Introduced Version
House Bill 2316 History
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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 2316
(By Delegates Cowles, Andes, Householder and Walters)
[Introduced February 13, 2013; referred to the
Committee on Energy, Industry and Labor, Economic
Development and Small Business.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §24-2F-5 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to awarding credits for use of
alternative and renewable energy resources; and to remove
language which sets a ceiling on the percentage of credits
that can be used to meet compliance requirements from the
generation or purchase of electricity generated from natural
gas.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §24-2F-5 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2F. ALTERNATIVE AND RENEWABLE ENERGY PORTFOLIO STANDARD.
§24-2F-5. Alternative and renewable energy portfolio standard;
compliance assessments.
(a) General rule. -- Each electric utility doing business in
this state shall be is required to meet the alternative and renewable energy portfolio standards set forth in this section. In
order to meet these standards, an electric utility each year shall
own an amount of credits equal to a certain percentage of
electricity, as set forth in subsections (c) and (d) of this
section, sold by the electric utility in the preceding year to
retail customers in West Virginia.
(b) Counting of credits towards compliance. -- For the purpose
of determining an electric utility's compliance with the
alternative and renewable energy portfolio standards set forth in
subsections (c) and (d) of this section, each credit shall equal is
equal to one megawatt hour of electricity sold by an electric
utility in the preceding year to retail customers in West Virginia.
Furthermore, A credit may not be used more than once to meet the
requirements of this section. No more than ten percent of the
credits used each year to meet the compliance requirements of this
section may be credits acquired from the generation or purchase of
electricity generated from natural gas. no more than ten percent of
the credits used each year to meet the compliance requirements of
this section may be credits acquired from the generation or
purchase of electricity generated from supercritical technology.
(c) Twenty-five percent by 2025. -- On and after January 1,
2025, an electric utility shall each year own credits in an amount
equal to at least twenty-five percent of the electric energy sold
by the electric utility to retail customers in this state in the preceding calendar year.
(d) Interim portfolio standards. --
(1) For the period beginning January 1, 2015, and ending
December 31, 2019, an electric utility shall each year own credits
in an amount equal to at least ten percent of the electric energy
sold by the electric utility to retail customers in this state in
the preceding calendar year; and
(2) For the period beginning January 1, 2020, and ending
December 31, 2024, an electric utility shall each year own credits
in an amount equal to at least fifteen percent of the electric
energy sold by the electric utility to retail customers in this
state in the preceding calendar year.
(e) Double-counting of credits prohibited. -- Any portion of
electricity generated from an alternative or renewable energy
resource facility that is used to meet another state's alternative
energy, advanced energy, renewable energy or similar energy
portfolio standard may not be used to meet the requirements of this
section. An electric utility that is subject to an alternative
energy, advanced energy, renewable energy or similar energy
portfolio standard in any other state shall list, in the
alternative and renewable energy portfolio standard compliance plan
required under section six of this article, any such requirements
and shall indicate how it satisfied those requirements. The
electric utility shall provide in the annual progress report required under section six of this article any additional
information required by the commission to prevent double-counting
of credits.
(f) Carryover. -- An electric utility may apply any credits
that are in excess of the alternative and renewable energy
portfolio standard in any given year to the requirements for any
future year portfolio standard Provided, That so long as the
electric utility determines to the satisfaction of the commission
that such the credits were in excess of the portfolio standard in
a given year and that such credits have not previously been used
for compliance with a portfolio standard.
(g) Compliance assessments. --
(1) On or after January 1, 2015, and each year thereafter, the
commission shall determine whether each electric utility doing
business in this state is in compliance with this section. If,
after notice and a hearing, the commission determines that an
electric utility has failed to comply with an alternative and
renewable energy portfolio standard, the commission shall impose a
compliance assessment on the electric utility which shall equal
equals at least the lesser of the following:
(A) Fifty dollars multiplied by the number of additional
credits that would be needed to meet an alternative and renewable
energy portfolio standard in a given year; or
(B) Two hundred percent of the average market value of credits sold in a given year multiplied by the number of additional credits
needed to meet the alternative and renewable energy portfolio
standard for that year.
(2) Compliance assessments collected by the commission
pursuant to this subsection shall be deposited into the Alternative
and Renewable Energy Resources Research Fund established in section
eleven of this article.
(h) Force majeure. --
(1) Upon its own initiative or upon the request of an electric
utility, the commission may modify the portfolio standard
requirements of an electric utility in a given year or years or
recommend to the Legislature that the portfolio standard
requirements be eliminated if the commission determines that
alternative or renewable energy resources are not reasonably
available in the marketplace in sufficient quantities for the
electric utility to meet the requirements of this article.
(2) In making its determination, the commission shall consider
whether the electric utility made good faith efforts to acquire
sufficient credits to comply with the requirements of this article.
Such Good faith efforts shall include, but are not limited to,
banking excess credits, seeking credits through competitive
solicitations and seeking to acquire credits through long-term
contracts. The commission shall assess the availability of credits
on the open market. The commission may also require that the electric utility solicit credits before a request for modification
may be granted.
(3) If an electric utility requests a modification of its
portfolio standard requirements, the commission shall make a
determination as to the request within sixty days.
(4) Commission modification of an electric utility's portfolio
standard requirements shall apply only to the portfolio standard in
the year or years modified by the commission. Commission
modification may not automatically reduce an electric utility's
alternative and renewable energy portfolio standard requirements in
future years.
(5) If the commission modifies an electric utility's portfolio
standard requirements, the commission may also require the electric
utility to acquire additional credits in subsequent years
equivalent to the requirements reduced by the commission in
accordance with this subsection.
(i) Termination. -- The provisions of this section shall have
no force and effect after June 30, 2026.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to remove language from the
code that sets a ceiling on the percentage of credits that an
electricity utility can use from the generation or purchase of
electricity generated from natural gas to meet compliance
requirements for use of alternative and renewable energy sources.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.