SB 474

Under current law, electric utilities and retail electric cooperatives (electric

providers) are required to ensure that, in a given year, a specified percentage of the

electricity that the utility or cooperative sells to customers is renewable energy.

These requirements are commonly referred to as renewable portfolio standards

(RPSs), and they include deadlines that apply to an electric provider's renewable

energy percentage (REP). In general, an electric provider's REP for a particular year

is the percentage that results from dividing the renewable energy sold in year,

augmented by certain credits, by the total electricity sold in that year. For the year

2009, current law prohibited an electric provider from decreasing its REP below its

baseline renewable percentage (BRP), which is defined as the average of the electric

provider's REP for 2001, 2002, and 2003. For the year 2010, current law required

an electric provider to increase its REP at least two percentage points above its BRP.

For the years 2011 to 2014, current law prohibits an electric provider from decreasing

its REP below the percentage required in 2010. For the year 2015, current law

requires an electric provider to increase its REP at least six percentage points above

its BRP, and for each year thereafter, current law prohibits an electric provider from

decreasing its REP below the percentage required in 2015.

This bill creates an exception to the above requirements for the years 2015 and

thereafter. The exception applies to an electric provider whose BRP exceeds 12

percent and whose REP for the year 2014 exceeds 14 percent. Under the bill, an

electric provider who qualifies for the exception must maintain its REP in the years

2015 and thereafter at a level that is at least two percentage points above its BRP.