City of Rock Hill - File #: 09-0337

• File #: 09-0337
• Version: 1
• Type: Communication or Report
• Status: Filed
• File created: 11/18/2009
• In control: City Council
• On agenda: 11/23/2009
• Final action: 11/23/2009
• Title: Hold Public Hearing to consider integrated resource planning, rate design modifications to promote energy efficiency investments, smart grid investments, smart grid information standards, and additional incentives for recovery, use, and prevention of industrial waste energy standards in accordance with the Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) of 1978, as amended by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.

Date	Ver.	Action By	Action	Result
11/23/2009	1	City Council

Title

Hold Public Hearing to consider integrated resource planning, rate design modifications to promote energy efficiency investments, smart grid investments, smart grid information standards, and additional incentives for recovery, use, and prevention of industrial waste energy standards in accordance with the Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) of 1978, as amended by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.

Body

The City is required to consider but not adopt the standards.  The integrated resource planning standard states that each electric utility shall (A) integrate energy efficiency resources into utility, state, and regional plans; and (B) adopt policies establishing cost-effective energy efficiency as a priority resource.  

The rate design modification standard states that the rates allowed to be charged by any electric utility shall (i) align utility incentives with the delivery of cost-effective energy efficiency; and (ii) promote energy efficiency investments.  

The smart grid investments standard states that each State; (A) shall consider requiring that, prior to undertaking investments in nonadvanced grid technologies, an electric utility demonstrate that the electric utility considered an investment in a qualified smart grid system based on appropriate factors; (B) shall consider authorizing each electric utility to recover from ratepayers any capital, operating expenditure, or other costs of the electric utility relating to the deployment of a qualified smart grid system; (C) shall consider authorizing any electric utility to deploy a qualified smart grid system to recover in a timely manner the remaining bookvalue costs of any equipment rendered obsolete by the deployment of the qualified smart grid system.  

The Smart Grid Information standard states that consumers shall be provided direct access to information from their electricity provider to include: (i) time-based electricity prices in the wholesale electricity market; (ii) time-based electricity retail prices or rates that are available to the purchasers; (iii) the number of electricity units, expressed in kwh, purchased by them; (iv) updates of information on prices and usage shall be offered on not less than a daily basis; (v) purchasers and other interested persons shall be provided annually with written information on the sources of the power provided by the utility; (vi) purchasers shall be able to access their own information at any time through the Internet and on other means of communication elected by that utility for Smart Grid applications.  

The industrial waste energy standard states that the utility to consider the purchase of excess power from registered waste energy recovery projects upon either (i) a request by a state regulatory authority or (ii) a request from a project sponsor, owner or operator.