percentage of biomass feedstock heat input used to generate such
megawatt hour by the quotient obtained by dividing the then
existing unit dollar amount used to determine a renewable energy
compliance payment as provided under division (C)(2)(b) of section
4928.64 of the Revised Code by the then existing market value of
one renewable energy credit, but such megawatt hour shall not
equal less than one unit of credit. Renewable energy resources do
not have to be converted to electricity in order to be eligible to
receive renewable energy credits. The rules shall specify that,
for purposes of converting the quantity of energy derived from
biologically derived methane gas to an electricity equivalent, one
megawatt hour equals 3,412,142 British thermal units.
(2) The rules also shall provide for this state a system of
registering renewable energy credits by specifying which of any
generally available registries shall be used for that purpose and
not by creating a registry. That selected system of registering
renewable energy credits shall allow a hydroelectric generating
facility to be eligible for obtaining renewable energy credits and
shall allow customer-sited projects or actions the broadest
opportunities to be eligible for obtaining renewable energy
credits.
Sec. 4928.65. (A) Not later than January 1, 2015, the public
utilities commission shall adopt rules governing the disclosure of
the costs to customers of the renewable energy resource, energy
efficiency savings, and peak demand reduction requirements of
sections 4928.64 and 4928.66 of the Revised Code. The rules shall
include both of the following requirements:
(1) That every electric distribution utility list, on all
customer bills sent by the utility, including utility consolidated
bills that include both electric distribution utility and electric
services company charges, the individual customer cost of the
utility's compliance with all of the following for the applicable
billing period:
(a) The renewable energy resource requirements under section
4928.64 of the Revised Code, subject to division (B) of this
section;
(b) The energy efficiency savings requirements under section
4928.66 of the Revised Code;
(c) The peak demand reduction requirements under section
4928.66 of the Revised Code.
(2) That every electric services company list, on all
customer bills sent by the company, the individual customer cost,
subject to division (B) of this section, of the company's
compliance with the renewable energy resource requirements under
section 4928.64 of the Revised Code for the applicable billing
period.
(B)(1) For purposes of division (A)(1)(a) of this section,
the cost of compliance with the renewable energy resource
requirements shall be calculated by multiplying the individual
customer's monthly usage by the combined weighted average of
renewable-energy-credit costs, including
solar-renewable-energy-credit costs, paid by all electric
distribution utilities, as listed in the commission's most
recently available alternative energy portfolio standard report.
(2) For purposes of division (A)(2) of this section, the cost
of compliance with the renewable energy resource requirements
shall be calculated by multiplying the individual customer's
monthly usage by the combined weighted average of
renewable-energy-credit costs, including
solar-renewable-energy-credit costs, paid by all electric services
companies, as listed in the commission's most recently available
alternative energy portfolio standard report.
(C) The costs required to be listed under division (A)(1) of
this section shall be listed on each customer's monthly bill as
three distinct line items. The cost required to be listed under
division (A)(2) of this section shall be listed on each customer's
monthly bill as a distinct line item.
Sec. 4928.66. (A)(1)(a) Beginning in 2009, an electric
distribution utility shall implement energy efficiency programs
that achieve energy savings equivalent to at least three-tenths of
one per cent of the total, annual average, and normalized
kilowatt-hour sales of the electric distribution utility during
the preceding three calendar years to customers in this state. An
energy efficiency program may include a combined heat and power
system placed into service or retrofitted on or after the
effective date of the amendment of this section by S.B. 315 of the
129th general assembly, September 10, 2012, or a waste energy
recovery system placed into service or retrofitted on or after the
same date September 10, 2012, except that a waste energy recovery
system described in division (A)(38)(b) of section 4928.01 of the
Revised Code may be included only if it was placed into service
between January 1, 2002, and December 31, 2004. For a waste energy
recovery or combined heat and power system, the savings shall be
as estimated by the public utilities commission. The savings
requirement, using such a three-year average, shall increase to an
additional five-tenths of one per cent in 2010, seven-tenths of
one per cent in 2011, eight-tenths of one per cent in 2012,
nine-tenths of one per cent in 2013, and one per cent from in 2014
to. In 2015 and 2016, an electric distribution utility shall
achieve energy savings equal to the result of subtracting the
cumulative energy savings achieved since 2009 from the product of
multiplying the baseline for energy savings, described in division
(A)(2)(a) of this section, by four and two-tenths of one per cent.
If the result is zero or less for the year for which the
calculation is being made, the utility shall not be required to
achieve additional energy savings for that year, but may achieve
additional energy savings for that year. Thereafter, the annual
savings requirements shall be, for years 2017, 2018, 2019, and
2020, one per cent of the baseline, and two per cent each year
thereafter, achieving
a cumulative, annual energy savings in
excess of twenty-two per cent by the end of 2025 2027. For
purposes of a waste energy recovery or combined heat and power
system, an electric distribution utility shall not apply more than
the total annual percentage of the electric distribution utility's
industrial-customer load, relative to the electric distribution
utility's total load, to the annual energy savings requirement.
(b) Beginning in 2009, an electric distribution utility shall
implement peak demand reduction programs designed to achieve a one
per cent reduction in peak demand in 2009 and an additional
seventy-five hundredths of one per cent reduction each year
through 2018 2014. In 2018 2015 and 2016, the standing committees
in the house of representatives and the senate primarily dealing
with energy issues shall make recommendations to the general
assembly regarding future an electric distribution utility shall
achieve a reduction in peak demand equal to the result of
subtracting the cumulative peak demand reductions achieved since
2009 from the product of multiplying the baseline for peak demand
reduction, described in division (A)(2)(a) of this section, by
four and seventy-five hundredths of one per cent. If the result is
zero or less for the year for which the calculation is being made,
the utility shall not be required to achieve an additional
reduction in peak demand for that year, but may achieve an
additional reduction in peak demand for that year. In 2017 and
each year thereafter through 2020, the utility shall achieve an
additional seventy-five hundredths of one per cent reduction in
peak demand reduction targets.
(2) For the purposes of divisions (A)(1)(a) and (b) of this
section:
(a) The baseline for energy savings under division (A)(1)(a)
of this section shall be the average of the total kilowatt hours
the electric distribution utility sold in the preceding three
calendar years, and the. The baseline for a peak demand reduction
under division (A)(1)(b) of this section shall be the average peak
demand on the utility in the preceding three calendar years,
except that the commission may reduce either baseline to adjust
for new economic growth in the utility's certified territory.
Neither baseline shall include the load and usage of any of the
following customers:
(i) Beginning January 1, 2017, a customer for which a
reasonable arrangement has been approved under section 4905.31 of
the Revised Code;
(ii) A customer that has opted out of the utility's portfolio
plan under section 4928.6611 of the Revised Code;
(iii) A customer that has opted out of the utility's
portfolio plan under Section 8 of S.B. 310 of the 130th general
assembly.
(b) The commission may amend the benchmarks set forth in
division (A)(1)(a) or (b) of this section if, after application by
the electric distribution utility, the commission determines that
the amendment is necessary because the utility cannot reasonably
achieve the benchmarks due to regulatory, economic, or
technological reasons beyond its reasonable control.
(c) Compliance with divisions (A)(1)(a) and (b) of this
section shall be measured by including the effects of all
demand-response programs for mercantile customers of the subject
electric distribution utility, all waste energy recovery systems
and all combined heat and power systems, and all such mercantile
customer-sited energy efficiency, including waste energy recovery
and combined heat and power, and peak demand reduction programs,
adjusted upward by the appropriate loss factors. Any mechanism
designed to recover the cost of energy efficiency, including waste
energy recovery and combined heat and power, and peak demand
reduction programs under divisions (A)(1)(a) and (b) of this
section may exempt mercantile customers that commit their
demand-response or other customer-sited capabilities, whether
existing or new, for integration into the electric distribution
utility's demand-response, energy efficiency, including waste
energy recovery and combined heat and power, or peak demand
reduction programs, if the commission determines that that
exemption reasonably encourages such customers to commit those
capabilities to those programs. If a mercantile customer makes
such existing or new demand-response, energy efficiency, including
waste energy recovery and combined heat and power, or peak demand
reduction capability available to an electric distribution utility
pursuant to division (A)(2)(c) of this section, the electric
utility's baseline under division (A)(2)(a) of this section shall
be adjusted to exclude the effects of all such demand-response,
energy efficiency, including waste energy recovery and combined
heat and power, or peak demand reduction programs that may have
existed during the period used to establish the baseline. The
baseline also shall be normalized for changes in numbers of
customers, sales, weather, peak demand, and other appropriate
factors so that the compliance measurement is not unduly
influenced by factors outside the control of the electric
distribution utility.
(d)(i) Programs implemented by a utility may include
demand-response the following:
(I) Demand-response programs grid;
(II) Smart grid investment programs, provided that such
programs are demonstrated to be cost-beneficial, customer-sited;
(III) Customer-sited programs, including waste energy
recovery and combined heat and power systems, and transmission;
(IV) Transmission and distribution infrastructure
improvements that reduce line losses.;
(V) Energy efficiency savings and peak demand reduction that
are achieved, in whole or in part, as a result of funding provided
from the universal service fund established by section 4928.51 of
the Revised Code to benefit low-income customers through programs
that include, but are not limited to, energy audits, the
installation of energy efficiency insulation, appliances, and
windows, and other weatherization measures.
(ii) No energy efficiency or peak demand reduction achieved
under divisions (A)(2)(d)(i)(IV) and (V) of this section shall
qualify for shared savings.
(iii) Division (A)(2)(c) of this section shall be applied to
include facilitating efforts by a mercantile customer or group of
those customers to offer customer-sited demand-response, energy
efficiency, including waste energy recovery and combined heat and
power, or peak demand reduction capabilities to the electric
distribution utility as part of a reasonable arrangement submitted
to the commission pursuant to section 4905.31 of the Revised Code.
(e) No programs or improvements described in division
(A)(2)(d) of this section shall conflict with any statewide
building code adopted by the board of building standards.
(B) In accordance with rules it shall adopt, the public
utilities commission shall produce and docket at the commission an
annual report containing the results of its verification of the
annual levels of energy efficiency and of peak demand reductions
achieved by each electric distribution utility pursuant to
division (A) of this section. A copy of the report shall be
provided to the consumers' counsel.
(C) If the commission determines, after notice and
opportunity for hearing and based upon its report under division
(B) of this section, that an electric distribution utility has
failed to comply with an energy efficiency or peak demand
reduction requirement of division (A) of this section, the
commission shall assess a forfeiture on the utility as provided
under sections 4905.55 to 4905.60 and 4905.64 of the Revised Code,
either in the amount, per day per undercompliance or
noncompliance, relative to the period of the report, equal to that
prescribed for noncompliances under section 4905.54 of the Revised
Code, or in an amount equal to the then existing market value of
one renewable energy credit per megawatt hour of undercompliance
or noncompliance. Revenue from any forfeiture assessed under this
division shall be deposited to the credit of the advanced energy
fund created under section 4928.61 of the Revised Code.
(D) The commission may establish rules regarding the content
of an application by an electric distribution utility for
commission approval of a revenue decoupling mechanism under this
division. Such an application shall not be considered an
application to increase rates and may be included as part of a
proposal to establish, continue, or expand energy efficiency or
conservation programs. The commission by order may approve an
application under this division if it determines both that the
revenue decoupling mechanism provides for the recovery of revenue
that otherwise may be forgone by the utility as a result of or in
connection with the implementation by the electric distribution
utility of any energy efficiency or energy conservation programs
and reasonably aligns the interests of the utility and of its
customers in favor of those programs.
(E) The commission additionally shall adopt rules that
require an electric distribution utility to provide a customer
upon request with two years' consumption data in an accessible
form.
Sec. 4928.662. For the purpose of measuring and determining
compliance with the energy efficiency and peak demand reduction
requirements under section 4928.66 of the Revised Code, the public
utilities commission shall count and recognize compliance as
follows:
(A) Energy efficiency savings and peak demand reduction
achieved through actions taken by customers or through electric
distribution utility programs that comply with federal standards
for either or both energy efficiency and peak demand reduction
requirements, including resources associated with such savings or
reduction that are recognized as capacity resources by the
regional transmission organization operating in Ohio in compliance
with section 4928.12 of the Revised Code, shall count toward
compliance with the energy efficiency and peak demand reduction
requirements.
(B) Energy efficiency savings and peak demand reduction
achieved on and after the effective date of S.B. 310 of the 130th
general assembly shall be measured on the higher of an as found or
deemed basis, except that, solely at the option of the electric
distribution utility, such savings and reduction achieved since
2006 may also be measured using this method. For new construction,
the energy efficiency savings and peak demand reduction shall be
counted based on 2008 federal standards, provided that when new
construction replaces an existing facility, the difference in
energy consumed, energy intensity, and peak demand between the new
and replaced facility shall be counted toward meeting the energy
efficiency and peak demand reduction requirements.
(C) The commission shall count both the energy efficiency
savings and peak demand reduction on an annualized basis.
(D) The commission shall count both the energy efficiency
savings and peak demand reduction on a gross savings basis.
(E) The commission shall count energy efficiency savings and
peak demand reductions associated with transmission and
distribution infrastructure improvements that reduce line losses.
No energy efficiency or peak demand reduction achieved under
division (E) of this section shall qualify for shared savings.
(F) Energy efficiency savings and peak demand reduction
amounts approved by the commission shall continue to be counted
toward achieving the energy efficiency and peak demand reduction
requirements as long as the requirements remain in effect.
(G) Any energy efficiency savings or peak demand reduction
amount achieved in excess of the requirements may, at the
discretion of the electric distribution utility, be banked and
applied toward achieving the energy efficiency or peak demand
reduction requirements in future years.
Sec. 4928.6610. As used in sections 4928.6611 to 4928.6616
of the Revised Code:
(A) "Customer" means any customer of an electric distribution
utility to which either of the following applies:
(1) The customer receives service above the primary voltage
level as determined by the utility's tariff classification.
(2) The customer is a commercial or industrial customer to
which both of the following apply:
(a) The customer receives electricity through a meter of an
end user or through more than one meter at a single location in a
quantity that exceeds forty-five million kilowatt hours of
electricity for the preceding calendar year.
(b) The customer has made a written request for registration
as a self-assessing purchaser pursuant to section 5727.81 of the
Revised Code.
(B) "Energy intensity" means the amount of energy, from
electricity, used or consumed per unit of production.
(C) "Portfolio plan" means the comprehensive energy
efficiency and peak-demand reduction program portfolio plan
required under rules adopted by the public utilities commission
and codified in Chapter 4901:1-39 of the Administrative Code or
hereafter recodified or amended.
Sec. 4928.6611. Beginning January 1, 2017, a customer of an
electric distribution utility may opt out of the opportunity and
ability to obtain direct benefits from the utility's portfolio
plan. Such an opt out shall extend to all of the customer's
accounts, irrespective of the size or service voltage level that
are associated with the activities performed by the customer and
that are located on or adjacent to the customer's premises.
Sec. 4928.6612. Any customer electing to opt out under
section 4928.6611 of the Revised Code shall do so by providing a
verified written notice of intent to opt out to the electric
distribution utility from which it receives service and submitting
a complete copy of the opt-out notice to the secretary of the
public utilities commission.
The notice provided to the utility shall include all of the
following:
(A) A statement indicating that the customer has elected to
opt out;
(B) The effective date of the election to opt out;
(C) The account number for each customer account to which the
opt out shall apply;
(D) The physical location of the customer's load center;
(E) The date upon which the customer established, or plans to
establish a process and implement, cost-effective measures to
improve its energy efficiency savings and peak demand reductions.
Sec. 4928.6613. Upon a customer's election to opt out under
section 4928.6611 of the Revised Code and commencing on the
effective date of the election to opt out, no account properly
identified in the customer's verified notice under division (C) of
section 4928.6612 of the Revised Code shall be subject to any cost
recovery mechanism under section 4928.66 of the Revised Code or
eligible to participate in, or directly benefit from, programs
arising from electric distribution utility portfolio plans
approved by the public utilities commission.
Sec. 4928.6614. (A) A customer subsequently may opt in to an
electric distribution utility's portfolio plan after a previous
election to opt out under section 4928.6611 of the Revised Code if
both of the following apply:
(1) The customer has previously opted out for a period of at
least three consecutive calendar years.
(2) The customer gives twelve months' advance notice of its
intent to opt in to the public utilities commission and the
electric distribution utility from which it receives service.
(B) A customer that opts in under this section shall maintain
its opt-in status for three consecutive calendar years before
being eligible subsequently to exercise its right to opt out after
giving the utility twelve months' advance notice.
Sec. 4928.6615. Any customer electing to opt in under
section 4928.6614 of the Revised Code shall do so by providing a
written notice of intent to opt in to the electric distribution
utility from which it receives service and submitting a complete
copy of the opt-in notice to the secretary of the public utilities
commission. The notice shall include all of the following:
(A) A statement indicating that the customer has elected to
opt in;
(B) The effective date of the election to opt in;
(C) The account number for each customer account to which the
opt in shall apply;
(D) The physical location of the customer's load center.
Sec. 4928.6616. (A) Not later than sixty days after the
effective date at a customer's election to opt out under section
4928.6611 of the Revised Code, the customer shall prepare and
submit an initial report to the staff of the public utilities
commission. The report shall summarize the projects, actions,
policies, or practices that the customer may consider
implementing, based on the customer's cost-effectiveness criteria,
for the purpose of reducing energy intensity.
(B) For as long as the opt out is in effect, the customer
shall, at least once every twenty-four months, commencing with the
effective date of the election to opt out, prepare and submit, to
the staff of the commission, an updated report. The updated report
shall include a general description of any cumulative amount of
energy-intensity reductions achieved by the customer during the
period beginning on the effective date of the election to opt out
and ending not later than sixty days prior to the date that the
updated report is submitted.
(C) All reports filed under this section shall be verified by
the customer.
(D) Upon submission of any updated report under division (B)
of this section, the staff of the commission may request the
customer to provide additional information on the
energy-intensity-reducing projects, actions, policies, or
practices implemented by the customer and the amount of
energy-intensity reductions achieved during the period covered by
the updated report.
(E) Any information contained in any report submitted under
this section and any customer responses to requests for additional
information shall be deemed to be confidential, proprietary, and a
trade secret. No such information or response shall be publicly
divulged without written authorization by the customer or used for
any purpose other than to identify the amount of energy-intensity
reductions achieved by the customer.
(F) If the commission finds, after notice and a hearing, that
the customer has failed to achieve any substantial cumulative
reduction in energy intensity identified by the customer in an
updated report submitted under division (B) of this section, and
if the failure is not excusable for good cause shown by the
customer, the commission may suspend the opt out for the period of
time that it may take the customer to achieve the cumulative
reduction in energy intensity identified by the customer but no
longer.
SECTION 2. That existing sections 3706.25, 4928.01, 4928.20,
4928.53, 4928.64, 4928.65, and 4928.66 of the Revised Code are
hereby repealed.
SECTION 3. It is the intent of the General Assembly to ensure
that customers in Ohio have access to affordable energy. It is the
intent of the General Assembly to incorporate as many forms of
inexpensive, reliable energy sources in the state of Ohio as
possible. It is also the intent of the General Assembly to get a
better understanding of how energy mandates impact jobs and the
economy in Ohio and to minimize government mandates. Because the
energy mandates in current law may be unrealistic and
unattainable, it is the intent of the General Assembly to review
all energy resources as part of its efforts to address energy
pricing issues.
Therefore, it is the intent of the General Assembly to enact
legislation in the future, after taking into account the
recommendations of the Energy Mandates Study Committee, that will
reduce the mandates in sections 4928.64 and 4928.66 of the Revised
Code and provide greater transparency to electric customers on the
costs of future energy mandates, if there are to be any.
SECTION 4. (A) There is hereby created the Energy Mandates
Study Committee to study Ohio's renewable energy, energy
efficiency, and peak demand reduction mandates. The Committee
shall consist of the following members:
(1) Six members of the House of Representatives appointed by
the Speaker of the House of Representatives, with not more than
four members from the same political party;
(2) Six members of the Senate appointed by the President of
the Senate, with not more than four members from the same
political party;
(3) The chairperson of the Public Utilities Commission, as an
ex officio, nonvoting member.
(B) The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the
President of the Senate shall each appoint one member of the
Committee to serve as a cochairperson of the Committee. Any
vacancies that occur on the Committee shall be filled in the same
manner as the original appointment.
(C) Not later than September 30, 2015, the Committee shall
submit a report of its findings to the House of Representatives
and the Senate in accordance with division (B) of section 101.68
of the Revised Code. The Committee shall cease to exist on October
1, 2015. The report shall include, at a minimum, all of the
following:
(1) A cost-benefit analysis of the renewable energy, energy
efficiency, and peak demand reduction mandates, including the
projected costs on electric customers if the mandates were to
remain at the percentage levels required under sections 4928.64
and 4928.66 of the Revised Code, as amended by this act;
(2) A recommendation of the best, evidence-based standard for
reviewing the mandates in the future, including an examination of
readily available technology to attain such a standard;
(3) The potential benefits of an opt-in system for the
mandates, in contrast to an opt-out system for the mandates, and a
recommendation as to whether an opt-in system should apply to all
electric customers, whether an opt-out system should apply to only
certain customers, or whether a hybrid of these two systems is
recommended;
(4) A recommendation on whether costs incurred by an electric
distribution utility or an electric services company pursuant to
any contract, which may be entered into by the utility or company
on or after the effective date of S.B. 310 of the 130th General
Assembly for the purpose of procuring renewable energy resources
or renewable energy credits and complying with the requirements of
section 4928.64 of the Revised Code, may be passed through to any
consumer, if such costs could have been avoided with the inclusion
of a change of law provision in the contract;
(5) A review of the risk of increased grid congestion due to
the anticipated retirement of coal-fired generation capacity and
other factors; the ability of distributed generation, including
combined heat and power and waste energy recovery, to reduce
electric grid congestion; and the potential benefit to all energy
consumers resulting from reduced grid congestion;
(6) An analysis of whether there are alternatives for the
development of advanced energy resources as that term is defined
in section 4928.01 of the Revised Code;
(7) An assessment of the environmental impact of the
renewable energy, energy efficiency, and peak demand reduction
mandates on reductions of greenhouse gas and fossil fuel
emissions;
(8) A review of payments made by electric distribution
utilities to third-party administrators to promote energy
efficiency and peak demand reduction programs under the terms of
the utilities' portfolio plans. The review shall include, but
shall not be limited to, a complete analysis of all fixed and
variable payments made to those administrators since the effective
date of S.B. 221 of the 127th General Assembly, jobs created,
retained, and impacted, whether those payments outweigh the
benefits to ratepayers, and whether those payments should no
longer be recovered from ratepayers. The review also shall include
a recommendation regarding whether the administrators should
submit periodic reports to the Commission documenting the payments
received from utilities.
SECTION 5. As used in Sections 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 of this
act:
"Customer," "energy intensity," and "portfolio plan" have the
same meanings as in section 4928.6610 of the Revised Code.
"Electric distribution utility" has the same meaning as in
section 4928.01 of the Revised Code.
SECTION 6. (A) If an electric distribution utility has a
portfolio plan that is in effect on the effective date of this
section, the utility shall do either of the following, at its sole
discretion:
(1) Continue to implement the portfolio plan with no
amendments to the plan, for the duration that the Public Utilities
Commission originally approved, subject to divisions (D) and (E)
of this section;
(2) Seek an amendment of the portfolio plan under division
(B) of this section.
(B)(1) An electric distribution utility that seeks to amend
its portfolio plan under division (A)(2) of this section shall
file an application with the Commission to amend the plan not
later than thirty days after the effective date of this section.
The Commission shall review the application in accordance with its
rules as if the application were for a new portfolio plan. The
Commission shall review and approve, or modify and approve, the
application not later than sixty days after the date that the
application is filed. Any portfolio plan amended under this
division shall take effect on January 1, 2015, and expire on
December 31, 2016. If the Commission fails to review and approve,
or modify and approve, the application on or before January 1,
2015, the plan shall be deemed approved as amended in the
application and shall take effect on January 1, 2015, and expire
on December 31, 2016.
(2) Section 4928.66 of the Revised Code, as amended by this
act, shall apply to an electric distribution utility that applies
to amend its portfolio plan under division (B) of this section.
(C) If an electric distribution utility fails to file an
application to amend its portfolio plan under division (B) of this
section within the required thirty-day period, the electric
distribution utility shall proceed in accordance with division
(A)(1) of this section.
(D) If an electric distribution utility implements its
portfolio plan under division (A)(1) of this section for the
plan's original duration and if the plan expires before December
31, 2016, the Commission shall automatically extend the plan
through December 31, 2016, with no amendments to the plan.
(E)(1) The provisions of section 4928.66 of the Revised Code,
as it existed prior to the effective date of this section, shall
apply to an electric distribution utility that has a portfolio
plan that is implemented under division (A)(1) of this section for
either of the following time periods:
(a) The plan's original duration;
(b) The plan's original duration and then, until December 31,
2016, if the plan is extended under division (D) of this section.
(2) Beginning January 1, 2017, the provisions of section
4928.66 of the Revised Code as amended by this act shall apply to
the electric distribution utility.
SECTION 7. (A) The Public Utilities Commission shall neither
review nor approve an application for a portfolio plan if the
application is pending on the effective date of this section.
(B) Prior to January 1, 2017, the Commission shall not take
any action with regard to any portfolio plan or application
regarding a portfolio plan, except those actions expressly
authorized or required by Section 6 of this act and actions
necessary to administer the implementation of existing portfolio
plans.
SECTION 8. Beginning January 1, 2015, a customer of an
electric distribution utility may opt out of the opportunity and
ability to obtain direct benefits from the utility's portfolio
plan that is amended under division (B) of Section 6 of this act.
The opt out shall apply only to the amended plan. The opt out
shall extend to all of the customer's accounts, irrespective of
the size or service voltage level that are associated with the
activities performed by the customer and that are located on or
adjacent to the customer's premises.
SECTION 9. Any customer electing to opt out under Section 8
of this act shall do so by providing a verified written notice of
intent to opt out to the electric distribution utility from which
it receives service and submitting a complete copy of the opt-out
notice to the Secretary of the Public Utilities Commission.
The notice provided to the utility shall include all of the
following:
(A) A statement indicating that the customer has elected to
opt out;
(B) The effective date of the election to opt out;
(C) The account number for each customer account to which the
opt out shall apply;
(D) The physical location of the customer's load center;
(E) The date upon which the customer established, or plans to
establish a process and implement, cost-effective measures to
improve its energy efficiency savings and peak demand reductions.
SECTION 10. Upon a customer's election to opt out under
Section 8 of this act and commencing on the effective date of the
election to opt out, no account properly identified in the
customer's verified notice under division (C) of Section 9 of this
act shall be subject to any cost recovery mechanism under section
4928.66 of the Revised Code, as amended by this act, for the
duration of the amended portfolio plan or eligible to participate
in, or directly benefit from, programs arising from the amended
portfolio plan.
SECTION 11. (A) Not later than sixty days after the effective
date of a customer's election to opt out under Section 8 of this
act, the customer shall prepare and submit an initial report to
the staff of the Public Utilities Commission. The report shall
summarize the projects, actions, policies, or practices that the
customer may consider implementing, based on the customer's
cost-effectiveness criteria, for the purpose of reducing energy
intensity.
(B) Not later than November 1, 2016, the customer shall
prepare and submit to the staff of the Commission an updated
report. The updated report shall include a general description of
any cumulative amount of energy-intensity reductions achieved by
the customer during the period beginning on the effective date of
the election to opt out and ending not later than sixty days prior
to the date that the updated report is submitted.
(C) Any report filed under this section shall be verified by
the customer.
(D) Upon submission of the updated report, the staff of the
Commission may request the customer to provide additional
information on the energy-intensity-reducing projects, actions,
policies, or practices implemented by the customer and the amount
of energy-intensity reductions achieved during the period covered
by the updated report.
(E) Any information contained in any report submitted under
this section and any customer responses to requests for additional
information shall be deemed to be confidential, proprietary, and a
trade secret. No such information or response shall be publicly
divulged without written authorization by the customer or used for
any purpose other than to identify the amount of energy-intensity
reductions achieved by the customer.
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