SB 855 - Under the act, a retail electric supplier shall offer net metering, as defined in the act, to customer-generators who generate their own electricity pursuant to tariffs approved by the Public Service Commission or by the governing body of an electrical corporation approved by the respective governing body of other retail electric supplies under certain options described in the act. A customer-generator's facility shall be equipped with certain equipment including, but not limited to, necessary electric distribution system upgrades.
If the electricity generated by the customer-generator exceeds the electricity supplied by the supplier during a billing cycle, the customer-generator shall demand charges for the billing cycle as described in current law and provisions of the act.
Each qualified electric energy generation unit used by a customer-generator shall be installed, maintained, and repaired in accordance with all applicable industry standards described in current law.
All qualified electric energy generation units utilizing battery backup shall be installed to operate completely isolated from the retail electric supplier's system including all neutral connections and grounding points during times of back up operation. Unless allowed under the provisions of the act, no retail electric supplier shall impose any fee or other requirement as described in current law, except that a retail electric supplier may require that a customer-generator's system contain adequate surge protection, or other accessible device that would allow emergency response personnel to disconnect from the electric distribution system.
Applications by a customer-generator for interconnection of a qualified electric energy generation shall be accompanied by a plan for the customer-generator's electrical generating system and reviewed by a retail electric supplier, unless mutually agreed to. Prior to the interconnection of the qualified electric energy generation to the retail electric supplier's system, the customer-generator will furnish a retail electric supplier a certification from a professional electrician or an engineer deemed qualified by the retail electric supplier. If the professional electrician or engineer is not licensed, the retail electric supplier may require a bond or other form of financial security to ensure the safe installation and operation of the qualified electric energy generation unit.
The estimated generating capacity of all net metering systems shall count for purposes of compliance with any applicable federal law.
Any non-retail electric supplier who sells a qualified electric energy generation unit or who provides a net metering service to a customer-generator under the act shall be subject to certain requirements described in the act.
Provisions of the act shall be enforced by the Attorney General under the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act as described in the act.
The act is similar to SB 642 (2023), HB 709 (2023) and HB 991 (2023).
JULIA SHEVELEVA