05 LC 22
5881
House
Bill 775
By:
Representatives Drenner of the
86th,
Porter of the
143rd,
Gardner of the
57th,
Thomas of the
55th,
Hugley of the
133rd,
and others
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
provide for legislative intent and purpose; to amend Chapter 3 of Title 46 of
the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to electrical service, so as to
provide for renewable, recoverable, and recycled energy portfolio standard
goals; to provide for definitions; to provide for reports, incentives,
penalties, and rules and regulations; to provide for a renewable, recoverable,
and recycled energy credits trading program; to provide for a registry of
producers of renewable, recoverable, and recycled energy in this state; to
provide for credits for landfill gas or other renewable, recoverable, or
recycled energy in the form of gas supplied by a producer of renewable,
recoverable, or recycled energy and sold to a customer or gas distribution
system; to provide for a reporting system to monitor compliance and prevent
counting renewable, recoverable, or recycled energy credits more than once; to
amend Chapter 3A of Title 46 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to integrated resource planning, so as to require integrated resource plans to
include sufficient renewable, recoverable, and recycled energy resources to meet
renewable, recoverable, and recycled energy portfolio standard goals; to provide
for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other
purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
(a)
It is the intent of the legislature to recognize the economic, environmental,
and fuel diversity benefits of renewable, recoverable, and recycled energy
resources, to encourage further development of these resources, and to encourage
the establishment of a market for renewable, recoverable, and recycled energy in
Georgia using the
statés
renewable, recoverable, and recycled energy resources. These efforts can reduce
the consumption of fossil fuels for the generation of electricity and reduce the
statés
dependence on finite, nonrenewable resources. Accordingly, the legislature finds
that it should establish goals for electric utilities to guide them in
incorporating renewable, recoverable, and recycled resources into their resource
portfolios.
(b)
The purpose of this Act is to lessen
Georgiás
dependence on fossil fuels and the exposure of
Georgiás
consumers to volatile and rising prices for coal and natural gas by encouraging
the greater use of renewable, recoverable, and recycled energy by establishing
goals for electric utility companies in implementing renewable, recoverable, and
recycled energy portfolio standards.
SECTION
2.
Chapter
3 of Title 46 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to electrical
service, is amended in Article 1, relating to generation and distribution of
electricity, by inserting a new part to be designated Part 4 to read as
follows:
"Part
4
46-3-70.
As
used in this part, the term:
(1)
'Commission' means the Georgia Public Service Commission.
(2)
'Electric membership corporation' means a corporation organized under Article 2
of this chapter.
(3)
'Electric service provider' means any electric utility company, electric
membership corporation, or municipal electric provider engaged in the business
of distributing electricity to retail electric customers in this
state.
(4)
'Electric utility company' means an electric utility as defined in Code Section
46-1-1.
(5)
'Low impact hydropower' means a dam and powerhouse that:
(A)
Is certified as low impact by the Low Impact Hydropower Institute;
or
(B)
Is evaluated by the commission as compliant with the following
standards:
(i)
Providing river flows that are healthy for fish, wildlife, and water quality,
including seasonal flow fluctuations where appropriate;
(ii)
Protecting water quality in the river;
(iii)
Providing effective fish passage and protecting fish from
entrainment;
(iv)
Taking sufficient action to protect, mitigate, and enhance environmental
conditions in the watershed;
(v)
Avoiding negative impact on species classified as threatened or endangered by
the federal or state government;
(vi)
Avoiding inappropriate impact on cultural resources;
(vii)
Providing free access to the water and accommodating recreational activities on
the river; and
(viii)
Avoiding recommendation for removal by a federal or state agency due to adverse
environmental impact.
(6)
'Municipal electric provider' means an electrical service provider owned or
operated by a municipal corporation.
(7)
'Recycled energy' means:
(A)
Exhaust heat resulting from any industrial process;
(B)
Industrial tail gas that would otherwise be flared, incinerated, or vented; or
(C)
Energy extracted from a pressure drop in any gas, excluding any pressure drop
from a condenser that subsequently vents the resulting heat.
If
the process used to recycle energy incorporates supplemental use of a fossil
fuel, the amount of the recycled energy that qualifies as a renewable eligible
resource shall be reduced by 40 percent of the net heating value of the
incremental fossil fuel used in the process.
(8)
'Recoverable energy' means electrical energy produced from or by any of the
following: the combustion of landfill gas; methane gas resulting from the
anaerobic decomposition of organic materials; pyrolysis; gassification; biomass
sources, including municipal solid waste (if fly ash and bottom ash resulting
from incineration of municipal solid waste is vitrified or treated by the best
technology approved by the Environmental Protection Division of the Department
of Natural Resources or by the United States Environmental Protection Division),
any other waste product, and geothermal resources; postconsumer waste paper; or
forest related sources, including mill residues, waste pallets, crates, and
dunnage.
(9)
'Renewable energy' means electrical energy produced from or by any of the
following: wind; solar energy; low impact hydropower; geothermal resources;
ocean thermal energy; wave or tidal energy; biofuels derived entirely from
organic sources other than coal, petroleum, or natural gas; hydrogen fuels or
fuel cells if the fuel is not derived from coal, petroleum, or natural gas;
electrical energy savings resulting from the use of solar energy and heat pumps
to heat water; and forest and agricultural biomass sources including orchard
tree crops, vineyard, grain, legumes, sugar, switchgrass, other crop by-products
or residues, and precommercial thinning, slash, brush or landscape trimmings,
but not including old-growth timber.
(10)
'Renewable, recoverable, and recycled energy credit' means a tradeable
instrument created as an attribute of renewable, recoverable, or recycled energy
in accordance with rules and regulations promulgated in accordance with Code
Section 46-3-73.
46-3-71.
(a)
Each electric service provider shall establish a renewable, recoverable, and
recycled energy portfolio standard goal of:
(1)
One-half of 1 percent of its annual net electricity sales by December 31,
2007;
(2)
One percent of its annual net electricity sales by December 31,
2008;
(3)
Two percent of its annual net electricity sales by December 31,
2009;
(4)
Three percent of its annual net electricity sales by December 31,
2010;
(5)
Four percent of its annual net electricity sales by December 31,
2011;
(6)
Five percent of its annual net electricity sales by December 31,
2012;
(7)
Six percent of its annual net electricity sales by December 31,
2013;
(8)
Seven percent of its annual net electricity sales by December 31,
2014;
(9)
Eight percent of its annual net electricity sales by December 31,
2015;
(10)
Nine percent of its annual net electricity sales by December 31,
2016;
(11)
Ten percent of its annual net electricity sales by December 31,
2017;
(12)
Eleven percent of its annual net electricity sales by December 31, 2018;
and
(13)
Twelve percent of its annual net electricity sales by December 31,
2019.
(b)
When an electric service provider has reached the standard goal of 12 percent of
annual net electricity sales, the electric service provider shall maintain a
renewable, recoverable, and recycled energy portfolio of at least 12 percent of
its annual net electricity sales.
46-3-72.
(a)
Any electric service provider not meeting the renewable, recoverable, and
recycled energy portfolio standard goal for any year shall report to the
commission within 90 days following the annual goal date set out in Code Section
46-3-71 and provide an explanation for its failure to meet the
goal.
(b)
The commission may provide incentives to encourage electric service providers to
exceed their renewable, recoverable, and recycled energy portfolio standard
goals or to meet such goals early, or both.
(c)
The commission shall fine each electric service provider that fails to reach a
portfolio standard goal set out in Code Section 46-3-71 in accordance with this
subsection:
(1)
If the discrepancy between the portfolio standard goal and the achievement of
the electric service provider is equal to or less than 10 percent of the goal,
the fine shall be 0.25 percent of the electric service
provideŕs
annual net electricity sales; and
(2)
If the discrepancy between the portfolio standard goal and the achievement of
the electric service provider is greater than 10 percent of the goal, the fine
shall be 1 percent of the electric service
provideŕs
annual net electricity sales.
(d)
For electric service providers subject to rate determination by the commission,
the cost of purchases of energy and energy credits to meet the renewable,
recoverable, and recycled energy portfolio standard goals or to meet such goals
early shall be included in the rate base as expenses of the electric service
provider in such rate determination. Penalties imposed by the commission for
failure to achieve the standard goals for renewable, recoverable, and recycled
energy portfolios in accordance with this article shall not be included in the
rate base as expenses of the electric service provider in rate determination for
electric service providers subject to rate determination by the
commission.
46-3-73.
(a)
No later than January 1, 2006, the commission shall adopt rules and regulations
to implement, administer, and enforce this part.
(b)
At a minimum, the rules and regulations shall specify reasonable performance
standards that all renewable, recoverable, and recycled energy capacity
additions shall meet, including but not limited to requirements for design and
operation to maximize the energy output from the capacity additions in
accordance with current industry standards, the rules and regulations shall
encourage the development, construction, and operation of new renewable,
recoverable, and recycled energy projects at those sites in this state that have
the greatest economic potential for capture and development of this
statés
renewable, recoverable, and recycled energy resources in an environmentally
beneficial manner. The rules and regulations shall require that proposed
capacity additions shall meet the emissions requirements of the more stringent
of the following: the Georgia rules and regulations for air quality or the best
available air control technology.
(c)
The commission shall establish by rules and regulations a renewable,
recoverable, and recycled energy credits trading program, allowing any
electrical service provider that does not meet the goals set out in Code Section
46-3-71 by directly owning or purchasing capacity using renewable, recoverable,
or recycled energy to purchase sufficient renewable, recoverable, and recycled
energy credits to meet the goals established in Code Section
46-3-71.
(d)
The commission shall establish by rules and regulations a registry of producers
of renewable, recoverable, and recycled energy in this state. Electric service
providers may purchase renewable, recoverable, and recycled energy or renewable,
recoverable, and recycled energy credits directly from producers on the Georgia
registry. In promulgating rules and regulations in accordance with this part,
the commission shall provide for such procedures and processes to utilize the
renewable, recoverable, and recycled energy or renewable, recoverable, and
recycled energy credits from producers on the Georgia registry and from
producers outside the state so as to achieve the maximum benefit to the state in
terms of the
statés
economy, environment, and fuel diversity. The commission may establish and
support other mechanisms for direct marketing of renewable, recoverable, and
recycled energy and energy credits by Georgia producers of such renewable,
recoverable, and recycled energy.
(e)
The commission shall provide by rules and regulations that energy sold to
consumers for a premium rate under the Georgia Green Pricing Accreditation
Program shall not be included in a renewable, recoverable, and recycled energy
portfolio required by this part and may establish other incentives for the
production and use of renewable, recoverable, and recycled energy and energy
credits.
(f)
The rules and regulations promulgated in accordance with this Code section shall
provide that an electric service provider may credit toward satisfaction of the
goals set out in Code Section 46-3-71 any production or acquisition of landfill
gas or other renewable, recoverable, or recycled energy in the form of gas sold
to a customer or to a gas distribution system or credits based on such gas,
based on conversion to kilowatt hours of the thermal energy content in British
thermal units of the renewable, recoverable, or recycled energy and using for
the conversion factor the system-wide average heat rate of the gas-fired units
of the electric service
provideŕs
system as measured in British thermal units per kilowatt hour.
(g)
The rules and regulations promulgated in accordance with this Code section shall
provide for a reporting system to monitor compliance with this part and to
prevent electric service providers from counting renewable, recoverable, or
recycled energy or energy credits more than once. The reporting system shall
require electric service providers to report whether they are subject to
renewable, recoverable, and recycled energy portfolio requirements in more than
one state, the amount of such requirements if applicable, and to indicate the
sources of energy or energy credits used to comply with renewable, recoverable,
and recycled energy portfolio requirements in Georgia and other applicable
states. It shall be unlawful to comply with the requirements of this part by
using renewable, recoverable, or recycled energy or energy credits previously or
subsequently used to comply with the renewable, recoverable, or recycled energy
requirements of any other
state."
SECTION
3.
Chapter
3A of Title 46 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to integrated
resource planning, is amended in Code Section 46-3A-1, relating to definitions
relative to integrated resource planning, by striking paragraph (7) and
inserting in lieu thereof the following:
"(7)
'Plan' means an integrated resource plan which contains the
utilitýs
electric demand and energy forecast for at least a 20 year period, contains the
utilitýs
program for meeting the requirements shown in its forecast in an economical and
reliable manner, contains the
utilitýs
analysis of all capacity resource options, including both demand-side and
supply-side options, and sets forth the
utilitýs
assumptions and conclusions with respect to the effect of each capacity resource
option on the future cost and reliability of electric service. The plan shall
also:
(A)
Contain the size and type of facilities which are expected to be owned or
operated in whole or in part by such utility and the construction of which is
expected to commence during the ensuing ten years or such longer period as the
commission deems necessary and shall identify all existing facilities intended
to be removed from service during such period or upon completion of such
construction;
(B)
Contain practical alternatives to the fuel type and method of generation of the
proposed electric generating facilities and set forth in detail the reasons for
selecting the fuel type and method of generation;
(C)
Contain a statement of the estimated impact of proposed and alternative
generating plants on the environment and the means by which potential adverse
impacts will be avoided or minimized;
(D)
Indicate in detail the projected demand for electric energy for a 20 year period
and the basis for determining the projected demand;
(E)
Describe the
utilitýs
relationship to other utilities in regional associations, power pools, and
networks;
(F)
Identify and describe all major research projects and programs which will
continue or commence in the succeeding three years and set forth the reasons for
selecting specific areas of research;
(G)
Identify and describe existing and planned programs and policies to discourage
inefficient and excessive power use;
and
(H)
Identify and describe existing and planned renewable, recoverable, or recycled
energy resources sufficient to comply with renewable, recoverable, and recycled
energy portfolio standard goals set out in Code Section 46-3-71;
and
(H)(I)
Provide any other information as may be required by the
commission."
SECTION
4.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.