Renewable resource credits, removal of certain natural gas service laterals, natural gas public utility service in municipalities, and granting rule-making authority

What it does

Summary by the Legislative Reference Bureau, the Legislature's nonpartisan drafting office. It's their wording, not ours.

Under current law, an electric utility or retail electric cooperative (electric provider) is subject to certain requirements for ensuring that, in a given year, a specified percentage of the electricity that the electric provider sells to retail customers or members is renewable energy. Such requirements are commonly referred to as renewable portfolio standards (RPSs). Current law provides that each megawatt hour of renewable energy that an electric provider sells to customers or members creates one credit, which the electric provider may use to comply with an RPS or sell to another electric provider for compliance with an RPS. Current law also requires the Public Service Commission (PSC) to promulgate rules allowing an electric provider, or a customer or member of an electric provider, to create other credits based on the electric provider's, customer's, or member's use of specified sources, but only if the use displaces the use of nonrenewable energy and satisfies other requirements. Like the credits created from sales of renewable energy, the credits under the rules may be used to comply with an RPS. This bill provides that the rules must allow the credits to be created regardless of when the source used to create the credit was placed in service.

Current law also requires a public utility to obtain a certificate from the PSC before the public utility may provide service in a municipality already served by another public utility. This bill creates an exception for natural gas public utilities.

Who's behind it

2 representatives are its authors⁠. All 2 are Republicans.

3 more lawmakers signed on in support⁠.