Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, while local publicly owned electric utilities are generally under the direction of their governing boards. Existing law requires each electrical corporation, local publicly owned electric utility, electrical cooperative, or other entity that offers electrical service, except as specified, to develop a standard contract or tariff that provides for net energy metering, which, among other things, compensates each eligible customer-generator, as defined, for the electricity it generated during a preceding 12-month period that exceeds the electricity supplied by the entity through the electrical grid to the eligible customer-generator during that same period, as provided. Existing law requires each entity to make the contract or tariff available to eligible customer-generators, upon request, on a first-come-first-served basis until the time that the total rated generating capacity used by those eligible customer-generators exceeds 5% of the entity’s aggregate customer peak demand, except as specified. Existing law requires the commission to develop an additional standard contract or tariff, which may include net energy metering, for eligible customer-generators that are customers of large electrical corporations, as defined, requires each large electrical corporation to offer this standard contract or tariff to its eligible customer-generators beginning July 1, 2017, or before that date if ordered to do so by the commission because it has reached that 5% net energy metering program limit, and prohibits limiting the amount of generating capacity or the number of new eligible customer-generators entitled to receive service pursuant to this standard contract or tariff, as specified.

This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact subsequent legislation relating to net energy metering.