Relating to solar energy by establishing a community solar facility program

This bill establishes a community solar facility program. Under current law, the Iowa utilities commission (commission) is required to initiate a proceeding to develop a value of solar methodology and rate for eligible distributed generation facilities if petitioned by an electric utility on or after July 1, 2027, or when the statewide distributed generation penetration rate is equal to 5 percent, whichever is earlier. The bill removes the qualifier that requires the commission be petitioned before initiating the proceeding. The bill specifies that “electric utility” for purposes of the bill means a public utility that provides electricity to the public for compensation and is required to be rate-regulated under Code chapter 476. The bill defines “brownfield site” to mean an abandoned, idled, or underutilized industrial or commercial facility where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination. The bill defines “community solar facility” to mean a distributed generation facility that generates electricity through solar panels whereby subscribers may receive bill credits for the electricity generated in proportion to the size of the customer’s subscription. The bill defines “subscriber” to mean a customer of an electric utility who owns at least one share of a subscription to a community solar facility. “Subscriber organization” means a for-profit or nonprofit entity that owns or operates one or more community solar facilities. The bill defines “subscription” to mean a proportional contractual interest in a community solar facility. The bill establishes a community solar facility program to encourage and enhance solar energy generation and the ability of electric public utility customers to participate in and derive benefit from alternate solar energy projects.49. The bill requires an electric utility to review its interconnection processes with community solar facilities to ensure adequacy, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness and to allow an investor-owned electric utility to recover reasonable interconnection costs. The bill directs the interconnection to be the responsibility of the subscriber organization or owner of the community solar facility and not applied to nonparticipating ratepayers. The bill states that interconnection facilities and upgrades funded by the subscriber organization or owner of the community solar facility shall become part of the electric utility’s distribution system for all customers. The bill allows a subscriber to include all of the subscriber’s electricity meters in the community solar facility. The bill provides that a community solar facility may be owned by investors. The bill provides specific procedures and requirements for the administration of bill credits and subscriber information. The bill requires the commission to adopt rules regarding implementation of the bill’s provisions. The bill requires the owner of a community solar facility to have a decommissioning plan, including financial assurances. The bill provides procedures and requirements for the decommissioning of a community solar facility. The bill requires an electric utility to file new or updated tariffs, if applicable, by January 1, 2027, to implement any necessary changes resulting from the bill.