| Section 1. That sections 4905.31, 4928.01,
4928.02, 4928.05, | 24 |
|
4928.09, 4928.14, 4928.17, 4928.20, 4928.31, 4928.34,
4928.35, | 25 |
|
4928.61,
4928.67, 4929.01, and
4929.02 be amended and
sections | 26 |
|
9.835, 3318.112, 4928.141,
4928.142,
4928.143, 4928.144, | 27 |
|
4928.145,
4928.146, 4928.151, 4928.24, 4928.621,
4928.64, | 28 |
|
4928.65,
4928.66,
4928.68, 4928.69, and
4929.051 of
the | 29 |
|
Revised
Code be enacted
to
read
as follows: | 30 |
|
(3) "State entity" means the general assembly, the supreme | 40 |
|
court, the court of claims, the office of an elected state | 41 |
|
officer, or a department, bureau, board, office, commission, | 42 |
|
agency, institution, or other instrumentality of this state | 43 |
|
established by the constitution or laws of this state for the | 44 |
|
exercise of any function of state government, but excludes a | 45 |
|
political subdivision, an institution of higher education, the | 46 |
|
public employees retirement system, the Ohio police and fire | 47 |
|
pension fund, the state teachers retirement system, the school | 48 |
|
employees retirement system, the state highway patrol retirement | 49 |
|
system, or the city of Cincinnati retirement system. | 50 |
|
(B) If it determines that doing so is in the best interest of | 54 |
|
the state entity or the political subdivision, and subject to, | 55 |
|
respectively, state or local appropriation to pay amounts due, a | 56 |
|
state official or the legislative or other governing authority of | 57 |
|
a political
subdivision may enter into an energy price risk | 58 |
|
management
contract. Money
received pursuant to such a contract | 59 |
|
entered
into by a state
official shall be deposited to the | 60 |
|
credit of the
general revenue
fund of this state, and, unless | 61 |
|
otherwise
provided by ordinance or
resolution enacted or adopted | 62 |
|
by the
legislative authority of the
political subdivision | 63 |
|
authorizing
any such contract, money
received under the contract | 64 |
|
shall be
deposited to the credit of
the general fund of the | 65 |
|
political
subdivision. | 66 |
Sec. 4905.31. Except as provided in section 4933.29 of the | 79 |
Revised Code, Chapters 4901., 4903., 4905., 4907., 4909., 4921., | 80 |
and 4923., 4927., 4928., and 4929. of the Revised Code do not | 81 |
|
prohibit a public utility
from filing a schedule or establishing | 82 |
|
or entering into any reasonable
arrangement with another public | 83 |
|
utility or with one or more of its customers,
consumers, or | 84 |
|
employees, and do not prohibit a mercantile customer of an | 85 |
|
electric distribution utility as those terms are defined in | 86 |
|
section 4928.01 of the Revised Code or a group of those customers | 87 |
|
from establishing a reasonable arrangement with that utility or | 88 |
|
another public utility electric light company, providing for any | 89 |
|
of the following: | 90 |
| (E) Any other financial device that may be practicable or | 118 |
advantageous to the parties interested. NoIn the case of a | 119 |
|
schedule or arrangement concerning a public utility electric light | 120 |
|
company, such other financial device may include a device to | 121 |
|
recover costs incurred in conjunction with any economic | 122 |
|
development and job retention program of the utility within its | 123 |
|
certified territory, including recovery of revenue foregone as a | 124 |
|
result of any such program; any development and implementation of | 125 |
|
peak demand reduction and energy efficiency programs under section | 126 |
|
4928.66 of the Revised Code; any acquisition and deployment of | 127 |
|
advanced metering, including the costs of any meters prematurely | 128 |
|
retired as a result of the advanced metering implementation; and | 129 |
|
compliance with any government mandate. | 130 |
| Every such public utility is required to conform its | 139 |
|
schedules of rates, tolls, and charges to such arrangement, | 140 |
|
sliding scale, classification, or other device, and where
variable | 141 |
|
rates are provided for in any such schedule or
arrangement, the | 142 |
|
cost data or factors upon which such rates are
based and fixed | 143 |
|
shall be filed with the commission in such form
and at such times | 144 |
as the commission directs. The commission
shall review the cost | 145 |
data or factors upon which a variable rate
schedule filed under | 146 |
division (B)(2) or (3) of this section is
based and shall adjust | 147 |
the base rates of the electric light
company or order the company | 148 |
to refund any charges that it has
collected under the variable | 149 |
rate schedule that the commission
finds to have resulted from | 150 |
errors or erroneous reporting. After
recovery of all of the | 151 |
emissions fees upon which a variable rate
authorized under | 152 |
division (B)(2) or (3) of this section is based,
collection of the | 153 |
variable rate shall end and the variable rate
schedule shall be | 154 |
terminated. | 155 |
| (1) "Ancillary service" means any function necessary to the | 161 |
|
provision of electric transmission or distribution service to a | 162 |
|
retail
customer and includes, but is not limited to, scheduling, | 163 |
|
system
control, and dispatch services; reactive supply from | 164 |
|
generation
resources and voltage control service; reactive supply | 165 |
|
from
transmission resources service; regulation service; frequency | 166 |
|
response service; energy imbalance service; operating | 167 |
|
reserve-spinning reserve service; operating reserve-supplemental | 168 |
|
reserve service; load following; back-up supply service; | 169 |
|
real-power loss replacement service; dynamic scheduling; system | 170 |
|
black start capability; and network stability service. | 171 |
| (2) "Billing and collection agent" means a fully independent | 172 |
|
agent, not affiliated with or otherwise controlled by an electric | 173 |
|
utility, electric services company, electric cooperative, or | 174 |
|
governmental
aggregator subject to certification under section | 175 |
|
4928.08 of the Revised Code, to the extent
that the agent is under | 176 |
|
contract with such utility, company, cooperative, or
aggregator | 177 |
|
solely to provide billing and collection for retail electric | 178 |
|
service on behalf of the utility company, cooperative, or | 179 |
|
aggregator. | 180 |
| (15) "Level of funding for low-income customer energy | 234 |
|
efficiency
programs provided through electric utility rates" means | 235 |
|
the level
of funds specifically included in an electric utility's | 236 |
|
rates on
October 5, 1999, pursuant to an order of the
public | 237 |
|
utilities commission issued under Chapter 4905. or 4909. of
the | 238 |
|
Revised Code and in effect on October 4, 1999, for the purpose of | 239 |
|
improving the energy
efficiency of housing for the utility's | 240 |
|
low-income customers. The
term excludes the level of any such | 241 |
|
funds committed to a specific
nonprofit organization or | 242 |
|
organizations pursuant to a stipulation
or contract. | 243 |
| (25) "Advanced energy project" means any technologies, | 280 |
|
products, activities, or management practices or strategies that | 281 |
|
facilitate the generation or use of electricity and that reduce or | 282 |
|
support the reduction of energy consumption or support the | 283 |
|
production of clean, renewable energy for industrial, | 284 |
|
distribution, commercial, institutional, governmental,
research, | 285 |
not-for-profit, or residential energy users. Such energy includes, | 286 |
including,
but is not limited to, wind power; geothermal energy; | 287 |
solar
thermal energy; and energy produced by micro turbines in | 288 |
distributed generation applications with high electric | 289 |
efficiencies, by combined heat and power applications, by fuel | 290 |
cells powered by hydrogen derived from wind, solar, biomass, | 291 |
hydroelectric, landfill gas, or geothermal sources, or by solar | 292 |
electric generation, landfill gas, or hydroelectric generation | 293 |
| advanced energy resources and renewable energy resources. | 294 |
|
"Advanced energy project" also includes any project described in | 295 |
|
division (A), (B), or (C) of section 4928.621 of the Revised Code. | 296 |
| (26) "Regulatory assets" means the unamortized net | 297 |
|
regulatory
assets that are capitalized or deferred on the | 298 |
|
regulatory books of
the electric utility,
pursuant to an order or | 299 |
|
practice of the
public utilities
commission or pursuant to | 300 |
|
generally accepted
accounting
principles as a result of a prior | 301 |
|
commission
rate-making
decision, and that would otherwise have | 302 |
|
been charged
to expense
as incurred or would not have been | 303 |
|
capitalized or
otherwise
deferred for future regulatory | 304 |
|
consideration absent
commission
action. "Regulatory assets" | 305 |
|
includes,
but is not
limited to, all deferred demand-side | 306 |
|
management costs;
all
deferred percentage of income payment plan | 307 |
|
arrears;
post-in-service capitalized charges and assets recognized | 308 |
|
in
connection with statement of financial accounting standards no. | 309 |
|
109 (receivables from customers for income taxes); future nuclear | 310 |
|
decommissioning costs and fuel disposal costs as those costs have | 311 |
|
been determined by the commission in the electric utility's
most | 312 |
|
recent rate or accounting application proceeding addressing
such | 313 |
|
costs; the undepreciated costs of safety and radiation
control | 314 |
|
equipment on nuclear generating plants owned or leased by
an | 315 |
|
electric utility; and fuel costs currently deferred pursuant to | 316 |
|
the terms of one or more settlement agreements approved by the | 317 |
|
commission. | 318 |
| (27) "Retail electric service" means any service involved
in | 319 |
|
supplying or arranging for the supply of electricity to
ultimate | 320 |
|
consumers in this state, from the point of generation to
the | 321 |
|
point
of consumption. For the purposes of this chapter,
retail | 322 |
|
electric
service includes one or more of the following
"service | 323 |
|
components": generation service, aggregation service,
power | 324 |
|
marketing service, power brokerage service, transmission
service, | 325 |
|
distribution service, ancillary service, metering
service, and | 326 |
|
billing and collection service. | 327 |
| (c) Clean coal technology that includes a carbon-based | 369 |
|
product that is chemically altered before combustion to | 370 |
|
demonstrate a reduction, as expressed as ash, in emissions of | 371 |
|
nitrous oxide, mercury, arsenic, chlorine, sulfur dioxide, or | 372 |
|
sulfur trioxide in accordance with the American society of testing | 373 |
|
and materials standard D1757A or a reduction of metal oxide | 374 |
|
emissions in accordance with standard D5142 of that society, or | 375 |
|
clean coal
technology that includes the design capability to | 376 |
|
control or
prevent the emission of carbon dioxide, which design | 377 |
|
capability
the commission shall adopt by rule and shall be based | 378 |
|
on
economically feasible best available technology or, in the | 379 |
|
absence
of a determined best available technology, shall be of | 380 |
|
the highest
level of economically feasible design capability for | 381 |
|
which there
exists generally accepted scientific opinion; | 382 |
| (35) "Renewable energy resource" means solar photovoltaic
or
| 400 |
|
solar thermal energy, wind energy, power produced by a | 401 |
|
hydroelectric facility, geothermal
energy,
fuel
derived from | 402 |
|
solid wastes, as defined in section 3734.01 of
the
Revised Code, | 403 |
|
through fractionation, biological decomposition,
or
other | 404 |
|
process that does not principally involve combustion,
biomass | 405 |
|
energy, biologically
derived
methane
gas, or energy
derived | 406 |
|
from nontreated by-products of the
pulping
process or
wood | 407 |
|
manufacturing process, including bark,
wood
chips,
sawdust, and | 408 |
|
lignin in spent pulping liquors.
"Renewable
energy
resource" | 409 |
|
includes, but is not limited to, any
fuel cell
used
in
the | 410 |
|
generation of electricity, including, but not limited
to,
a | 411 |
|
proton exchange membrane fuel cell, phosphoric acid fuel
cell, | 412 |
|
molten carbonate fuel cell, or solid oxide fuel cell; wind turbine | 413 |
|
located in the state's territorial waters of Lake Erie; storage | 414 |
|
facility that will promote
the better utilization of a renewable | 415 |
|
energy resource that primarily
generates off peak; or distributed
| 416 |
|
generation
system used by a
customer to generate
electricity | 417 |
|
from
any such
energy. As used in
division (A)(35) of this | 418 |
|
section, "hydroelectric facility" means a
hydroelectric
| 419 |
|
generating facility that is located at a dam on a
river, or on | 420 |
|
any water discharged to a river, that is
within or
bordering this | 421 |
|
state or within or
bordering an
adjoining state and meets all of | 422 |
|
the
following
standards: | 423 |
(C) Prior to January 1, 2001, and after application by
an | 473 |
electric utility, notice, and an opportunity to be heard, the | 474 |
public
utilities
commission may issue an order
delaying the | 475 |
January 1, 2001, starting date of competitive retail
electric | 476 |
service for the electric utility for a
specified number of days | 477 |
not to exceed six months, but only for extreme
technical | 478 |
conditions
precluding the start of competitive retail electric | 479 |
service on
January 1, 2001. | 480 |
| Sec. 4928.05. (A)(1) On and after the starting date of | 544 |
|
competitive
retail electric service, a competitive retail electric | 545 |
|
service
supplied by an electric utility or electric services | 546 |
|
company shall not be
subject to supervision and
regulation by a | 547 |
|
municipal corporation under Chapter 743. of the Revised Code or by | 548 |
|
the public utilities
commission under Chapters 4901. to 4909., | 549 |
4933., 4935., and 4963.
of the Revised Code, except section | 550 |
| sections 4905.10 and 4905.31, division
(B) of section 4905.33, and | 551 |
|
sections
4905.35 and 4933.81 to 4933.90; except
sections | 552 |
|
4905.06,
4935.03, 4963.40,
and 4963.41 of the
Revised Code only | 553 |
|
to the
extent related to service
reliability and public
safety; | 554 |
|
and
except as otherwise provided in this chapter. The | 555 |
|
commission's
authority to enforce those excepted provisions with | 556 |
|
respect to a
competitive retail electric service shall be such | 557 |
|
authority
as is
provided for their enforcement under Chapters | 558 |
|
4901. to 4909.,
4933., 4935., and 4963. of the Revised Code and | 559 |
|
this chapter.
Nothing in this division shall be construed to | 560 |
|
limit the
commission's authority under sections 4928.141 to | 561 |
|
4928.144 of the
Revised Code. | 562 |
| (2) On and after the starting date of competitive retail | 570 |
|
electric service,
a noncompetitive retail electric service | 571 |
|
supplied by an
electric utility shall be subject to supervision | 572 |
|
and regulation by the
commission under Chapters 4901. to 4909., | 573 |
|
4933., 4935., and 4963.
of the Revised Code and this chapter, to | 574 |
|
the extent that
authority
is not preempted by federal law. The | 575 |
|
commission's authority to
enforce those provisions with respect to | 576 |
|
a noncompetitive retail
electric service shall be the authority | 577 |
|
provided under those chapters
and this chapter, to the extent the | 578 |
|
authority is not preempted by
federal law. Notwithstanding | 579 |
|
Chapters 4905. and 4909. of the Revised Code, commission authority | 580 |
|
under this chapter shall include the authority to provide for the | 581 |
|
recovery, through
a reconcilable rider on an electric | 582 |
|
distribution utility's
distribution rates, of all transmission | 583 |
|
and
transmission-related costs, including ancillary and | 584 |
|
congestion
costs, imposed on or charged to the utility by the | 585 |
|
federal energy
regulatory commission or a regional transmission | 586 |
|
organization,
independent transmission operator, or similar | 587 |
|
organization
approved by the federal energy regulatory | 588 |
|
commission. | 589 |
| On and after that starting date, a noncompetitive retail | 597 |
|
electric service
supplied by an electric
cooperative shall not be | 598 |
|
subject to supervision and regulation by the
commission under | 599 |
|
Chapters 4901. to 4909., 4933., 4935., and 4963.
of the Revised | 600 |
|
Code, except sections 4933.81 to 4933.90 and 4935.03 of the | 601 |
|
Revised Code. The commission's
authority to enforce those excepted | 602 |
|
sections with respect to a noncompetitive
retail electric service | 603 |
|
of an electric cooperative shall be such authority as
is provided | 604 |
|
for their enforcement under Chapters 4933. and 4935.
of the | 605 |
|
Revised Code. | 606 |
| (2) No person shall continue to operate as such an electric | 629 |
utility, electric services company, or billing and collection | 630 |
|
agent, or regional transmission organization described in division | 631 |
|
(A)(1) of this section
unless that person continues to consent to | 632 |
|
such jurisdiction and service
of process in this state and | 633 |
|
continues to designate an agent as
provided under this division, | 634 |
|
by refiling in accordance with
division (A)(4) of this section the | 635 |
|
appropriate documents filed
under division (A)(1) of this section | 636 |
|
or, as applicable, the
appropriate amended documents filed under | 637 |
|
division (A)(3) of this
section. Such refiling shall occur during | 638 |
|
the month of December
of every fourth year after the initial | 639 |
|
filing of a document under
division (A)(1) of this section. | 640 |
(B) After that market development period, each electric | 678 |
distribution utility also shall offer customers within its | 679 |
certified territory an option to purchase competitive retail | 680 |
electric service the price of which is determined through a | 681 |
competitive bidding process. Prior to January 1, 2004, the | 682 |
commission shall adopt rules concerning the conduct of the | 683 |
competitive bidding process, including the information | 684 |
requirements necessary for customers to choose this option and the | 685 |
requirements to evaluate qualified bidders. The commission may | 686 |
require that the competitive bidding process be reviewed by an | 687 |
independent third party. No generation supplier shall be | 688 |
prohibited from participating in the bidding process, provided | 689 |
that any winning bidder shall be considered a certified supplier | 690 |
for purposes of obligations to customers. At the election of the | 691 |
electric distribution utility, and approval of the commission, the | 692 |
competitive bidding option under this division may be used as the | 693 |
market-based standard offer required by division (A) of this | 694 |
section. The commission may determine at any time that a | 695 |
competitive bidding process is not required, if other means to | 696 |
accomplish generally the same option for customers is readily | 697 |
available in the market and a reasonable means for customer | 698 |
participation is developed. | 699 |
(C) After the market development period, theThe failure of a | 700 |
|
supplier to provide retail electric generation service to | 701 |
customers within the certified territory of thean electric | 702 |
|
distribution utility shall result in the supplier's customers, | 703 |
|
after reasonable notice, defaulting to the utility's standard | 704 |
service offer filed under division (A) of this sectionsections | 705 |
|
4928.141, 4928.142, and 4928.143 of the Revised Code until the | 706 |
|
customer chooses an alternative supplier. A supplier is deemed | 707 |
under this
divisionsection to have failed to
provide such service | 708 |
|
if the commission finds, after reasonable notice and
opportunity | 709 |
|
for hearing, that any of the following conditions are met: | 710 |
| Sec. 4928.141. (A) Beginning January 1, 2009, an electric | 722 |
|
distribution utility shall provide consumers, on a comparable and | 723 |
|
nondiscriminatory basis within its certified territory, a | 724 |
|
standard service offer of all competitive retail
electric | 725 |
|
services necessary to maintain essential electric service
to | 726 |
|
consumers, including a firm supply of electric generation | 727 |
|
service. To that end, the electric distribution utility shall | 728 |
|
apply to the public
utilities commission to establish the | 729 |
|
standard service offer in
accordance with section 4928.142 or | 730 |
|
4928.143 of the Revised Code and, at its discretion, may apply | 731 |
|
simultaneously under both sections, except that the utility's | 732 |
|
first standard service offer application at minimum shall include | 733 |
|
a filing under section 4928.143 of the Revised Code.
Only a | 734 |
|
standard service offer authorized in accordance
with section | 735 |
|
4928.142 or 4928.143 of
the Revised Code, shall serve as the | 736 |
|
utility's standard
service
offer for the purpose of compliance | 737 |
|
with this section; and
that
standard service offer shall serve | 738 |
|
as the utility's default
standard service offer for the purpose | 739 |
|
of section
4928.14 of the Revised Code. Notwithstanding
the | 740 |
|
foregoing provision, the rate plan of an electric distribution | 741 |
|
utility shall continue for the purpose of the utility's compliance | 742 |
|
with this division until a standard service offer is first | 743 |
|
authorized under section 4928.142 or 4928.143 of the Revised Code, | 744 |
|
and, as applicable, pursuant to
division (D) of section 4928.143 | 745 |
|
of the Revised Code, any rate
plan that extends
beyond December | 746 |
|
31, 2008, shall continue to be
in effect for the subject electric | 747 |
|
distribution
utility for the
duration of the plan's term. A | 748 |
|
standard
service offer under section 4928.142 or 4928.143 of the | 749 |
|
Revised
Code shall exclude any previously authorized allowances | 750 |
|
for
transition costs, with such exclusion being effective on and | 751 |
|
after
the date that the allowance is scheduled to end under the | 752 |
|
utility's rate plan. | 753 |
| The commission shall initiate a proceeding and, within ninety | 819 |
|
days after the application's filing date, shall determine by order | 820 |
|
whether the electric distribution utility and its market-rate | 821 |
|
offer meet all of the
foregoing requirements. If the finding is | 822 |
|
positive, the electric distribution utility
may initiate its | 823 |
|
competitive bidding process. If the finding is
negative as to one | 824 |
|
or more requirements, the commission in the
order shall direct | 825 |
|
the
electric distribution utility regarding how any deficiency | 826 |
|
may be
remedied in a timely manner to the commission's | 827 |
|
satisfaction;
otherwise, the electric distribution utility shall | 828 |
|
withdraw the
application. However, if such remedy is made and the | 829 |
|
subsequent finding is
positive and also if the electric | 830 |
|
distribution utility made a
simultaneous filing under this | 831 |
|
section and section 4928.143 of the
Revised Code, the utility | 832 |
|
shall not initiate its competitive bid
until at least one hundred | 833 |
|
fifty days after the filing date of
those applications. | 834 |
| (C) Upon the completion of the competitive bidding process | 835 |
|
authorized by divisions (A) and (B) of this section, including for | 836 |
|
the
purpose of division (D) of this section, the commission shall | 837 |
|
select the least-cost bid winner or winners of that process, and | 838 |
|
such selected bid or bids, as prescribed as retail rates by the | 839 |
|
commission, shall be the electric distribution
utility's | 840 |
|
standard service offer unless the commission, by order
issued | 841 |
|
before the third calendar day following the conclusion of
the | 842 |
|
competitive bidding process for the market rate offer,
determines | 843 |
|
that one or more of the following criteria were not
met: | 844 |
| All costs incurred by the electric distribution utility as a | 851 |
|
result
of or related
to the competitive bidding process or to | 852 |
|
procuring
generation
service to provide the standard service | 853 |
|
offer,
including the
costs of energy and capacity and the costs | 854 |
|
of all
other products
and services procured as a result of the | 855 |
|
competitive
bidding
process, shall be timely recovered through | 856 |
|
the standard
service
offer price, and, for that purpose, the | 857 |
|
commission shall
approve
a reconciliation mechanism, other | 858 |
|
recovery mechanism, or
a
combination of such mechanisms for the | 859 |
|
utility. | 860 |
| (D) The first application filed under this section by an | 861 |
|
electric distribution
utility that, as of the effective date of | 862 |
|
this section, directly
owns, in whole or in part, operating | 863 |
|
electric generating
facilities that had been used and useful
in | 864 |
|
this state shall
require that a portion
of that utility's | 865 |
|
standard service offer
load for the first five
years of the | 866 |
|
market
rate offer be
competitively bid under division
(A) of | 867 |
|
this
section as follows:
ten per cent of the
load in
year one | 868 |
|
and not less
than
twenty per cent in year two,
thirty
per cent | 869 |
|
in year
three,
forty per cent in year four, and
fifty
per cent | 870 |
|
in year
five. Consistent with those percentages,
the commission | 871 |
|
shall determine the actual percentages for each
year of years one | 872 |
|
through five.
The
standard service offer price
for
retail | 873 |
|
electric
generation service under this first
application
shall | 874 |
|
be a
proportionate blend of the bid price
and
the
generation | 875 |
|
service
price for the remaining standard
service
offer load, | 876 |
|
which
latter
price shall be equal to the electric
distribution | 877 |
|
utility's most recent standard service offer price,
adjusted | 878 |
|
upward or downward as the commission determines
reasonable, | 879 |
|
relative to the jurisdictional portion of any
known
and | 880 |
|
measurable changes from the level of any one or more of the | 881 |
|
following costs as reflected in that most recent standard service | 882 |
|
offer price: | 883 |
| In making any adjustment to the most recent standard service | 894 |
|
offer price on the basis of costs described in division (D) of | 895 |
|
this section, the commission shall include the benefits that may | 896 |
|
become available to the electric distribution utility as a result | 897 |
|
of or in connection with the costs included in the adjustment, | 898 |
|
including, but not limited to, the utility's receipt of emissions | 899 |
|
credits or its receipt of tax benefits or of other benefits, and, | 900 |
|
accordingly, the commission may impose such conditions on the | 901 |
|
adjustment to ensure that any such benefits are properly aligned | 902 |
|
with the associated cost responsibility. The
commission shall | 903 |
|
also determine how such adjustments will affect
the electric | 904 |
|
distribution utility's return on common equity that
may be | 905 |
|
achieved by those adjustments. The commission shall not
apply its | 906 |
|
consideration of the return on common equity to reduce
any | 907 |
|
adjustments authorized under this division unless the
adjustments | 908 |
|
will cause the electric distribution utility to earn a
return on | 909 |
|
common equity that is significantly in excess of the
return on | 910 |
|
common equity that is earned by publicly traded
companies, | 911 |
|
including utilities, that face comparable business and
financial | 912 |
|
risk, with such adjustments for capital structure as may
be | 913 |
|
appropriate. The burden of proof for demonstrating that | 914 |
|
significantly excessive earnings will not occur shall be on the | 915 |
|
electric distribution utility. | 916 |
| Additionally, the commission may adjust the electric | 917 |
|
distribution utility's most recent standard service offer price by | 918 |
|
such just and reasonable amount that the commission determines | 919 |
|
necessary to address any emergency that threatens the utility's | 920 |
|
financial integrity or to ensure that the resulting revenue | 921 |
|
available to the utility for providing the standard service offer | 922 |
|
is not so inadequate as to result, directly or indirectly, in a | 923 |
|
taking of property without compensation pursuant to Section 19 of | 924 |
|
Article I, Ohio Constitution. The electric
distribution utility | 925 |
|
has the burden of demonstrating that any
adjustment to its most | 926 |
|
recent standard service offer price is
proper in accordance with | 927 |
|
this division. | 928 |
| (E) Beginning in the second year of a blended price under | 929 |
|
division (D) of this section and notwithstanding any other | 930 |
|
requirement of this section, the commission may alter | 931 |
|
prospectively the proportions specified in that division to | 932 |
|
mitigate any effect of an abrupt or significant change in the | 933 |
|
electric
distribution utility's standard service offer price that | 934 |
|
would
otherwise result in general or with respect to any rate | 935 |
|
group or
rate schedule but for such alteration. Any such | 936 |
|
alteration shall
be made not more often than annually, and the | 937 |
|
commission shall
not, by altering those proportions and in any | 938 |
|
event, including because of the length of time, as authorized | 939 |
|
under division (C) of this section, taken to approve the market | 940 |
|
rate offer, cause the
duration of the blending period to exceed | 941 |
|
ten years as counted
from the effective date of the approved | 942 |
|
market rate offer.
Additionally, any such alteration shall be | 943 |
|
limited to an
alteration affecting the prospective proportions | 944 |
|
used during the
blending period and shall not affect any blending | 945 |
|
proportion
previously approved and applied by the commission | 946 |
|
under this
division. | 947 |
|
(b) A reasonable allowance for construction work in progress | 984 |
|
for any of the electric distribution utility's cost of | 985 |
|
constructing an electric generating facility or
for an | 986 |
|
environmental expenditure for any electric generating
facility of | 987 |
|
the electric distribution utility, provided the cost is incurred | 988 |
|
or the expenditure occurs
on or after January 1, 2009. Any such | 989 |
|
allowance shall be subject
to the construction work in progress | 990 |
|
allowance limitations of
division (A) of section 4909.15 of the | 991 |
|
Revised Code, except that
the commission may authorize such an | 992 |
|
allowance upon the incurrence
of the cost or occurrence of the | 993 |
|
expenditure. No such allowance
for generating
facility | 994 |
|
construction shall be authorized,
however, unless the
commission | 995 |
|
first determines in the proceeding
that there is need
for the | 996 |
|
facility based on resource planning
projections submitted
by the | 997 |
|
electric distribution utility. Further, no such allowance shall be | 998 |
|
authorized unless the facility's construction was sourced through | 999 |
|
a competitive bid process, regarding which process the commission | 1000 |
|
may adopt rules. An allowance approved under division (B)(2)(b) of | 1001 |
|
this section shall
be
established as a nonbypassable surcharge | 1002 |
|
for
the life of the facility. | 1003 |
| (c) The establishment of a nonbypassable
surcharge for the | 1004 |
|
life of an electric generating facility that is owned or operated | 1005 |
|
by the electric distribution utility, was sourced through a | 1006 |
|
competitive bid process subject to any such rules as the | 1007 |
|
commission adopts under division (B)(2)(b) of this section, and is | 1008 |
|
newly used and useful on or
after January 1,
2009, which | 1009 |
|
surcharge shall cover all costs of the utility
specified in the | 1010 |
|
application, excluding costs recovered through a
surcharge under | 1011 |
|
division (B)(2)(b) of this section. However, no surcharge shall | 1012 |
|
be authorized unless the commission first
determines in the | 1013 |
|
proceeding that there is need for the facility
based on resource | 1014 |
|
planning projections submitted by the electric distribution | 1015 |
|
utility.
Additionally, if a surcharge is authorized for a | 1016 |
|
facility pursuant
to plan approval under division (C) of this | 1017 |
|
section and as a
condition of the continuation of the surcharge, | 1018 |
|
the electric distribution utility shall
dedicate to Ohio | 1019 |
|
consumers the capacity and energy and the rate associated with the | 1020 |
|
cost of
that facility. Before the commission authorizes any | 1021 |
|
surcharge
pursuant to this division, it may consider, as | 1022 |
|
applicable, the
effects of any decommissioning, deratings, and | 1023 |
|
retirements. | 1024 |
| (d) Terms, conditions, or charges relating to limitations on | 1025 |
|
customer shopping for retail electric generation service, | 1026 |
|
bypassability, standby, back-up, or supplemental power service, | 1027 |
|
default
service, carrying costs,
amortization periods, and | 1028 |
|
accounting or
deferrals, including
future
recovery of such | 1029 |
|
deferrals, as would
have the effect of
stabilizing or providing | 1030 |
|
certainty regarding
retail electric
service; | 1031 |
| (h) Provisions regarding the utility's distribution service, | 1045 |
|
including,
without limitation and notwithstanding any provision | 1046 |
|
of Title XLIX
of the Revised Code to the contrary, provisions | 1047 |
|
regarding single
issue ratemaking, a revenue decoupling mechanism | 1048 |
|
or any other incentive
ratemaking, and provisions regarding | 1049 |
|
distribution infrastructure
and
modernization
incentives for | 1050 |
|
the electric distribution utility. The latter may include a | 1051 |
|
long-term
energy delivery
infrastructure
modernization plan for | 1052 |
|
that
utility or any plan
providing for the
utility's recovery | 1053 |
|
of
costs, including lost
revenue, shared savings, and avoided | 1054 |
|
costs,
and a just and
reasonable rate of
return on such | 1055 |
|
infrastructure
modernization. As part of
its determination as to | 1056 |
|
whether to allow in an electric
distribution utility's electric | 1057 |
|
security plan inclusion of any
provision described in division | 1058 |
|
(B)(2)(h) of this section, the
commission shall examine the | 1059 |
|
reliability of the electric
distribution utility's distribution | 1060 |
|
system and ensure that
customers' and the electric distribution | 1061 |
|
utility's expectations
are aligned and that the electric | 1062 |
|
distribution utility is placing
sufficient emphasis on and | 1063 |
|
dedicating sufficient resources to the
reliability of its | 1064 |
|
distribution system. | 1065 |
| (C)(1) The burden of proof in the proceeding shall be on the | 1072 |
|
electric distribution utility. The commission shall issue an order | 1073 |
|
under this division
for an initial application under this section | 1074 |
|
not later than one hundred fifty days after
the application's | 1075 |
|
filing date and, for any subsequent application
by the utility | 1076 |
|
under this section, not later than two hundred
seventy-five days | 1077 |
|
after the application's filing date. Subject to
division (D) of | 1078 |
|
this
section, the commission by order shall
approve or modify | 1079 |
|
and
approve an application filed under division
(A) of this | 1080 |
|
section if
it finds that the electric security plan
so approved, | 1081 |
|
including
its pricing and all other terms and
conditions, | 1082 |
|
including any
deferrals and any future recovery of
deferrals, is | 1083 |
|
more
favorable in
the aggregate as compared to the
expected | 1084 |
|
results
that would
otherwise apply under section
4928.142 of | 1085 |
|
the Revised
Code. Additionally, if the commission so
approves an | 1086 |
|
application
that contains a surcharge under division
(B)(2)(b) | 1087 |
|
or
(c) of
this section, the commission shall ensure
that the | 1088 |
|
benefits
derived for any purpose for which the surcharge
is | 1089 |
|
established
are
reserved and made available to those that bear | 1090 |
|
the
surcharge.
Otherwise, the commission by order shall | 1091 |
|
disapprove
the
application. | 1092 |
| (b) If the utility terminates an application pursuant to | 1098 |
|
division (C)(2)(a) of this section or if the commission | 1099 |
|
disapproves an application under division (C)(1) of this section, | 1100 |
|
the commission shall issue such order as is necessary to continue | 1101 |
|
the provisions, terms, and conditions of
the utility's most recent | 1102 |
|
standard service offer, along with any
expected increases or | 1103 |
|
decreases in fuel costs from those contained
in that offer, until | 1104 |
|
a subsequent offer is authorized pursuant to
this section or | 1105 |
|
section 4928.142 of the Revised Code,
respectively. | 1106 |
| (D) Regarding the rate plan requirement of division (A) of | 1107 |
|
section 4928.141 of the Revised Code, if an electric distribution | 1108 |
|
utility that has a rate
plan that extends beyond December 31, | 1109 |
|
2008, files an application
under this section for the purpose of | 1110 |
|
its compliance with division
(A) of section 4928.141 of the | 1111 |
|
Revised Code, that rate plan
and
its terms and conditions are | 1112 |
|
hereby incorporated into its proposed
electric security plan and | 1113 |
|
shall continue in effect until the date
scheduled under the rate | 1114 |
|
plan for its expiration, and that portion
of the electric | 1115 |
|
security plan shall not be subject to commission
approval or | 1116 |
|
disapproval under division (C) of this section, and the earnings | 1117 |
|
test
provided for in division (F) of this section shall not apply | 1118 |
|
until
after the expiration of the rate plan.
However, that | 1119 |
|
utility may include in its electric security plan
under this | 1120 |
|
section, and the commission may approve, modify and
approve, or | 1121 |
|
disapprove subject to division (C) of this section,
provisions | 1122 |
|
for the incremental recovery or the deferral of any
costs that | 1123 |
|
are not being recovered under the rate plan and that
the utility | 1124 |
|
incurs during that continuation period to comply with
section | 1125 |
|
4928.141, division (B) of section 4928.64, or division (A)
of | 1126 |
|
section 4928.66 of the Revised Code. | 1127 |
| (E) If an electric security plan approved under division (C) | 1128 |
|
of this section, except one withdrawn by the utility as authorized | 1129 |
|
under that division, has a term, exclusive of phase-ins or | 1130 |
|
deferrals, that exceeds three years from the effective date of the | 1131 |
|
plan, the commission shall test the plan in the fourth year, and | 1132 |
|
if applicable, every fourth year thereafter, to determine whether | 1133 |
|
the plan, including its then-existing pricing and all other terms | 1134 |
|
and conditions, including any deferrals and any future recovery of | 1135 |
|
deferrals, continues to be more favorable in the aggregate and | 1136 |
|
during
the remaining term of the plan as compared
to the | 1137 |
|
expected
results that would otherwise apply under section | 1138 |
|
4928.142 of the
Revised Code. The
commission shall also | 1139 |
|
determine the prospective effect of the
electric security plan to | 1140 |
|
determine if that effect is
substantially likely to provide the | 1141 |
|
electric distribution utility
with a return on common equity that | 1142 |
|
is significantly in excess of
the return on common equity that is | 1143 |
|
likely to be earned by
publicly traded companies, including | 1144 |
|
utilities, that face
comparable business and financial risk, with | 1145 |
|
such adjustments for
capital structure as may be appropriate. The | 1146 |
|
burden of proof for
demonstrating that significantly excessive | 1147 |
|
earnings will not occur
shall be on
the electric distribution | 1148 |
|
utility. If the test results are in the
negative or the | 1149 |
|
commission finds that continuation of the electric
security plan | 1150 |
|
will result in a return on equity that is
significantly in excess | 1151 |
|
of the return on common equity that is
likely to be earned by | 1152 |
|
publicly traded companies, including
utilities, that will face | 1153 |
|
comparable business and financial risk,
with such adjustments for | 1154 |
|
capital structure as may be appropriate,
during the balance of | 1155 |
|
the plan, the
commission may
terminate the electric security | 1156 |
|
plan, but not
until it shall have provided interested parties | 1157 |
|
with notice
and
an opportunity to be heard. The commission may | 1158 |
|
impose such
conditions on
the plan's termination as it considers | 1159 |
|
reasonable
and necessary to
accommodate the transition from an | 1160 |
|
approved
plan to the more
advantageous alternative. In the event | 1161 |
|
of an
electric security plan's termination
pursuant to this | 1162 |
|
division,
the commission
shall permit the continued deferral and | 1163 |
|
phase-in
of any amounts
that occurred prior to that termination | 1164 |
|
and the
recovery of those amounts as contemplated under that | 1165 |
|
electric
security plan. | 1166 |
| (F) With regard to the provisions that are included in an | 1167 |
|
electric security plan under this section, the commission shall | 1168 |
|
consider, following the end of each annual period of the plan, if | 1169 |
|
any such adjustments resulted in excessive earnings as measured by | 1170 |
|
whether the earned return on common equity of the electric | 1171 |
|
distribution utility is significantly in excess of the return on | 1172 |
|
common equity that was earned during the same period by publicly | 1173 |
|
traded companies, including utilities, that face comparable | 1174 |
|
business and financial risk, with such adjustments for capital | 1175 |
|
structure as may be appropriate. Consideration also shall be given | 1176 |
|
to the capital requirements of future committed investments in | 1177 |
|
this state. The burden of proof for
demonstrating that | 1178 |
|
significantly excessive earnings did not occur
shall be on the | 1179 |
|
electric distribution utility. If the commission
finds that such | 1180 |
|
adjustments, in the aggregate, did result in
significantly | 1181 |
|
excessive earnings, it shall require the electric
distribution | 1182 |
|
utility to return to consumers the amount of the
excess by | 1183 |
|
prospective adjustments; provided that, upon making such | 1184 |
|
prospective adjustments, the electric distribution utility shall | 1185 |
|
have the right to terminate the plan and immediately file an | 1186 |
|
application pursuant to section 4928.142 of the Revised Code. Upon | 1187 |
|
termination of a plan under this division, rates shall be set on | 1188 |
|
the same basis as specified in division (C)(2)(b) of this section, | 1189 |
|
and the commission shall permit the continued deferral and | 1190 |
|
phase-in of any amounts that occurred prior to that termination | 1191 |
|
and the recovery of those amounts as contemplated under that | 1192 |
|
electric security plan. In making its determination of | 1193 |
|
significantly excessive earnings under this division, the | 1194 |
|
commission shall not consider, directly or indirectly, the | 1195 |
|
revenue, expenses, or earnings of any affiliate or parent | 1196 |
|
company. | 1197 |
| Sec. 4928.144. The public utilities commission by order may | 1198 |
|
authorize
any just and reasonable phase-in of any electric | 1199 |
|
distribution utility
rate or
price established under sections | 1200 |
|
4928.141 to 4928.143 of the Revised Code,
and
inclusive of | 1201 |
|
carrying charges, as the commission considers
necessary to ensure | 1202 |
|
rate or price stability for consumers. If the
commission's order | 1203 |
|
includes such a
phase-in, the order also shall provide for the | 1204 |
|
creation of
regulatory assets pursuant to generally accepted | 1205 |
|
accounting principles, by authorizing the
deferral
of
incurred | 1206 |
|
costs equal to
the amount not collected,
plus
carrying charges | 1207 |
|
on
that amount.
Further, the order shall
authorize the | 1208 |
|
collection of
those
deferrals through a
nonbypassable surcharge | 1209 |
|
on any such rate or price so established
for the electric | 1210 |
|
distribution utility by the commission. | 1211 |
| Sec. 4928.145. During a proceeding under sections 4928.141 | 1212 |
|
to 4928.144 of the Revised Code and upon submission of an | 1213 |
|
appropriate discovery request, an electric distribution utility | 1214 |
|
shall make available to the requesting party every contract or | 1215 |
|
agreement that is between the utility or any of its affiliates and | 1216 |
|
a party to the proceeding, consumer, electric services company, or | 1217 |
|
political subdivision and that is relevant to the proceeding, | 1218 |
|
subject to such protection for proprietary or confidential | 1219 |
|
information as is determined appropriate by the public utilities | 1220 |
|
commission. | 1221 |
| Sec. 4928.151. The public utilities commission shall adopt | 1227 |
|
and enforce rules prescribing a uniform, statewide policy | 1228 |
|
regarding electric transmission and distribution line extensions | 1229 |
|
and requisite substations and related facilities that are | 1230 |
|
requested by nonresidential customers of electric utilities, so | 1231 |
|
that, on and after the effective date of the initial rules so | 1232 |
|
adopted, all such utilities apply the same policies and charges to | 1233 |
|
those customers. Initial rules shall be adopted not later than six | 1234 |
|
months after the effective date of this section. The rules shall | 1235 |
|
address the just and reasonable allocation to and utility recovery | 1236 |
|
from the requesting customer or other customers of the utility of | 1237 |
|
all costs of any such line extension and any requisite substation | 1238 |
|
or related facility, including, but not limited to, the costs of | 1239 |
|
necessary technical studies, operations and maintenance costs, and | 1240 |
|
capital costs, including a return on capital costs. | 1241 |
| Sec. 4928.17. (A) Except as otherwise provided in sections | 1242 |
| 4928.142 or 4928.143 or
4928.31 to 4928.40 of the Revised Code and | 1243 |
|
beginning
on the
starting date of competitive retail electric | 1244 |
|
service, no
electric
utility
shall engage in this state, either | 1245 |
|
directly or
through an
affiliate, in the
businesses of supplying | 1246 |
|
a
noncompetitive retail
electric service
and supplying a | 1247 |
|
competitive retail electric
service, or in the
businesses of | 1248 |
|
supplying a noncompetitive retail
electric service
and supplying | 1249 |
|
a product or service other than
retail electric
service, unless | 1250 |
|
the utility implements and
operates under a
corporate separation | 1251 |
|
plan that is approved by the
public utilities
commission under | 1252 |
|
this section, is consistent with
the policy
specified in section | 1253 |
|
4928.02 of the Revised Code, and
achieves all of the following: | 1254 |
| (3) The plan is sufficient to ensure that the utility will | 1266 |
|
not
extend any undue preference or advantage to any affiliate, | 1267 |
|
division, or
part of its own business engaged in the business of | 1268 |
|
supplying the
competitive retail electric service or nonelectric | 1269 |
|
product or service,
including, but not limited to, utility | 1270 |
|
resources such as trucks, tools, office
equipment, office space, | 1271 |
|
supplies, customer and marketing information,
advertising, billing | 1272 |
|
and mailing systems, personnel, and training, without
compensation | 1273 |
|
based upon fully loaded embedded costs charged to the affiliate; | 1274 |
|
and to
ensure that any such affiliate, division, or part will not | 1275 |
|
receive undue preference or advantage from any affiliate, | 1276 |
|
division, or part of the business engaged in business of supplying | 1277 |
|
the noncompetitive retail electric service. No such utility, | 1278 |
|
affiliate, division, or part shall extend such undue preference. | 1279 |
|
Notwithstanding any other division of this section, a utility's | 1280 |
|
obligation
under division (A)(3) of this section shall be | 1281 |
|
effective
January 1, 2000. | 1282 |
| (B) The commission may approve, modify and approve, or | 1283 |
|
disapprove
a corporate separation plan filed with the commission | 1284 |
|
under division
(A) of this section. As part of the code of conduct | 1285 |
|
required under
division (A)(1) of this section, the commission | 1286 |
|
shall adopt rules
pursuant to division (A) of section 4928.06 of | 1287 |
|
the Revised Code
regarding corporate separation and procedures for | 1288 |
|
plan filing and approval.
The rules shall include limitations on | 1289 |
|
affiliate practices solely for the
purpose of
maintaining a | 1290 |
|
separation of the affiliate's business from the
business of the | 1291 |
|
utility to prevent unfair competitive
advantage by virtue of that | 1292 |
|
relationship. The rules also shall
include an opportunity for any | 1293 |
|
person having a real and substantial interest
in the corporate | 1294 |
|
separation plan to file specific objections to the plan and | 1295 |
|
propose specific
responses to issues
raised in the objections, | 1296 |
|
which objections and responses the
commission shall address in its | 1297 |
|
final order. Prior to commission
approval of the plan, the | 1298 |
|
commission shall afford a hearing upon
those aspects of the plan | 1299 |
|
that the commission determines
reasonably require a hearing. The | 1300 |
|
commission may reject and
require refiling of a substantially | 1301 |
|
inadequate plan under this
section. | 1302 |
| (C) The commission shall issue an order approving or | 1303 |
|
modifying
and approving a corporate separation plan under this | 1304 |
|
section, to be effective
on the date specified in the
order, only | 1305 |
|
upon findings that the plan reasonably complies with
the | 1306 |
|
requirements of division (A) of this section and will provide
for | 1307 |
|
ongoing compliance with the policy specified in section 4928.02 of | 1308 |
|
the
Revised Code. However, for good cause shown, the commission | 1309 |
|
may issue an
order approving or modifying and approving a | 1310 |
|
corporate separation plan under
this section that does not comply | 1311 |
|
with division (A)(1) of this section but
complies with such | 1312 |
|
functional separation requirements as the commission
authorizes to | 1313 |
|
apply for an interim period prescribed in the order, upon a | 1314 |
|
finding that such alternative plan will provide for ongoing | 1315 |
|
compliance with
the policy specified in section 4928.02 of the | 1316 |
|
Revised Code. | 1317 |
| Sec. 4928.20. (A) The legislative authority of a
municipal | 1331 |
|
corporation may adopt an ordinance, or the board of township | 1332 |
|
trustees of a township or the board of county commissioners of a | 1333 |
|
county may adopt a resolution, under which, on or after the | 1334 |
|
starting
date of competitive retail electric service, it may | 1335 |
|
aggregate in
accordance with this section the retail electrical | 1336 |
|
loads located,
respectively, within the municipal corporation, | 1337 |
|
township, or
unincorporated area of the county and, for that | 1338 |
|
purpose, may enter
into service agreements to facilitate for those | 1339 |
|
loads the sale and
purchase of electricity. The legislative | 1340 |
|
authority or board also
may exercise such authority jointly with | 1341 |
|
any other such
legislative authority or board. For customers that | 1342 |
are not mercantile commercial customers, an ordinance or | 1343 |
|
resolution under
this division shall specify whether the | 1344 |
|
aggregation will occur
only with the prior, affirmative consent of | 1345 |
|
each person owning, occupying,
controlling, or using an electric | 1346 |
|
load center proposed to be
aggregated or will occur automatically | 1347 |
|
for all such persons
pursuant to the opt-out requirements of | 1348 |
|
division (D) of this
section. The aggregation of mercantile | 1349 |
commercial customers shall occur only with the prior, affirmative | 1350 |
|
consent of each such person owning, occupying, controlling, or | 1351 |
|
using an electric load center proposed to be aggregated. Nothing | 1352 |
|
in this division, however, authorizes the aggregation of
the | 1353 |
|
retail electric
loads of an electric load center, as defined in | 1354 |
|
section 4933.81 of the Revised
Code, that is
located in the | 1355 |
|
certified territory of
a nonprofit electric supplier under | 1356 |
|
sections 4933.81 to 4933.90 of the Revised
Code or an
electric | 1357 |
|
load center served by
transmission or distribution facilities of a | 1358 |
|
municipal electric utility. | 1359 |
| (B) If an ordinance or resolution adopted under division (A) | 1360 |
|
of
this section specifies that aggregation of customers that are | 1361 |
not mercantile commercial customers will occur automatically
as | 1362 |
|
described in that division, the ordinance or resolution shall | 1363 |
|
direct the
board of elections to submit the question of the | 1364 |
|
authority to aggregate to the electors of the respective municipal | 1365 |
|
corporation, township, or unincorporated area of a county at a | 1366 |
|
special election on the day of the next primary or general | 1367 |
|
election in the municipal corporation, township, or county. The | 1368 |
|
legislative authority or board shall certify a copy of the | 1369 |
|
ordinance or resolution to the board of elections not less than | 1370 |
|
seventy-five days before the day of the special election. No | 1371 |
|
ordinance or resolution adopted under division (A) of this section | 1372 |
|
that provides for an election under this division shall take | 1373 |
|
effect unless approved by a majority
of the electors voting upon | 1374 |
|
the ordinance or resolution at the election held
pursuant to this | 1375 |
|
division. | 1376 |
| (C) Upon the applicable requisite authority under divisions | 1377 |
|
(A)
and (B) of this section, the legislative authority or board | 1378 |
|
shall
develop a plan of operation and governance for the | 1379 |
|
aggregation
program so authorized. Before adopting a plan under | 1380 |
|
this
division, the legislative authority or board shall hold at | 1381 |
|
least
two public hearings on the plan. Before the first hearing, | 1382 |
|
the
legislative authority or board shall publish notice of the | 1383 |
|
hearings once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of | 1384 |
|
general circulation in the jurisdiction. The notice shall | 1385 |
|
summarize the plan and state the date, time, and location of each | 1386 |
|
hearing. | 1387 |
| (D) No legislative authority or board, pursuant to an | 1388 |
|
ordinance or
resolution under divisions (A) and (B) of this | 1389 |
|
section that
provides for automatic aggregation of customers that | 1390 |
are not mercantile commercial customers as described in division | 1391 |
|
(A) of
this section, shall aggregate the electrical load of any | 1392 |
|
electric load center
located within its
jurisdiction unless it in | 1393 |
|
advance clearly discloses to the person owning,
occupying, | 1394 |
|
controlling,
or using the load center that the person will be | 1395 |
|
enrolled
automatically in the aggregation program and will remain | 1396 |
|
so
enrolled unless the person affirmatively elects by a stated | 1397 |
|
procedure not to be so enrolled. The disclosure shall state | 1398 |
|
prominently the rates, charges, and other terms and conditions of | 1399 |
|
enrollment. The stated procedure shall allow any person enrolled | 1400 |
|
in the
aggregation program the opportunity to opt out of the | 1401 |
program every twothree years,
without paying a switching fee. Any | 1402 |
|
such
person that opts out before the commencement of the | 1403 |
|
aggregation
program pursuant to
the
stated procedure shall | 1404 |
default to the
standard service offer
provided under division (A) | 1405 |
of section
4928.14 or division (D) of
section 4928.35 of the | 1406 |
|
Revised Code
until the person chooses an
alternative supplier. | 1407 |
| (I) Customers that are part of a governmental aggregation | 1454 |
|
under this section shall be responsible only for such portion of a | 1455 |
|
surcharge under section 4928.144 of the Revised Code that is | 1456 |
|
proportionate to the benefits, as determined by the commission, | 1457 |
|
that the governmental aggregation's customers as an aggregated | 1458 |
|
group receive. The proportionate surcharge so established shall | 1459 |
|
apply to each customer of the governmental aggregation while the | 1460 |
|
customer is part of that aggregation. If a customer ceases being | 1461 |
|
such a customer, the otherwise applicable surcharge shall apply. | 1462 |
|
Nothing in this section shall result in less than full recovery by | 1463 |
|
an electric distribution utility of any surcharge authorized under | 1464 |
|
section 4928.144 of the Revised Code. | 1465 |
| (J) On behalf of the customers that are part of a | 1466 |
|
governmental aggregation under this section and by filing written | 1467 |
|
notice with the public utilities commission, the legislative | 1468 |
|
authority that formed or is forming that governmental aggregation | 1469 |
|
may elect not to receive standby service within the meaning of | 1470 |
|
division (B)(2)(e) of section 4928.143 of the Revised Code from an | 1471 |
|
electric distribution utility in whose certified territory the | 1472 |
|
governmental aggregation is located and that operates under an | 1473 |
|
approved electric security plan under that section. Upon the | 1474 |
|
filing of that notice, the electric distribution utility shall not | 1475 |
|
charge any such customer to whom electricity is delivered under | 1476 |
|
the governmental aggregation for the standby service. Any such | 1477 |
|
consumer that returns to the utility for competitive retail | 1478 |
|
electric service shall pay the market price of power incurred by | 1479 |
|
the utility to serve that consumer plus any amount attributable to | 1480 |
|
the utility's cost of compliance with the alternative energy | 1481 |
|
resource provisions of section 4928.64 of the Revised Code to | 1482 |
|
serve the consumer. Such market price shall include, but not be | 1483 |
|
limited to, capacity and energy charges; all charges associated | 1484 |
|
with the provision of that power supply through the regional | 1485 |
|
transmission organization, including, but not limited to, | 1486 |
|
transmission, ancillary services, congestion, and settlement and | 1487 |
|
administrative charges; and all other costs incurred by the | 1488 |
|
utility that are associated with the procurement, provision, and | 1489 |
|
administration of that power supply, as such costs may be approved | 1490 |
|
by the commission. The period of time during which the market | 1491 |
|
price and alternative energy resource amount shall be so assessed | 1492 |
|
on the consumer shall be from the time the consumer so returns to | 1493 |
|
the electric distribution utility until the expiration of the | 1494 |
|
electric security plan. However, if that period of time is | 1495 |
|
expected to be more than two years, the commission may reduce the | 1496 |
|
time period to a period of not less than two years. | 1497 |
| (K) The commission shall adopt rules to encourage and promote | 1498 |
|
large-scale governmental aggregation in this state. For that | 1499 |
|
purpose, the commission shall conduct an immediate review of any | 1500 |
|
rules it has adopted for the purpose of this section that are in | 1501 |
|
effect on the effective date of the amendment of this section by | 1502 |
|
S.B. 221 of the 127th general assembly. Further, within the | 1503 |
|
context of an electric security plan under section 4928.143 of the | 1504 |
|
Revised Code, the commission shall consider the effect on | 1505 |
|
large-scale governmental aggregation of any nonbypassable | 1506 |
|
generation charges, however collected, that would be established | 1507 |
|
under that plan, except any nonbypassable generation charge that | 1508 |
|
relates to a cost incurred by the electric distribution utility, | 1509 |
|
the deferral of which has been authorized by the commission prior | 1510 |
|
to the effective date of the amendment of this section by S.B. 221 | 1511 |
|
of the 127th general assembly. | 1512 |
| Sec. 4928.24. The public utilities commission shall employ a | 1513 |
|
federal energy advocate to monitor the activities of the federal | 1514 |
|
energy regulatory commission and other federal agencies and to | 1515 |
|
advocate on behalf of the interests of retail electric service | 1516 |
|
consumers in this state. The attorney general shall represent the | 1517 |
|
advocate before the federal energy regulatory commission and other | 1518 |
|
federal agencies. Among other duties assigned to the advocate by | 1519 |
|
the commission, the advocate shall examine the value of the | 1520 |
|
participation of this state's electric utilities in regional | 1521 |
|
transmission organizations and submit a report to the public | 1522 |
|
utilities commission on whether continued participation of those | 1523 |
|
utilities is in the interest of those consumers. | 1524 |
| (1) A rate unbundling plan that specifies, consistent with | 1534 |
|
divisions (A)(1) to (7) of section 4928.34 of the Revised Code and | 1535 |
|
any rules adopted by the commission under division (A) of section | 1536 |
|
4928.06 of the Revised Code, the unbundles components for electric | 1537 |
|
generation, transmission, and distribution service and such other | 1538 |
|
unbundled
service components as the commission requires, to be | 1539 |
|
charged by the utility beginning on the starting date of | 1540 |
|
competitive retail electric service and that includes information | 1541 |
|
the commission requires to fix and determine those components; | 1542 |
| A transition plan under this section may include tariff terms | 1560 |
|
and
conditions to address reasonable requirements for changing | 1561 |
|
suppliers,
length of commitment by a customer for service, and | 1562 |
|
such other matters
as are necessary to accommodate electric | 1563 |
|
restructuring. Additionally, a
transition plan under this section | 1564 |
|
may include an
application for the opportunity to receive | 1565 |
|
transition revenues as authorized
under sections 4928.31 to | 1566 |
|
4928.40 of the Revised Code, which application shall be
consistent | 1567 |
|
with those sections and any rules adopted by the commission under | 1568 |
|
division (A) of section 4928.06 of the Revised Code. The | 1569 |
|
transition plan also
may include a plan for the independent | 1570 |
|
operation of the utility's
transmission facilities consistent with | 1571 |
|
section 4928.12 of the Revised Code,
division
(A)(13) of section | 1572 |
|
4928.34 of the Revised Code, and any rules adopted by the | 1573 |
|
commission under division (A) of section 4928.06 of the Revised | 1574 |
|
Code. | 1575 |
| (1) The unbundled components for the electric transmission | 1591 |
|
component of retail electric service, as specified in the | 1592 |
|
utility's rate
unbundling plan required by
division (A)(1) of | 1593 |
|
section 4928.31 of the Revised Code, equal the
tariff rates | 1594 |
|
determined by the federal energy regulatory commission that are
in | 1595 |
|
effect on the date of the approval of the transition plan under | 1596 |
|
sections
4928.31 to 4928.40 of the Revised Code, as each such rate | 1597 |
|
is
determined
applicable to each particular customer class and | 1598 |
|
rate schedule by the
commission. The unbundled transmission | 1599 |
|
component shall include a sliding
scale of charges under division | 1600 |
|
(B) of section 4905.31 of the Revised Code to
ensure that refunds | 1601 |
|
determined or approved by the federal energy regulatory
commission | 1602 |
|
are flowed through to retail electric customers. | 1603 |
| (6) Subject to division (A)(5) of this section, the total of | 1632 |
|
all
unbundled components in the rate unbundling
plan are capped | 1633 |
|
and shall equal during the market development period, except
as | 1634 |
|
specifically provided in this chapter,
the total of all rates and | 1635 |
|
charges in
effect under the applicable bundled schedule of the | 1636 |
|
electric utility
pursuant to section 4905.30 of the Revised Code | 1637 |
|
in effect on the
day before the effective date of this section, | 1638 |
|
including the transition
charge determined under section 4928.40 | 1639 |
|
of the Revised Code, adjusted for any
changes in the
taxation of | 1640 |
|
electric utilities and retail electric service under
Sub. S.B. No. | 1641 |
|
3 of the 123rd General Assembly, the universal
service rider | 1642 |
|
authorized by section 4928.51 of the Revised Code,
and the | 1643 |
|
temporary rider authorized by section 4928.61 of the Revised Code. | 1644 |
|
For the
purpose of
this division, the rate cap applicable to a | 1645 |
|
customer receiving electric
service pursuant to an
arrangement | 1646 |
|
approved by the commission under section 4905.31 of the
Revised | 1647 |
|
Code is, for the term of the arrangement, the total
of all rates | 1648 |
|
and charges in effect under the
arrangement. For any rate schedule | 1649 |
|
filed pursuant to section 4905.30 of the Revised Code or any | 1650 |
|
arrangement subject to approval pursuant to section 4905.31 of the | 1651 |
|
Revised Code, the initial tax-related adjustment to the rate
cap | 1652 |
|
required by this division shall be equal to the rate of
taxation | 1653 |
|
specified in section 5727.81 of the Revised Code and
applicable to | 1654 |
|
the schedule or arrangement. To the extent such total annual | 1655 |
|
amount of the tax-related adjustment is greater than or less than | 1656 |
|
the comparable amount of the total annual tax reduction | 1657 |
|
experienced by the electric utility as a result of the provisions | 1658 |
of Sub. S.B. No. 3 of the 123RD123rd
general assembly, such | 1659 |
|
difference
shall be addressed by the commission through accounting | 1660 |
|
procedures, refunds,
or an annual surcharge
or credit to | 1661 |
|
customers, or through other appropriate means, to
avoid placing | 1662 |
|
the financial
responsibility for the difference upon the electric | 1663 |
|
utility or its
shareholders. Any adjustments in the rate of | 1664 |
|
taxation specified
in 5727.81 of the Revised Code section shall | 1665 |
|
not occur without a
corresponding adjustment to the rate cap for | 1666 |
|
each such rate
schedule or arrangement. The department of taxation | 1667 |
|
shall advise
the commission and
self-assessors under section | 1668 |
|
5727.81 of the Revised Code prior to
the effective date of any | 1669 |
|
change in the rate of taxation specified
under that
section, and | 1670 |
|
the commission shall modify the rate cap to reflect
that | 1671 |
|
adjustment
so that the rate cap adjustment is effective as of the | 1672 |
|
effective
date of the
change in the rate of taxation. This | 1673 |
|
division shall be applied,
to the extent possible, to eliminate | 1674 |
|
any increase in the price of
electricity for customers that | 1675 |
|
otherwise may occur as a result of
establishing the taxes | 1676 |
|
contemplated in section 5727.81 of the
Revised Code. | 1677 |
| Sec. 4928.35. (A) Upon approval of its transition plan
under | 1737 |
|
sections 4928.31 to 4928.40 of the Revised Code, an
electric | 1738 |
|
utility shall file in accordance with section 4905.30 of
the | 1739 |
|
Revised Code
schedules containing
the unbundled rate
components | 1740 |
|
set in the approved plan in accordance with
section
4928.34 of the | 1741 |
|
Revised Code. The schedules shall be in effect for
the
duration of | 1742 |
|
the utility's market development period, shall be
subject to
the | 1743 |
|
cap specified in division (A)(6) of section 4928.34
of the Revised | 1744 |
|
Code,
and shall not be adjusted during that period
by
the public | 1745 |
|
utilities commission except as otherwise authorized
by
division | 1746 |
|
(B) of this section or as otherwise authorized by
federal law or | 1747 |
|
except to reflect any change in tax law or tax
regulation that
has | 1748 |
|
a material effect on the electric utility. | 1749 |
| (B) Efforts shall be made to reach agreements with electric | 1750 |
|
utilities in matters of litigation regarding property valuation | 1751 |
|
issues.
Irrespective of those efforts, the unbundled components | 1752 |
|
for an electric utility's retail electric generation service and | 1753 |
|
distribution service, as provided in division (A) of this section, | 1754 |
|
are not subject to adjustment for the utility's market development | 1755 |
|
period, except that the commission shall order an equitable | 1756 |
|
reduction in those components for all customer classes to reflect | 1757 |
|
any refund a utility receives as a result of the resolution of | 1758 |
|
utility personal property tax valuation litigation that is | 1759 |
|
resolved on or after the effective date of this section and not | 1760 |
|
later than
December 31, 2005. Immediately upon the
issuance of | 1761 |
|
that order, the electric utility shall file revised
rate schedules | 1762 |
|
under section 4909.18 of the Revised Code to effect
the order. | 1763 |
| (C) The schedule under division (A) of this section | 1764 |
|
containing the
unbundled distribution components shall provide | 1765 |
|
that electric distribution
service under the schedule will be | 1766 |
|
available to all retail electric
service customers in the electric | 1767 |
|
utility's certified territory
and their suppliers on a | 1768 |
|
nondiscriminatory and comparable basis on and after
the starting | 1769 |
|
date of competitive retail electric service.
The schedule also | 1770 |
|
shall include an obligation to build
distribution facilities when | 1771 |
|
necessary to provide adequate
distribution service, provided that | 1772 |
|
a customer requesting that
service may be required to pay all or | 1773 |
|
part of the reasonable
incremental cost of the new facilities, in | 1774 |
|
accordance with rules,
policy, precedents, or orders of the | 1775 |
|
commission. | 1776 |
| (D) During the market development period, an electric | 1777 |
|
distribution utility shall provide consumers on a comparable and | 1778 |
|
nondiscriminatory basis within its certified territory a
standard | 1779 |
|
service offer of all competitive retail electric services | 1780 |
|
necessary to maintain essential electric service to consumers, | 1781 |
|
including a firm supply of electric generation service priced in | 1782 |
|
accordance with the schedule containing the utility's unbundled | 1783 |
|
generation service component. Immediately upon approval of its | 1784 |
|
transition plan, the utility shall file the standard service offer | 1785 |
|
with the commission under section 4909.18 of the Revised Code, | 1786 |
|
during the
market development period. The failure of a supplier to | 1787 |
|
deliver
retail electric generation service shall result in the | 1788 |
|
supplier's customers, after reasonable notice, defaulting to the | 1789 |
|
utility's standard service offer filed under this division until | 1790 |
|
the customer chooses an alternative supplier. A supplier is
deemed | 1791 |
|
under this section to have failed to deliver such service
if any | 1792 |
of the conditions specified in divisions (B)(1) to (4) of
section | 1793 |
|
4928.14 of the Revised Code is met. | 1794 |
| (G) The commission, by order, shall require each electric | 1804 |
|
utility
whose approved transition plan did not include an | 1805 |
|
independent
transmission plan as described in division (A)(13) of | 1806 |
|
section 4928.34 of the Revised Code to be a member of, and | 1807 |
|
transfer control of transmission facilities it owns or controls in | 1808 |
|
this state
to, one or more qualifying transmission entities, as | 1809 |
|
described in division (B) of section 4928.12 of the Revised Code, | 1810 |
|
that are planned to be operational on and after December 31, 2003.
| 1811 |
|
However, the commission may extend that date if, for reasons | 1812 |
|
beyond the
control of the utility, a qualifying transmission | 1813 |
|
entity is not planned to be
operational on that date. The | 1814 |
|
commission's order may specify an earlier date on which the | 1815 |
|
transmission
entity or entities are planned to be
operational if | 1816 |
|
the commission considers it necessary to carry out the policy | 1817 |
|
specified in section
4928.02 of the Revised Code or to encourage | 1818 |
|
effective competition
in retail electric service in this state. | 1819 |
| (1) Revenues remitted to the director after collection by | 1842 |
|
each
electric distribution utility in this state of a temporary | 1843 |
|
rider on
retail electric distribution service rates as such rates | 1844 |
|
are
determined by the public utilities commission pursuant to this | 1845 |
|
chapter. The rider shall be a uniform amount statewide, determined | 1846 |
|
by the
director of development, after consultation with the public | 1847 |
|
benefits
advisory board created by section 4928.58 of the Revised | 1848 |
|
Code. The
amount shall be determined by dividing an aggregate | 1849 |
|
revenue target for a given
year as determined by the director, | 1850 |
|
after consultation with the advisory
board, by the number of | 1851 |
|
customers of electric distribution utilities in this
state in the | 1852 |
|
prior year. Such aggregate revenue target shall not exceed more | 1853 |
|
than fifteen million dollars in any year through 2005 and shall | 1854 |
|
not exceed
more than five million dollars in any year after 2005. | 1855 |
|
The rider shall be
imposed beginning on the effective date of the | 1856 |
|
amendment of this section by Sub. H.B. 251 of the 126th general | 1857 |
|
assembly, January 4, 2007, and shall terminate at the end of ten | 1858 |
|
years following the starting date of competitive retail electric | 1859 |
|
service or until the advanced energy fund, including interest, | 1860 |
|
reaches one hundred million dollars,
whichever is first. | 1861 |
| (2) Each participating electric cooperative and participating | 1879 |
|
municipal electric utility shall remit to the director on a | 1880 |
|
quarterly
basis the revenues described in division (B)(3) of this | 1881 |
|
section.
Such remittances shall occur within thirty days after | 1882 |
|
the end of each calendar quarter. For the purpose of division | 1883 |
|
(B)(3) of this section, the participation of an electric | 1884 |
|
cooperative or municipal electric utility in the energy efficiency | 1885 |
|
revolving loan program as it existed immediately prior to the | 1886 |
|
effective date of the amendment of this section by Sub. H.B. 251 | 1887 |
|
of the 126th general assembly, January 4, 2007, does not | 1888 |
|
constitute a decision to participate in the advanced energy fund | 1889 |
|
under this section as so amended. | 1890 |
| (D) Any moneys collected in rates for non-low-income customer | 1896 |
|
energy efficiency programs, as of October 5, 1999, and not | 1897 |
|
contributed to the energy efficiency revolving
loan fund | 1898 |
|
authorized under this section prior to the effective date of its | 1899 |
|
amendment by Sub. H.B. 251 of the 126th general assembly, January | 1900 |
|
4, 2007, shall be used to
continue to fund cost-effective, | 1901 |
|
residential energy efficiency programs, be
contributed into the | 1902 |
|
universal service fund as a supplement to that required under | 1903 |
|
section
4928.53 of the Revised Code, or be returned to ratepayers | 1904 |
|
in the form of a rate reduction at the option of the affected | 1905 |
|
electric
distribution utility. | 1906 |
| Sec. 4928.621. (A) Any Edison technology center in this state | 1907 |
|
is eligible to apply for and receive assistance pursuant to | 1908 |
|
section 4928.62 of the Revised Code for the purposes of creating | 1909 |
|
an
advanced energy manufacturing center in this state that will | 1910 |
|
provide for the exchange of information and expertise regarding | 1911 |
|
advanced energy, assisting with the design of advanced energy | 1912 |
|
projects, developing workforce training programs for such | 1913 |
|
projects, and encouraging investment in advanced energy | 1914 |
|
manufacturing technologies for advanced energy products and | 1915 |
|
investment in sustainable manufacturing operations that create | 1916 |
|
high-paying jobs in this state. | 1917 |
|
(B) Any university or group of universities in this state | 1918 |
|
that
conducts research on any advanced energy resource or any | 1919 |
|
not-for-profit corporation formed to address issues affecting the | 1920 |
|
price and availability of electricity and having members that are | 1921 |
|
small businesses may apply for and
receive assistance pursuant to | 1922 |
|
section 4928.62 of the Revised Code
for the purpose of | 1923 |
|
encouraging research in this state that is
directed at innovation | 1924 |
|
in or the refinement of those resources or
for the purpose of | 1925 |
|
educational outreach regarding those resources
and, to that end, | 1926 |
|
shall use that assistance to establish such a
program
of | 1927 |
|
research or education outreach. Any such educational
outreach | 1928 |
|
shall be directed at an increase in, innovation
regarding, or | 1929 |
|
refinement of
access by or of application or
understanding of | 1930 |
|
businesses and
consumers in this state
regarding, advanced | 1931 |
|
energy
resources. | 1932 |
| Sec. 4928.64. (A)(1) As used in sections 4928.64 and 4928.65 | 1943 |
|
of
the Revised Code, "alternative energy resource" means an | 1944 |
|
advanced
energy
resource or renewable
energy resource, as | 1945 |
|
defined in section 4928.01 of the Revised Code that has a | 1946 |
|
placed-in-service
date of January
1, 1998, or after; or a | 1947 |
|
mercantile customer-sited
advance energy resource or renewable | 1948 |
|
energy resource, whether new
or existing, that the mercantile | 1949 |
|
customer commits for integration
into the electric distribution | 1950 |
|
utility's demand-response, energy
efficiency, or peak demand | 1951 |
|
reduction programs as provided under
division (B)(2)(b) of | 1952 |
|
section 4928.66 of the Revised Code,
including, but not limited | 1953 |
|
to, any of the following: | 1954 |
| (B)
By 2025 and thereafter, an electric distribution utility | 1976 |
|
shall provide
from
alternative energy resources, including, at | 1977 |
|
its discretion, alternative energy resources obtained pursuant to | 1978 |
|
an electricity supply contract, a portion of the electricity | 1979 |
|
supply
required
for
its standard service offer under section | 1980 |
|
4928.141
of
the
Revised
Code, and an electric services company | 1981 |
|
shall
provide a
portion of its electricity supply for retail | 1982 |
|
consumers
in this state from alternative energy resources, | 1983 |
|
including, at its discretion, alternative energy resources | 1984 |
|
obtained pursuant to an electricity supply contract. That
portion | 1985 |
|
shall equal twenty-five per cent of
the
total
number of
| 1986 |
|
kilowatt hours of electricity sold by
the subject
utility or | 1987 |
|
company
to any and all retail electric consumers whose electric
| 1988 |
|
load
centers
are
served by that utility and are located within | 1989 |
|
the
utility's
certified
territory or, in the
case of an | 1990 |
|
electric
services
company, are served by the company and are | 1991 |
|
located
within this
state.
However,
nothing in this section | 1992 |
|
precludes
a utility or
company from
providing a
greater | 1993 |
|
percentage. The
baseline for a utility's or company's compliance | 1994 |
|
with the
alternative energy resource requirements of this section | 1995 |
|
shall be
the average of
such total kilowatt hours it sold in the | 1996 |
|
preceding
three calendar years, except that the commission may | 1997 |
|
reduce a
utility's or company's baseline to adjust for new | 1998 |
|
economic growth
in the utility's certified territory or, in the | 1999 |
|
case of an
electric services company, in the company's service | 2000 |
|
area in this
state. | 2001 |
| (b) Within ninety days after the filing of a request by an | 2089 |
|
electric distribution utility or electric services company under | 2090 |
|
division (C)(4)(a) of this section, the commission shall determine | 2091 |
|
if renewable energy resources are reasonably available in the | 2092 |
|
marketplace in sufficient quantities for the utility or company to | 2093 |
|
comply with the subject minimum benchmark during the review | 2094 |
|
period. In making this determination, the commission shall | 2095 |
|
consider whether the electric distribution utility or electric | 2096 |
|
services company has made a good faith effort to acquire | 2097 |
|
sufficient renewable energy or, as applicable, solar energy | 2098 |
|
resources to so comply, including, but not limited to, by banking | 2099 |
|
or seeking renewable energy resource credits or by seeking the | 2100 |
|
resources through long-term contracts. Additionally, the | 2101 |
|
commission shall consider the availability of renewable energy or | 2102 |
|
solar energy resources in this state and other jurisdictions in | 2103 |
|
the PJM interconnection regional transmission organization or its | 2104 |
|
successor and the midwest system operator or its successor. | 2105 |
| (c) If, pursuant to division (C)(4)(b) of this section, the | 2106 |
|
commission determines that renewable energy or solar energy | 2107 |
|
resources are not reasonably available to permit the electric | 2108 |
|
distribution utility or electric services company to comply, | 2109 |
|
during the period of review, with the subject minimum benchmark | 2110 |
|
prescribed under division (B)(2) of this section, the commission | 2111 |
|
shall modify that compliance obligation of the utility or company | 2112 |
|
as it determines appropriate to accommodate the finding. | 2113 |
|
Commission modification shall not automatically reduce the | 2114 |
|
obligation for the electric distribution utility's or electric | 2115 |
|
services company's compliance in subsequent years. If it modifies | 2116 |
|
the electric distribution utility or electric services company | 2117 |
|
obligation under division (C)(4)(c) of this section, the | 2118 |
|
commission may require the utility or company, if sufficient | 2119 |
|
renewable energy resource credits exist in the marketplace, to | 2120 |
|
acquire additional renewable energy resource credits in subsequent | 2121 |
|
years equivalent to the utility's or company's modified obligation | 2122 |
|
under division (C)(4)(c) of this section. | 2123 |
| (5) The commission shall establish a process to provide for
| 2124 |
|
at least an annual review of the alternative energy resource | 2125 |
|
market in this
state and in the service territories of the | 2126 |
|
regional transmission
organizations that manage transmission | 2127 |
|
systems located in this
state. The commission shall use the | 2128 |
|
results of this study to
identify any needed changes to the | 2129 |
|
amount of the renewable
energy
compliance payment specified | 2130 |
|
under divisions (C)(2)(a) and (b) of
this
section. | 2131 |
|
Specifically, the commission may increase the
amount
to
ensure | 2132 |
|
that payment of compliance payments is not used
to
achieve
| 2133 |
|
compliance with this section in lieu of actually
acquiring or
| 2134 |
|
realizing
energy derived from renewable energy
resources.
| 2135 |
|
However, if the
commission
finds that the amount of
the
| 2136 |
|
compliance payment should
be
otherwise changed, the
commission
| 2137 |
|
shall present this finding
to
the general assembly
for
| 2138 |
|
legislative enactment. | 2139 |
| (D)(1) The commission annually shall submit to the general
| 2140 |
|
assembly in accordance with section 101.68 of the Revised Code a
| 2141 |
|
report describing the compliance of electric distribution
| 2142 |
|
utilities and electric services companies with division (B) of
| 2143 |
|
this section and any strategy for
utility and company compliance
| 2144 |
|
or for encouraging the use of
alternative
energy resources
in | 2145 |
|
supplying
this state's electricity needs in
a manner
that
| 2146 |
|
considers
available technology, costs, job creation,
and
| 2147 |
|
economic
impacts. The commission shall allow and consider
| 2148 |
|
public
comments
on the report prior to its submission to the
| 2149 |
|
general
assembly.
Nothing in the report shall be binding on any
| 2150 |
|
person,
including
any utility or company for the purpose of its | 2151 |
|
compliance
with any
benchmark
under division (B) of this | 2152 |
|
section, or the
enforcement
of that
provision under division | 2153 |
|
(C) of this section. | 2154 |
| Sec. 4928.65. An electric distribution utility or electric
| 2166 |
|
services company may use
renewable energy credits any time in
the | 2167 |
|
five calendar years following the date of their purchase or | 2168 |
|
acquisition from any
entity, including, but not limited to, a | 2169 |
|
mercantile customer or an owner or operator of a hydroelectric | 2170 |
|
generating facility that is located at a dam on a river, or on any | 2171 |
|
water discharged to a river, that is
within or bordering this | 2172 |
|
state or within or bordering an adjoining
state, for
the
| 2173 |
|
purpose of complying with the
renewable energy
and solar
energy
| 2174 |
|
resource
requirements of
division (B)(2) of
section
4928.64 of
| 2175 |
|
the Revised
Code. The
public
utilities
commission
shall adopt
| 2176 |
|
rules
specifying that
one unit of
credit shall
equal one
| 2177 |
|
megawatt
hour
of
electricity derived
from
renewable energy
| 2178 |
|
resources. The
rules
also shall provide
for
this state a
| 2179 |
|
system
of
registering
renewable energy
credits
by specifying
| 2180 |
|
which of
any
generally
available
registries
shall be used for
| 2181 |
|
that
purpose and
not by
creating
a
registry. That selected | 2182 |
|
system
of
registering
renewable energy credits shall allow a | 2183 |
|
hydroelectric
generating
facility to be eligible for obtaining | 2184 |
|
renewable energy
credits
and shall allow customer-sited projects | 2185 |
|
or actions the
broadest
opportunities to be eligible for | 2186 |
|
obtaining renewable
energy
credits. | 2187 |
| Sec. 4928.66. (A)(1)(a) Beginning in 2009, an electric
| 2188 |
|
distribution
utility
shall implement
energy efficiency programs | 2189 |
|
that achieve
energy savings equivalent to at least three-tenths | 2190 |
|
of one per cent
of the total, annual average, and normalized | 2191 |
|
kilowatt-hour sales of the electric distribution utility during | 2192 |
|
the preceding three calendar years to customers in this state. The | 2193 |
|
savings requirement, using such a three-year average, shall | 2194 |
|
increase to an additional five-tenths of one per
cent in 2010,
| 2195 |
|
seven-tenths of one per cent in 2011, eight-tenths
of one per | 2196 |
|
cent
in 2012, nine-tenths of one per cent in 2013, one
per cent | 2197 |
|
from
2014 to 2018, and two per cent each year
thereafter, | 2198 |
|
achieving a
cumulative, annual energy savings in excess of
| 2199 |
|
twenty-two
per cent by the end of
2025. | 2200 |
| (c) Compliance with divisions (A)(1)(a) and (b) of this | 2225 |
|
section shall be measured by
including the effects of all | 2226 |
|
demand-response programs for
mercantile customers of the subject | 2227 |
|
electric distribution utility and all such mercantile | 2228 |
|
customer-sited energy efficiency and peak demand reduction | 2229 |
|
programs, adjusted upward by the appropriate loss factors. Any | 2230 |
|
mechanism designed to recover the cost of energy efficiency and | 2231 |
|
peak demand reduction programs under divisions (A)(1)(a) and (b) | 2232 |
|
of this section may exempt mercantile customers that commit their | 2233 |
|
demand-response or other customer-sited capabilities, whether | 2234 |
|
existing or new, for integration into the electric distribution | 2235 |
|
utility's demand-response, energy efficiency, or peak demand | 2236 |
|
reduction programs, if the commission determines that that | 2237 |
|
exemption reasonably encourages such customers to commit those | 2238 |
|
capabilities to those programs. If a mercantile customer makes | 2239 |
|
such existing or new demand-response, energy efficiency, or peak | 2240 |
|
demand reduction capability available to an electric distribution | 2241 |
|
utility pursuant to division (A)(2)(c) of this section, the | 2242 |
|
electric utility's baseline under division (A)(2)(a) of this | 2243 |
|
section shall be adjusted to exclude the effects of all such | 2244 |
|
demand-response, energy efficiency, or peak demand reduction | 2245 |
|
programs that may have existed during the period used to establish | 2246 |
|
the baseline. The baseline also shall be normalized for changes in | 2247 |
|
numbers of customers, sales, weather, peak demand, and other | 2248 |
|
appropriate factors so that the compliance measurement is not | 2249 |
|
unduly influenced by factors outside the control of the electric | 2250 |
|
distribution utility. | 2251 |
| (d) Programs implemented by a utility may include | 2252 |
|
demand-response programs, customer-sited programs, and | 2253 |
|
transmission and distribution infrastructure improvements that | 2254 |
|
reduce line losses. Division (A)(2)(c) of this section shall be | 2255 |
|
applied to include facilitating efforts by a mercantile customer | 2256 |
|
or group of those customers to offer customer-sited | 2257 |
|
demand-response, energy efficiency, or peak demand reduction | 2258 |
|
capabilities to the electric distribution utility as part of a | 2259 |
|
reasonable arrangement submitted to the commission pursuant to | 2260 |
|
section 4905.31 of the Revised Code. | 2261 |
| (C) If the commission determines, after notice and | 2272 |
|
opportunity for hearing
and based upon its report under division | 2273 |
|
(B) of this section, that
an electric distribution utility has | 2274 |
|
failed to comply with an
energy efficiency or peak demand | 2275 |
|
reduction
requirement of division (A) of
this section, the | 2276 |
|
commission shall
assess a
forfeiture on the
utility as provided | 2277 |
|
under sections
4905.55 to
4905.60 and 4905.64
of the Revised | 2278 |
|
Code, either in
the amount, per day per
undercompliance or | 2279 |
|
noncompliance,
relative to the period of the
report, equal to | 2280 |
|
that prescribed
for
noncompliances under section
4905.54 of the
| 2281 |
|
Revised Code,
or in
an amount equal to the then
existing market
| 2282 |
|
value of one
renewable energy credit per
megawatt hour of | 2283 |
|
undercompliance
or
noncompliance. Revenue from
any forfeiture | 2284 |
|
assessed under this
division shall be deposited to
the credit | 2285 |
|
of the advanced energy
fund created under section
4928.61
of
| 2286 |
|
the Revised Code. | 2287 |
| (D) The commission may establish rules regarding the content | 2288 |
|
of an application by an electric distribution utility for | 2289 |
|
commission approval of a revenue decoupling mechanism under this | 2290 |
|
division. Such an application shall not be considered an | 2291 |
|
application to increase rates and may be included as part of a | 2292 |
|
proposal to establish, continue, or expand energy efficiency or | 2293 |
|
conservation programs. The commission by order may approve an | 2294 |
|
application under this division if it determines both that the | 2295 |
|
revenue decoupling mechanism provides for the recovery of revenue | 2296 |
|
that otherwise may be foregone by the utility as a result of or in | 2297 |
|
connection with the implementation by the electric distribution | 2298 |
|
utility of any energy efficiency or energy conservation programs | 2299 |
|
and reasonably aligns the interests of the utility and of its | 2300 |
|
customers in favor of those programs. | 2301 |
| Sec. 4928.68. To the extent permitted by federal law, the | 2381 |
|
public
utilities commission shall adopt
rules establishing | 2382 |
|
greenhouse
gas emission reporting requirements,
including | 2383 |
|
participation in
the climate registry,
and carbon
dioxide | 2384 |
|
control
planning requirements
for each electric
generating
| 2385 |
|
facility
that is located in this
state, is owned or operated by | 2386 |
|
a public
utility that is subject to
the commission's | 2387 |
|
jurisdiction, and
emits greenhouse
gases,
including facilities | 2388 |
|
in operation on
the effective date of
this
section. | 2389 |
| (A)
"Alternative rate plan" means a method, alternate to the | 2399 |
|
method of section 4909.15 of the Revised Code, for establishing | 2400 |
|
rates and
charges, under
which rates and charges may be | 2401 |
|
established for a commodity sales service or
ancillary service | 2402 |
|
that
is not exempt pursuant to section 4929.04 of the Revised Code | 2403 |
|
or for a distribution service.
Alternative rate plans may | 2404 |
|
include, but are not
limited to, methods that provide adequate and | 2405 |
|
reliable natural gas services
and goods in this state; minimize | 2406 |
|
the costs and time expended in the
regulatory process; tend to | 2407 |
|
assess the costs of any natural gas service or
goods to the | 2408 |
|
entity, service, or goods that cause such costs to be incurred; | 2409 |
|
afford rate stability; promote and reward efficiency, quality of | 2410 |
service, or
cost containment by a natural gas company; or provide | 2411 |
|
sufficient flexibility
and incentives to the natural gas industry | 2412 |
|
to achieve high quality,
technologically advanced, and readily | 2413 |
|
available natural gas services and goods
at just and reasonable | 2414 |
|
rates and charges; or establish revenue decoupling mechanisms. | 2415 |
|
Alternative rate plans also may
include, but
are not limited to, | 2416 |
|
automatic adjustments based on a specified
index or changes in a | 2417 |
|
specified cost or costs. | 2418 |
| (2) A not-for-profit customer that consumes, other than for | 2482 |
|
residential use, more than five hundred thousand cubic feet of | 2483 |
|
natural gas per year at a single location within this state or | 2484 |
|
consumes natural gas, other than for residential use, as
part of | 2485 |
|
an undertaking having more than three locations within or
outside | 2486 |
|
this state may file a declaration under division (L)(2) of
this | 2487 |
|
section with the public utilities commission. The
declaration | 2488 |
|
shall take effect upon the date of filing, and by
virtue of the | 2489 |
|
declaration, the customer is not a mercantile
customer for the | 2490 |
|
purposes of this section and sections 4929.20 to
4929.29 of the | 2491 |
|
Revised Code or the purposes of a governmental
natural gas | 2492 |
|
aggregation or arrangement or other contract entered
into after | 2493 |
|
the declaration's effective date for the supply or
arranging of | 2494 |
|
the supply of natural gas to the customer to a
location within | 2495 |
|
this state. The customer may file a rescission of
the declaration | 2496 |
|
with the commission at any time. The rescission
shall not affect | 2497 |
|
any governmental natural gas aggregation or
arrangement or other | 2498 |
|
contract entered into by the customer prior
to the date of the | 2499 |
|
filing of the rescission and shall have effect
only with respect | 2500 |
|
to any subsequent such aggregation or
arrangement or other | 2501 |
|
contract. The commission shall prescribe
rules under section | 2502 |
|
4929.10 of the Revised Code specifying the
form of the declaration | 2503 |
|
or a rescission and procedures by which a
declaration or | 2504 |
|
rescission may be filed. | 2505 |
| (N)
"Retail natural gas supplier" means any person, as | 2509 |
|
defined in section 1.59 of the Revised Code, that is engaged on a | 2510 |
|
for-profit or
not-for-profit basis in the business of supplying or | 2511 |
|
arranging for
the supply of a competitive retail natural gas | 2512 |
|
service to
consumers in this state that are not mercantile | 2513 |
|
customers.
"Retail natural gas supplier" includes a
marketer, | 2514 |
|
broker, or aggregator, but excludes a natural gas
company, a | 2515 |
|
governmental aggregator as defined in division (K)(1) or (2) of | 2516 |
|
this section, an entity described in division (B) or
(C) of | 2517 |
|
section 4905.02 of the Revised Code, or a billing or
collection | 2518 |
|
agent, and excludes a producer or gatherer of gas to
the extent | 2519 |
|
such producer or gatherer is not a natural gas company
under | 2520 |
|
section 4905.03 of the Revised Code. | 2521 |
| Sec. 4929.051. An alternative rate plan filed by a natural | 2577 |
|
gas company under section 4929.05 of the Revised Code and | 2578 |
|
proposing a revenue decoupling mechanism may be an application not | 2579 |
|
for an increase in rates if the rates, joint rates, tolls, | 2580 |
|
classifications, charges, or rentals are based upon the billing | 2581 |
|
determinants and revenue requirement authorized by the public | 2582 |
|
utilities commission in the company's most recent rate case | 2583 |
|
proceeding and the plan also establishes, continues, or expands an | 2584 |
|
energy efficiency or energy conservation program. | 2585 |
| Section 5. The Governor's Energy Advisor periodically shall | 2601 |
|
submit a written report to the General Assembly pursuant to | 2602 |
|
section 101.68 of the Revised Code and report in person to and as | 2603 |
|
requested by the standing committees of the House of | 2604 |
|
Representatives and the Senate that have primary responsibility | 2605 |
|
for energy efficiency and conservation issues regarding | 2606 |
|
initiatives undertaken by the Advisor and state government | 2607 |
|
pursuant to numbered paragraphs 3 and 4 of Executive Order | 2608 |
|
2007-02S, "Coordinating Ohio Energy Policy and State Energy | 2609 |
|
Utilization. The first written report shall be submitted not later | 2610 |
|
than sixty days after the effective date of this act. | 2611 |