To amend sections 4928.20, 4928.64, 4928.65, and 4928.66 and to enact sections 4928.641 and 4928.661 of the Revised Code to make changes to the renewable energy, energy efficiency, and peak demand reduction requirements and to create a study committee.

Section 1.  That sections 4928.20, 4928.64, 4928.65, and 4928.66 be amended and sections 4928.641 and 4928.661 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 4928.20.  (A) The legislative authority of a municipal corporation may adopt an ordinance, or the board of township trustees of a township or the board of county commissioners of a county may adopt a resolution, under which, on or after the starting date of competitive retail electric service, it may aggregate in accordance with this section the retail electrical loads located, respectively, within the municipal corporation, township, or unincorporated area of the county and, for that purpose, may enter into service agreements to facilitate for those loads the sale and purchase of electricity. The legislative authority or board also may exercise such authority jointly with any other such legislative authority or board. For customers that are not mercantile customers, an ordinance or resolution under this division shall specify whether the aggregation will occur only with the prior, affirmative consent of each person owning, occupying, controlling, or using an electric load center proposed to be aggregated or will occur automatically for all such persons pursuant to the opt-out requirements of division (D) of this section. The aggregation of mercantile customers shall occur only with the prior, affirmative consent of each such person owning, occupying, controlling, or using an electric load center proposed to be aggregated. Nothing in this division, however, authorizes the aggregation of the retail electric loads of an electric load center, as defined in section 4933.81 of the Revised Code, that is located in the certified territory of a nonprofit electric supplier under sections 4933.81 to 4933.90 of the Revised Code or an electric load center served by transmission or distribution facilities of a municipal electric utility.

(B) If an ordinance or resolution adopted under division (A) of this section specifies that aggregation of customers that are not mercantile customers will occur automatically as described in that division, the ordinance or resolution shall direct the board of elections to submit the question of the authority to aggregate to the electors of the respective municipal corporation, township, or unincorporated area of a county at a special election on the day of the next primary or general election in the municipal corporation, township, or county. The legislative authority or board shall certify a copy of the ordinance or resolution to the board of elections not less than ninety days before the day of the special election. No ordinance or resolution adopted under division (A) of this section that provides for an election under this division shall take effect unless approved by a majority of the electors voting upon the ordinance or resolution at the election held pursuant to this division.

(C) Upon the applicable requisite authority under divisions (A) and (B) of this section, the legislative authority or board shall develop a plan of operation and governance for the aggregation program so authorized. Before adopting a plan under this division, the legislative authority or board shall hold at least two public hearings on the plan. Before the first hearing, the legislative authority or board shall publish notice of the hearings once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the jurisdiction or as provided in section 7.16 of the Revised Code. The notice shall summarize the plan and state the date, time, and location of each hearing.

(D) No legislative authority or board, pursuant to an ordinance or resolution under divisions (A) and (B) of this section that provides for automatic aggregation of customers that are not mercantile customers as described in division (A) of this section, shall aggregate the electrical load of any electric load center located within its jurisdiction unless it in advance clearly discloses to the person owning, occupying, controlling, or using the load center that the person will be enrolled automatically in the aggregation program and will remain so enrolled unless the person affirmatively elects by a stated procedure not to be so enrolled. The disclosure shall state prominently the rates, charges, and other terms and conditions of enrollment. The stated procedure shall allow any person enrolled in the aggregation program the opportunity to opt out of the program every three years, without paying a switching fee. Any such person that opts out before the commencement of the aggregation program pursuant to the stated procedure shall default to the standard service offer provided under section 4928.14 or division (D) of section 4928.35 of the Revised Code until the person chooses an alternative supplier.

(E)(1) With respect to a governmental aggregation for a municipal corporation that is authorized pursuant to divisions (A) to (D) of this section, resolutions may be proposed by initiative or referendum petitions in accordance with sections 731.28 to 731.41 of the Revised Code.

(2) With respect to a governmental aggregation for a township or the unincorporated area of a county, which aggregation is authorized pursuant to divisions (A) to (D) of this section, resolutions may be proposed by initiative or referendum petitions in accordance with sections 731.28 to 731.40 of the Revised Code, except that:

(a) The petitions shall be filed, respectively, with the township fiscal officer or the board of county commissioners, who shall perform those duties imposed under those sections upon the city auditor or village clerk.

(b) The petitions shall contain the signatures of not less than ten per cent of the total number of electors in, respectively, the township or the unincorporated area of the county who voted for the office of governor at the preceding general election for that office in that area.

(F) A governmental aggregator under division (A) of this section is not a public utility engaging in the wholesale purchase and resale of electricity, and provision of the aggregated service is not a wholesale utility transaction. A governmental aggregator shall be subject to supervision and regulation by the public utilities commission only to the extent of any competitive retail electric service it provides and commission authority under this chapter.

(G) This section does not apply in the case of a municipal corporation that supplies such aggregated service to electric load centers to which its municipal electric utility also supplies a noncompetitive retail electric service through transmission or distribution facilities the utility singly or jointly owns or operates.

(H) A governmental aggregator shall not include in its aggregation the accounts of any of the following:

(1) A customer that has opted out of the aggregation;

(2) A customer in contract with a certified electric services company;

(3) A customer that has a special contract with an electric distribution utility;

(4) A customer that is not located within the governmental aggregator's governmental boundaries;

(5) Subject to division (C) of section 4928.21 of the Revised Code, a customer who appears on the "do not aggregate" list maintained under that section.

(I) Customers that are part of a governmental aggregation under this section shall be responsible only for such portion of a surcharge under section 4928.144 of the Revised Code that is proportionate to the benefits, as determined by the commission, that electric load centers within the jurisdiction of the governmental aggregation as a group receive. The proportionate surcharge so established shall apply to each customer of the governmental aggregation while the customer is part of that aggregation. If a customer ceases being such a customer, the otherwise applicable surcharge shall apply. Nothing in this section shall result in less than full recovery by an electric distribution utility of any surcharge authorized under section 4928.144 of the Revised Code. Nothing in this section shall result in less than the full and timely imposition, charging, collection, and adjustment by an electric distribution utility, its assignee, or any collection agent, of the phase-in-recovery charges authorized pursuant to a final financing order issued pursuant to sections 4928.23 to 4928.2318 of the Revised Code.

(J) On behalf of the customers that are part of a governmental aggregation under this section and by filing written notice with the public utilities commission, the legislative authority that formed or is forming that governmental aggregation may elect not to receive standby service within the meaning of division (B)(2)(d) of section 4928.143 of the Revised Code from an electric distribution utility in whose certified territory the governmental aggregation is located and that operates under an approved electric security plan under that section. Upon the filing of that notice, the electric distribution utility shall not charge any such customer to whom competitive retail electric generation service is provided by another supplier under the governmental aggregation for the standby service. Any such consumer that returns to the utility for competitive retail electric service shall pay the market price of power incurred by the utility to serve that consumer plus any amount attributable to the utility's cost of compliance with the alternative renewable energy resource provisions of section 4928.64 of the Revised Code to serve the consumer. Such market price shall include, but not be limited to, capacity and energy charges; all charges associated with the provision of that power supply through the regional transmission organization, including, but not limited to, transmission, ancillary services, congestion, and settlement and administrative charges; and all other costs incurred by the utility that are associated with the procurement, provision, and administration of that power supply, as such costs may be approved by the commission. The period of time during which the market price and alternative renewable energy resource amount shall be so assessed on the consumer shall be from the time the consumer so returns to the electric distribution utility until the expiration of the electric security plan. However, if that period of time is expected to be more than two years, the commission may reduce the time period to a period of not less than two years.

(K) The commission shall adopt rules to encourage and promote large-scale governmental aggregation in this state. For that purpose, the commission shall conduct an immediate review of any rules it has adopted for the purpose of this section that are in effect on the effective date of the amendment of this section by S.B. 221 of the 127th general assembly, July 31, 2008. Further, within the context of an electric security plan under section 4928.143 of the Revised Code, the commission shall consider the effect on large-scale governmental aggregation of any nonbypassable generation charges, however collected, that would be established under that plan, except any nonbypassable generation charges that relate to any cost incurred by the electric distribution utility, the deferral of which has been authorized by the commission prior to the effective date of the amendment of this section by S.B. 221 of the 127th general assembly, July 31, 2008.

Sec. 4928.64. (A)(1) As used in sections 4928.64 and 4928.65 of the Revised Code this section, "alternative qualifying renewable energy resource" means an advanced energy resource or a renewable energy resource, as defined in section 4928.01 of the Revised Code that has a placed-in-service date of January 1, 1998, or after; a renewable energy resource created on or after January 1, 1998, by the modification or retrofit of any facility placed in service prior to January 1, 1998; or a mercantile customer-sited advanced energy resource or renewable energy resource, whether new or existing, that the mercantile customer commits for integration into the electric distribution utility's demand-response, energy efficiency, or peak demand reduction programs as provided under division (A)(2)(c) of section 4928.66 of the Revised Code, including, but not limited to, any of the following:

(a) A resource that has the effect of improving the relationship between real and reactive power;

(b) A resource that makes efficient use of waste heat or other thermal capabilities owned or controlled by a mercantile customer;

(c) Storage technology that allows a mercantile customer more flexibility to modify its demand or load and usage characteristics;

(d) Electric generation equipment owned or controlled by a mercantile customer that uses an advanced energy resource or a renewable energy resource;

(e) Any advanced energy resource or renewable energy resource of the mercantile customer that can be utilized effectively as part of any advanced energy resource plan of an electric distribution utility and would otherwise qualify as an alternative energy resource if it were utilized directly by an electric distribution utility.

(2) For the purpose of this section and as it considers appropriate, the public utilities commission may classify any new technology as such an advanced energy resource or a qualifying renewable energy resource.

(B)(1) By 2025 2014 and thereafter, an electric distribution utility shall provide from alternative qualifying renewable energy resources, including, at its discretion, alternative qualifying renewable energy resources obtained pursuant to an electricity supply contract, a portion of the electricity supply required for its standard service offer under section 4928.141 of the Revised Code, and an electric services company shall provide a portion of its electricity supply for retail consumers in this state from alternative qualifying renewable energy resources, including, at its discretion, alternative qualifying renewable energy resources obtained pursuant to an electricity supply contract. That portion shall equal twenty-five two and one-half per cent of the total number of kilowatt hours of electricity sold by the subject utility or company to any and all retail electric consumers whose electric load centers are served by that utility and are located within the utility's certified territory or, in the case of an electric services company, are served by the company and are located within this state. However, nothing in this section precludes a utility or company from providing a greater percentage. The baseline for a utility's or company's compliance with the alternative renewable energy resource requirements of this section shall be the average of such total kilowatt hours it sold in the preceding three calendar years, except that the commission may reduce a utility's or company's baseline to adjust for new economic growth in the utility's certified territory or, in the case of an electric services company, in the company's service area in this state.

Of the alternative energy resources implemented by the subject utility or company by 2025 and thereafter:

(1) Half may be generated from advanced energy resources;

(2) At least half The portion required under division (B)(1) of this section shall be generated from renewable energy resources, including one-half include twelve-hundredths of one per cent from solar energy resources, in accordance with the following benchmarks:

(3) At least one-half of the qualifying renewable energy resources implemented by the utility or company shall be met through facilities located in this state; the remainder shall be met with resources that can be shown to be deliverable into this state.

(C)(1) The commission annually shall review an electric distribution utility's or electric services company's compliance with the most recent applicable benchmark under division requirements under divisions (B)(1) and (2) of this section and, in the course of that review, shall identify any undercompliance or noncompliance of the utility or company that it determines is weather-related, related to equipment or resource shortages for advanced energy or qualifying renewable energy resources as applicable, or is otherwise outside the utility's or company's control.

(2) Subject to the cost cap provisions of division (C)(3) of this section, if the commission determines, after notice and opportunity for hearing, and based upon its findings in that review regarding avoidable undercompliance or noncompliance, but subject to division (C)(4) of this section, that the utility or company has failed to comply with any such benchmark the requirements under divisions (B)(1) and (2) of this section, the commission shall impose a renewable energy compliance payment on the utility or company.

(a) The compliance payment pertaining to the solar energy resource benchmarks requirement under division (B)(2) of this section shall be an amount three hundred dollars per megawatt hour of undercompliance or noncompliance in the period under review, starting at four hundred fifty dollars for 2009, four hundred dollars for 2010 and 2011, and similarly reduced every two years thereafter through 2024 by fifty dollars, to a minimum of fifty dollars.

(b) The compliance payment pertaining to the renewable energy resource benchmarks requirement under division (B)(2)(1) of this section shall equal the number of additional renewable energy credits that the electric distribution utility or electric services company would have needed to comply with the applicable benchmark requirement in the period under review times an amount that shall begin at forty-five dollars and shall be adjusted annually by the commission to reflect any change in the consumer price index as defined in section 101.27 of the Revised Code, but shall not be less than forty-five dollars.

(c) The compliance payment shall not be passed through by the electric distribution utility or electric services company to consumers. The compliance payment shall be remitted to the commission, for deposit to the credit of the advanced energy fund created under section 4928.61 of the Revised Code. Payment of the compliance payment shall be subject to such collection and enforcement procedures as apply to the collection of a forfeiture under sections 4905.55 to 4905.60 and 4905.64 of the Revised Code.

(3) An electric distribution utility or an electric services company need not comply with a benchmark under division (B)(1) or (2) of this section to the extent that its reasonably expected cost of that compliance exceeds its reasonably expected cost of otherwise producing or acquiring the requisite electricity by three per cent or more. The cost of compliance shall be calculated as though any exemption from taxes and assessments had not been granted under section 5727.75 of the Revised Code shall not continue to comply, or be subject to any obligation to continue to comply, in any year, with a requirement under division (B)(1) or (2) of this section, if continued compliance for that year would exceed a cost cap that equals the product of three per cent multiplied by the sales supply amount. The sales supply amount is the product of the sales baseline multiplied by the generation supply dollar amount. For purposes of division (C)(3) of this section:

(a) "Sales baseline" means the sales baseline in megawatt hours for the applicable compliance year, which consists of an average of the utility's or company's annual retail sales of electricity sold in the state from the three preceding years.

(b) "Generation supply dollar amount" means the reasonably expected dollar amount per megawatt hour for the generation supply available to consumers pursuant to section 4928.141 of the Revised Code during the applicable compliance year, which consists of a weighted average of the cost of the standard service offer supply for delivery during that compliance year, net of distribution losses. With respect to an electric services company, generation supply dollar amount means the average weighted cost of generation supply of the relevant electric distribution utility.

(c) In making the calculation under division (C)(3) of this section, any exemption from taxes and assessments granted under section 5727.75 of the Revised Code shall be treated as if it had not been granted.

(4)(a) An electric distribution utility or electric services company may request the commission to make a force majeure determination pursuant to this division regarding all or part of the utility's or company's compliance with any minimum benchmark requirement under division (B)(1) or (2) of this section during the period of review occurring pursuant to division (C)(2) of this section. The commission may require the electric distribution utility or electric services company to make solicitations for renewable energy resource credits as part of its default service before the utility's or company's request of force majeure under this division can be made.

(b) Within ninety days after the filing of a request by an electric distribution utility or electric services company under division (C)(4)(a) of this section, the commission shall determine if qualifying renewable energy resources are reasonably available in the marketplace in sufficient quantities for the utility or company to comply with the subject minimum benchmark requirement during the review period. In making this determination, the commission shall consider whether the electric distribution utility or electric services company has made a good faith effort to acquire sufficient qualifying renewable energy or, as applicable, solar energy resources to so comply, including, but not limited to, by banking or seeking renewable energy resource credits or by seeking the resources through long-term contracts. Additionally, the commission shall consider the availability of qualifying renewable energy or solar energy resources in this state and other jurisdictions in the PJM interconnection regional transmission organization or its successor and the midwest midcontinent independent system operator or its successor.

(c) If, pursuant to division (C)(4)(b) of this section, the commission determines that qualifying renewable energy or solar energy resources are not reasonably available to permit the electric distribution utility or electric services company to comply, during the period of review, with the subject minimum benchmark requirements prescribed under division divisions (B)(1) and (2) of this section, the commission shall modify that compliance obligation of the utility or company as it determines appropriate to accommodate the finding. Commission modification shall not automatically reduce the obligation for the electric distribution utility's or electric services company's compliance in subsequent years. If it modifies the electric distribution utility or electric services company obligation under division (C)(4)(c) of this section, the commission may require the utility or company, if sufficient renewable energy resource credits exist in the marketplace, to acquire additional renewable energy resource credits in subsequent years equivalent to the utility's or company's modified obligation under division (C)(4)(c) of this section.

(5) The commission shall establish a process to provide for at least an annual review of the alternative renewable energy resource market in this state and in the service territories of the regional transmission organizations that manage transmission systems located in this state. The commission shall use the results of this study to identify any needed changes to the amount of the renewable energy compliance payment specified under divisions (C)(2)(a) and (b) of this section. Specifically, the commission may increase the amount to ensure that payment of compliance payments is not used to achieve compliance with this section in lieu of actually acquiring or realizing energy derived from qualifying renewable energy resources. However, if the commission finds that the amount of the compliance payment should be otherwise changed, the commission shall present this finding to the general assembly for legislative enactment.

(D)(1) The commission annually shall submit to the general assembly in accordance with section 101.68 of the Revised Code a report describing all of the following:

(a)(1) The compliance of electric distribution utilities and electric services companies with division (B) of this section;

(b)(2) The average annual cost of renewable energy credits purchased by utilities and companies for the year covered in the report;

(c)(3) Any strategy for utility and company compliance or for encouraging the use of alternative qualifying renewable energy resources in supplying this state's electricity needs in a manner that considers available technology, costs, job creation, and economic impacts.

The commission shall begin providing the information described in division (D)(1)(b)(2) of this section in each report submitted after the effective date of the amendment of this section by S.B. 315 of the 129th general assembly September 10, 2012. The commission shall allow and consider public comments on the report prior to its submission to the general assembly. Nothing in the report shall be binding on any person, including any utility or company for the purpose of its compliance with any benchmark requirement under division (B) of this section, or the enforcement of that provision under division (C) of this section.

(2) The governor, in consultation with the commission chairperson, shall appoint an alternative energy advisory committee. The committee shall examine available technology for and related timetables, goals, and costs of the alternative energy resource requirements under division (B) of this section and shall submit to the commission a semiannual report of its recommendations.

(E) All costs incurred by an electric distribution utility in complying with the requirements of this section shall be bypassable by any consumer that has exercised choice of supplier under section 4928.03 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 4928.641. If an electric distribution utility has executed a contract to procure renewable energy resources and there are ongoing costs associated with that contract that are being recovered from customers through a bypassable charge as of the effective date of ...B... of the 130th general assembly, that cost recovery shall continue until the costs associated with the contract are fully recovered. This division applies regardless of whether the utility has, in any year, met the cost cap under division (C)(3) of section 4928.64 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 4928.65. An electric distribution utility or electric services company may use renewable energy credits any time in the five calendar years following the date of their purchase or acquisition from any entity, including, but not limited to, a mercantile customer or an owner or operator of a hydroelectric generating facility that is located at a dam on a river, or on any water discharged to a river, that is within or bordering this state or within or bordering an adjoining state, for the purpose of complying with the renewable energy and solar energy resource requirements of division divisions (B)(1) and (2) of section 4928.64 of the Revised Code. The public utilities commission shall adopt rules specifying that one unit of credit shall equal one megawatt hour of electricity derived from renewable energy resources, except that, for a generating facility of seventy-five megawatts or greater that is situated within this state and has committed by December 31, 2009, to modify or retrofit its generating unit or units to enable the facility to generate principally from biomass energy by June 30, 2013, each megawatt hour of electricity generated principally from that biomass energy shall equal, in units of credit, the product obtained by multiplying the actual percentage of biomass feedstock heat input used to generate such megawatt hour by the quotient obtained by dividing the then existing unit dollar amount used to determine a renewable energy compliance payment as provided under division (C)(2)(b) of section 4928.64 of the Revised Code by the then existing market value of one renewable energy credit, but such megawatt hour shall not equal less than one unit of credit. The rules also shall provide for this state a system of registering renewable energy credits by specifying which of any generally available registries shall be used for that purpose and not by creating a registry. That selected system of registering renewable energy credits shall allow a hydroelectric generating facility to be eligible for obtaining renewable energy credits and shall allow customer-sited projects or actions the broadest opportunities to be eligible for obtaining renewable energy credits.

Sec. 4928.66. (A)(1)(a) Beginning in 2009, an electric distribution utility shall implement energy efficiency programs that achieve energy savings equivalent to at least three-tenths of one per cent of the total, annual average, and normalized kilowatt-hour sales of the electric distribution utility during the preceding three calendar years to customers in this state. An energy efficiency program may include a combined heat and power system placed into service or retrofitted on or after the effective date of the amendment of this section by S.B. 315 of the 129th general assembly, September 10, 2012, or a waste energy recovery system placed into service or retrofitted on or after the same date September 10, 2012, except that a waste energy recovery system described in division (A)(38)(b) of section 4928.01 of the Revised Code may be included only if it was placed into service between January 1, 2002, and December 31, 2004. For a waste energy recovery or combined heat and power system, the savings shall be as estimated by the public utilities commission. The savings requirement, using such a three-year average, shall increase to an additional five-tenths of one per cent in 2010, seven-tenths of one per cent in 2011, eight-tenths of one per cent in 2012, nine-tenths of one per cent in 2013, and one per cent from in 2014 to 2018,. In 2015 and two per cent each year thereafter, achieving a cumulative, the annual energy savings in excess of twenty-two requirement shall be four and two-tenths of one per cent by the end of 2025 of the baseline described in division (A)(2)(a) of this section for energy savings. For purposes of a waste energy recovery or combined heat and power system, an electric distribution utility shall not apply more than the total annual percentage of the electric distribution utility's industrial-customer load, relative to the electric distribution utility's total load, to the annual energy savings requirement.

(b) Beginning in 2009, an electric distribution utility shall implement peak demand reduction programs designed to achieve a one per cent reduction in peak demand in 2009 and an additional seventy-five hundredths of one per cent reduction each year through 2018 2014. In 2018, the standing committees in the house of representatives and the senate primarily dealing with energy issues shall make recommendations to the general assembly regarding future peak demand reduction targets.

(2) For the purposes of divisions (A)(1)(a) and (b) of this section:

(a) The baseline for energy savings under division (A)(1)(a) of this section shall be the average of the total kilowatt hours the electric distribution utility sold in the preceding three calendar years, and the baseline for a peak demand reduction under division (A)(1)(b) of this section shall be the average peak demand on the utility in the preceding three calendar years, except that the commission may reduce either baseline to adjust for new economic growth in the utility's certified territory.

(b) The commission may amend the benchmarks set forth in division (A)(1)(a) or (b) of this section if, after application by the electric distribution utility, the commission determines that the amendment is necessary because the utility cannot reasonably achieve the benchmarks due to regulatory, economic, or technological reasons beyond its reasonable control.

(c) Compliance with divisions (A)(1)(a) and (b) of this section shall be measured by including the effects of all demand-response programs for mercantile customers of the subject electric distribution utility, all waste energy recovery systems and all combined heat and power systems, and all such mercantile customer-sited energy efficiency, including waste energy recovery and combined heat and power, and peak demand reduction programs, adjusted upward by the appropriate loss factors. Any mechanism designed to recover the cost of energy efficiency, including waste energy recovery and combined heat and power, and peak demand reduction programs under divisions (A)(1)(a) and (b) of this section may exempt mercantile customers that commit their demand-response or other customer-sited capabilities, whether existing or new, for integration into the electric distribution utility's demand-response, energy efficiency, including waste energy recovery and combined heat and power, or peak demand reduction programs, if the commission determines that that exemption reasonably encourages such customers to commit those capabilities to those programs. If a mercantile customer makes such existing or new demand-response, energy efficiency, including waste energy recovery and combined heat and power, or peak demand reduction capability available to an electric distribution utility pursuant to division (A)(2)(c) of this section, the electric utility's baseline under division (A)(2)(a) of this section shall be adjusted to exclude the effects of all such demand-response, energy efficiency, including waste energy recovery and combined heat and power, or peak demand reduction programs that may have existed during the period used to establish the baseline. The baseline also shall be normalized for changes in numbers of customers, sales, weather, peak demand, and other appropriate factors so that the compliance measurement is not unduly influenced by factors outside the control of the electric distribution utility.

(d) Programs implemented by a utility may include demand-response programs grid investment programs, provided that such programs are demonstrated to be cost-beneficial, customer-sited programs, including waste energy recovery and combined heat and power systems, and transmission and distribution infrastructure improvements that reduce line losses. Division (A)(2)(c) of this section shall be applied to include facilitating efforts by a mercantile customer or group of those customers to offer customer-sited demand-response, energy efficiency, including waste energy recovery and combined heat and power, or peak demand reduction capabilities to the electric distribution utility as part of a reasonable arrangement submitted to the commission pursuant to section 4905.31 of the Revised Code.

(e) No programs or improvements described in division (A)(2)(d) of this section shall conflict with any statewide building code adopted by the board of building standards.

(B) In accordance with rules it shall adopt, the public utilities commission shall produce and docket at the commission an annual report containing the results of its verification of the annual levels of energy efficiency and of peak demand reductions achieved by each electric distribution utility pursuant to division (A) of this section. A copy of the report shall be provided to the consumers' counsel.

(C) If the commission determines, after notice and opportunity for hearing and based upon its report under division (B) of this section, that an electric distribution utility has failed to comply with an energy efficiency or peak demand reduction requirement of division (A) of this section, the commission shall assess a forfeiture on the utility as provided under sections 4905.55 to 4905.60 and 4905.64 of the Revised Code, either in the amount, per day per undercompliance or noncompliance, relative to the period of the report, equal to that prescribed for noncompliances under section 4905.54 of the Revised Code, or in an amount equal to the then existing market value of one renewable energy credit per megawatt hour of undercompliance or noncompliance. Revenue from any forfeiture assessed under this division shall be deposited to the credit of the advanced energy fund created under section 4928.61 of the Revised Code.

(D) The commission may establish rules regarding the content of an application by an electric distribution utility for commission approval of a revenue decoupling mechanism under this division. Such an application shall not be considered an application to increase rates and may be included as part of a proposal to establish, continue, or expand energy efficiency or conservation programs. The commission by order may approve an application under this division if it determines both that the revenue decoupling mechanism provides for the recovery of revenue that otherwise may be forgone by the utility as a result of or in connection with the implementation by the electric distribution utility of any energy efficiency or energy conservation programs and reasonably aligns the interests of the utility and of its customers in favor of those programs.

(E) The commission additionally shall adopt rules that require an electric distribution utility to provide a customer upon request with two years' consumption data in an accessible form.

Sec. 4928.661.  (A) Not later than January 1, 2015, the public utilities commission shall adopt rules governing the disclosure of the costs to customers of the renewable energy resource and energy efficiency savings requirements of sections 4928.64 and 4928.66 of the Revised Code. The rules shall include both of the following requirements:

(1) That every electric distribution utility list, on all customer bills, the cost to each individual customer of the utility's compliance with both of the following for the applicable billing period:

(a) The renewable energy resource requirements under section 4928.64 of the Revised Code;

(b) The energy efficiency savings requirements under section 4928.66 of the Revised Code.

(2) That every electric services company list, on all customer bills, the cost to each individual customer of the company's compliance with the renewable energy resource requirements under section 4928.64 of the Revised Code for the applicable billing period.

(B) The costs required to be listed under division (A)(1) of this section shall be listed on each customer's monthly bill as two distinct line items. The cost required to be listed under division (A)(2) of this section shall be listed on each customer's monthly bill as a distinct line item.

Section 2.  That existing sections 4928.20, 4928.64, 4928.65, and 4928.66 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.

Section 3. (A) There is hereby created the Energy Mandates Study Committee to study Ohio's renewable energy, energy efficiency, and peak demand reduction mandates. The Committee shall consist of the following members:

(1) Five members of the House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, with not more than three members from the same political party;

(2) Five members of the Senate appointed by the President of the Senate, with not more than three members from the same political party;

(3) The Chairperson of the Public Utilities Commission;

(4) The Ohio Consumers' Counsel;

(5) Two representatives from different electric distribution utilities, as defined in section 4928.01 of the Revised Code, one of whom shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and one of whom shall be appointed by the President of the Senate;

(6) One representative from an electric services company, as defined in section 4928.01 of the Revised Code, jointly appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate;

(7) One representative from an advocacy group that focuses on issues related to environmental preservation or the promotion of clean energy, appointed by the Governor;

(8) One representative from an advocacy group that focuses on business issues for manufacturers in this state, appointed by the President of the Senate;

(9) One representative of industrial customers described in division (A)(19) of section 4928.01 of the Revised Code, appointed by the President of the Senate;

(10) One representative of the small business community, appointed by the President of the Senate;

(11) One representative of the large business community, appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives;

(12) One representative of residential consumers, as defined in section 4911.01 of the Revised Code, appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

(B) The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate shall each appoint one legislative member of the Committee to serve as a cochairperson of the Committee. Any vacancies that occur on the Committee shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment.

(C) Not later than December 15, 2015, the Committee shall submit a report of its findings to the House of Representatives and the Senate in accordance with division (B) of section 101.68 of the Revised Code. The Committee shall cease to exist on December 16, 2015. The report shall include, at a minimum, all of the following:

(1) A cost-benefit analysis of the renewable energy, energy efficiency, and peak demand reduction mandates, including the projected impact on electric customers if the mandates were to remain at the percentage levels required for 2014, and the projected impact on electric customers if the mandates were to return to the percentage levels required under sections 4928.64 and 4928.66 of the Revised Code as those sections existed prior to the effective date of this section;

(2) A recommendation of the best, evidence-based standard for reviewing the mandates in the future, including an examination of readily available technology to attain such a standard;

(3) The potential effects of an opt-in system for the mandates, in contrast to an opt-out system for the mandates, and a recommendation as to whether an opt-in system should apply to all electric customers, whether an opt-out system should apply to only industrial customers, or whether a hybrid of these two systems is recommended.

Section 4. As used in Sections 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 of this act:

(A) "Customer" means any retail customer of an electric distribution utility to which either of the following applies:

(1) The retail customer receives service above the primary voltage level as determined by the utility's tariff classification.

(2) The retail customer is a commercial or industrial customer to which both of the following apply:

(a) The retail customer receives electricity through a meter of an end user or through more than one meter at a single location in a quantity that exceeds forty-five million kilowatt hours of electricity for the preceding calendar year.

(b) The retail customer has made a written request for registration as a self-assessing purchaser pursuant to section 5727.81 of the Revised Code.

(B) "Electric distribution utility" has the same meaning as in section 4928.01 of the Revised Code.

(C) "Portfolio plan" means the comprehensive energy efficiency and peak-demand reduction program portfolio plan required under rules adopted by the Public Utilities Commission and codified in Chapter 4901:1-39 of the Administrative Code or hereafter recodified or amended.

Section 5. (A) If an electric distribution utility has a portfolio plan that is in effect on the effective date of this section, the utility shall do either of the following, at its sole discretion:

(1) Continue to implement the portfolio plan with no amendments to the plan, for the duration that the Public Utilities Commission originally approved, subject to divisions (D) and (E) of this section;

(2) Seek an amendment of the portfolio plan under division (B) of this section.

(B)(1) An electric distribution utility that seeks to amend its portfolio plan under division (A)(2) of this section shall file an application with the Commission to amend the plan not later than thirty days after the effective date of this section. The Commission shall review the application in accordance with its rules as if the application were for a new portfolio plan. The Commission shall review and approve, or modify and approve, the application not later than sixty days after the date that the application is filed. Any portfolio plan amended under this division shall expire on December 31, 2016.

(2) Section 4928.66 of the Revised Code, as amended by this act, shall apply to an electric distribution utility that seeks to amend its portfolio plan under division (B) of this section.

(C) If an electric distribution utility fails to file an application to amend its portfolio plan under division (B) of this section within the required thirty-day period, the electric distribution utility shall proceed in accordance with division (A)(1) of this section.

(D) If an electric distribution utility implements its portfolio plan under division (A)(1) of this section for the plan's original duration and if the plan expires before December 31, 2016, the Commission shall automatically extend the plan through December 31, 2016, with no amendments to the plan.

(E)(1) The provisions of section 4928.66 of the Revised Code, as it existed prior to the effective date of this section, shall apply to an electric distribution utility that has a portfolio plan that is implemented under division (A)(1) of this section for either of the following time periods:

(a) The plan's original duration;

(b) The plan's original duration and then, until December 31, 2016, if the plan is extended under division (D) of this section.

(2) Beginning January 1, 2017, the provisions of section 4928.66 of the Revised Code as amended by this act shall apply to the electric distribution utility.

Section 6. (A) The Public Utilities Commission shall neither review nor approve an application for a portfolio plan if the application is pending on the effective date of this section.

(B) Prior to January 1, 2017, the Commission shall not take any action with regard to any portfolio plan or application regarding a portfolio plan except those actions expressly authorized or required by Section 5 of this act.

Section 7. A customer of an electric distribution utility may opt out of the opportunity and ability to obtain direct benefits from the utility's portfolio plan that is amended under division (B) of Section 5 of this act. The opt out shall apply only to the amended plan. The opt out shall extend to all of the customer's accounts, irrespective of the size or service voltage level that are associated with the activities performed by the customer and that are located on or adjacent to the customer's premises.

Section 8. Any customer electing to opt out under Section 7 of this act shall do so by providing a written notice of intent to opt out to the electric distribution utility from which it receives service and submitting a complete copy of the opt-out notice to the Secretary of the Public Utilities Commission.

The notice provided to the utility shall include all of the following:

(A) A statement indicating that the customer has elected to opt out;

(B) The effective date of the election to opt out;

(C) The account number for each customer account to which the opt out may apply;

(D) The physical location of the customer's load center;

(E) The date upon which the customer established or plans to establish a process and implement cost-effective measures to improve its energy efficiency savings.

Section 9. Upon a customer's election to opt out under Section 7 of this act, no account properly identified under division (C) of Section 8 of this act shall be subject to any cost recovery mechanism under section 4928.66 of the Revised Code, as amended by this act, for the duration of the amended portfolio plan or eligible to participate in, or directly benefit from, programs arising from the amended portfolio plan. This section shall not be interpreted to exempt such an account from any other cost recovery mechanism, including any cost recovery mechanism associated with the renewable energy resource requirements governed by section 4928.64 of the Revised Code.

Section 10. (A) Upon a customer's election to opt out under Section 7 of this act, the customer shall prepare and submit a report to the staff of the Public Utilities Commission. The report shall, for the period that the opt out is in effect, summarize the energy efficiency measures implemented by the customer and identify the cumulative energy efficiency savings achieved. The report shall be filed not later than January 1, 2017.

(B) Upon submission of the report, the staff of the Commission may request the customer to provide additional information on the measures adopted by the customer and the amount of energy efficiency savings achieved during the period covered by the report.

(C) All information contained in a report submitted under this section and any customer responses to requests for additional information shall be deemed to be confidential, proprietary, and a trade secret. No such information or response shall be publicly divulged without written authorization by the customer or used for any purpose other than to identify the measures adopted by the customer and the quantity of energy efficiency savings achieved by the customer.