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In July of 2005, Congress passed the Energy Policy Act of 2005. A complex and sweeping law, the act updated and added to the Public Utilities Regulatory Policy Act (PURPA) of 1978. Of the portions pertaining to electric utilities, the purpose of the 1978 law was to encourage conservation, equitable rates for electric customers and optimal efficiency of electric utility facilities. 

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 contains five new standards which must be considered by utilities with annual retail sales greater than 500,000,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh). It is important to understand that PURPA requires that each provision be considered, through analysis of the impact of costs, efficiency or service, but not necessarily adopted. In 2005, Tri-County EMC sold 343,213,124 kWh meaning the cooperative is not required to go through the process of consideration for these new standards. However, the board of directors of Tri-County EMC feel that these standards merit discussion as they relate to cooperative policies and that as a member-owned business, the cooperative leadership places great value on input from our members. 

Therefore, we ask that you review the following five excerpts from the PURPA standards and take advantage of the opportunity to offer suggestions or comments about any or all to the cooperative.

EXCERPTS FROM PURPA

1. Net Metering “Each electric utility shall make available upon request net metering service to any electric consumer that the electric utility serves. The term ‘net metering service’ means service to an electric consumer under which electric energy generated by that electric consumer from an eligible on-site generating facility and delivered to the local distribution facilities may be used to offset electric energy provided by the electric utility to the electric consumer during the applicable billing period.”

2. Fuel Diversity “Each electric utility shall develop a plan to minimize dependence on one fuel source and to ensure that the electric energy it sells to consumers is generated using a diverse range of fuels and technologies, including renewable technologies.”

3. Fossil Fuel Generation Efficiency “Each utility shall develop and implement a ten-year plan to increase the efficiency of its fossil fuel generation.”

4. Smart Metering  “Each utility shall offer each of its customer classes, and provide individual customers upon request, a time-based rate schedule under which the rate charged by the electric utility varies during different time periods and reflects the variance, if any, in the utility’s cost of generating and purchasing electricity at the wholesale level.”

5. Interconnection “Each electric utility should make available, upon request, interconnection service to any electric consumer that the electric utility serves.  . . . The term ‘interconnection’ means service to an electric consumer under which an on-site generating facility on the consumer’s premises shall be connected to the local distribution facilities. Interconnection standards shall be offered based upon the standards developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers: IEEE Standard 1547.”

To submit any comments, questions or suggestions about these five PURPA standards as they relate to Tri-County EMC, you can access the form here. Should you require additional space for your comments, please attach them to the form provided. To ensure consideration, comments should be received by the cooperative no later than September 15, 2006. A report on the results of consideration of these standards by Tri-County EMC’s board of directors will be made at the cooperative’s annual meeting on October 19, 2006 and a summary of the report will be published in a subsequent issue of Current Lines. (43663-01)