AB 901

Under this bill, an electric provider may not prohibit an interconnection with a rooftop solar energy system on the basis of the system’s generating capacity if the system’s generating capacity does not exceed 500 kilowatts for a commercial building or 30 kilowatts for a residential building. Under the bill, an electric provider is a public utility that owns or operates a retail electric distribution system, or a retail electric cooperative. The bill provides that, in determining whether a rooftop solar energy system’s generating capacity exceeds those limits, an electric provider may not include the generating capacity, energy storage capacity, or discharge power rating of a battery energy storage system associated with the rooftop solar energy system. The bill also provides that a rooftop solar energy system may not interconnect to electric distribution facilities unless the system includes advanced metering infrastructure and allows for meter aggregation.

The bill requires each electric provider to establish a standardized net metering agreement to be used for all customer-owned rooftop solar energy systems that meet the generating capacity limits described above. The bill applies a number of requirements to such a standardized net metering agreement, including that the electric provider must issue to a customer a credit for any electricity generated by the customer’s rooftop solar energy system that is delivered to the electric power distribution grid. The bill requires that this credit be valued at 100 percent of the retail rate of electricity and applied against the customer’s electric bill in any subsequent month. The bill provides that such credits expire on March 31 of each calendar year, and that any unexpired credits are transferable to a new building owner at the time of sale.

Under the bill, an electric provider may revise a standardized net metering agreement if the adoption rate of rooftop solar energy systems in its service territory exceeds 10 percent in any of the preceding 12 months. The same requirements apply to a revised net metering agreement, except that the value of a credit issued to a customer is 90 percent of the retail rate of electricity. The bill provides that a revised agreement takes effect 60 days after written notice is provided to all customers in the electric provider’s service area.