(a) The Legislature finds and declares that:
(1) West Virginia is rich in energy resources, which provide many advantages to the state, its
economy and its citizens;
(2) West Virginia's abundant mineral reserves have created, and will continue to create,
many benefits to the state and its citizens, including thousands of jobs, a strong tax base and
a low-cost, reliable source of electricity;
(3) Coal-fired plants currently supply over 90 percent of electricity generation to the citizens
and businesses of this state;
(4) Businesses that may otherwise locate or expand facailities in this state often require that a
portion of the electricity that they purchase be generated via renewable sources;
(5) Creating a program for the development of certain renewable sources of electricity by
electric utilities will result in increased economic development opportunities in the state,
create jobs and enhance the use of the state's electricity generation; and
(6) Creating a program to authorize electric utilities to provide a portion of the state's
electricity needs through a process that allows them to plan, design, construct, purchase,
own and operate renewable electric-generating facilities, energy storage resources, or both,
pursuant to this section is in the public interest of the state.
(b) Definitions – For the purpose of the section:
"Capital investments" include, but are not limited to, costs related to the planning, design,
construction, purchase, and ownership of renewable electric-generating facilities, energy
storage resources, and interconnections with transmission and distribution facilities.
"Commission" or "Public Service Commission" means the Public Service Commission of West
Virginia.
"Electric utility" means any electric distribution company that sells electricity to retail
customers in this state under rates regulated by the commission. Unless specifically
provided for otherwise, for the purposes of this section, the term "electric utility" may not
include rural electric cooperatives, municipally owned electric facilities or utilities serving
less than 30,000 residential electric customers in West Virginia.
"Eligible site" means any site in this state that has been previously used in electric
generation, industrial, manufacturing or mining operations, including, but not limited to,
brownfields, closed landfills, hazardous waste sites, former industrial sites, and former
mining sites. In the event that there is no available site that has been previously used in
electric generation, industrial, manufacturing or mining operations in the area to be served
by a renewable electric facilities program, an eligible site may include any suitable site in
this state approved for use in connection with a renewable electric facilities program by the
Secretary of the Department of Commerce.
"Energy storage resource" means infrastructure located on an eligible site that allows for
the energy absorption and release of electrical energy into the electric grid.
"Renewable electric facilities program" means a program proposed by an electric utility to
plan, design, construct, purchase, own, and operate renewable electric-generating facilities,
energy storage resources, or both, pursuant to this section: Provided, That a renewable
electric facilities program may not consist solely of energy storague resources.
"Renewable electric-generating facility" means infrastructure located on an eligible site that
generates electricity solely through solar photovoltaic methods or other solar methods.
(c) Electric utilities may file with the commission an application for a multiyear
comprehensive renewable energy facilities programl that complies with the provisions of this
section for planning, designing, constructing, spurchasing, owning, and operating renewable
electric-generating facilities, energy storage resources, or both, by the electric utility.
Subject to commission review and approvail, a renewable energy facilities program may be
amended and updated by the electrigc utility. The recovery of costs in support of the
renewable energy facilities program shall be allowed in the manner set forth in this section.
(d) Any renewable energy facilities program shall comply with the following requirements:
(1) An electric utility may purchase each renewable electric-generating facility and each
energy storage resource from a developer of renewable electric-generating facilities or
energy storage resou rces or construct such facilities on its own, as applicable. Any purchase
of a renewablVe electric-generating facility or energy storage resources shall be subject to a
competitive procurement administered by the electric utility. An electric utility may select to
purchase a renewable electric-generating facility, energy storage resource, or both, based
on a myriad of factors, including, but not limited to, price and nonprice criteria, which shall
include, but not be limited to, geographic distribution of generating capacity, areas of higher
employment, or regional economic development.
(2) An electric utility may elect to petition the commission, outside of a base rate case
proceeding, at any time for a prudency determination with respect to the purchase,
construction, and ownership by the electric utility of one or more renewable electric-
generating facilities, energy storage resources, or both. The commission's final order
regarding any such petition shall be entered by the commission within 150 days after the
date of the filing of such petition.
(3) No renewable electric-generating facility shall have a generating capacity greater than
50 megawatts until such time as 85 percent of that renewable electric-generating facility's
annual energy output is being sold or is contracted to be sold to residential, commercial, or
industrial customers pursuant to a renewable special contract or renewable tariff, and,
thereafter, any expansion of that or another renewable energy-generating facility's
generating capacity shall proceed in increments of up to 50 megawatts each until such time
as 85 percent or more of all renewable energy-generating facility's aggregate, annual energy
output is being sold or is contracted to be sold to customers pursuant to a renewable special
contract or renewable tariff;
(4) No single renewable electric-generating facility shall have a generating capacity greater
than 200 megawatts; r
(5) The cumulative generating capacity of all renewable electric-ugenerating facilities
operating at any given time, and for which rate recovery is provided by the commission
under this section, shall not exceed 400 megawatts among atll investor-owned electric
utilities in this state: Provided, That the cumulative generating capacity of all renewable
electric-generating facilities operating at any one time, and for which rate recovery is
provided by the commission under this section, shall not exceed 200 megawatts for all
electric utilities within the state owned by the same corporate parent company;
(6) The calculation of maximum megawatts of generating capacity for renewable electric-
generating facilities established in this subsection shall not include the storage capacity of
energy storage resources; g
(7) As part of the renewable energy facilities program, the electric utilities must offer the
energy output for sale to customers from all classes of service.
(e) Applications made under this section are in lieu of an application for a certificate of
public convenience and necessity pursuant to §24-2-11 of this code and shall contain the
following:
(1) A description of the renewable electric-generating facilities, energy storage resources, or
both, in such detail as the commission prescribes, including, but not limited to, the
generating capacity and location of the facilities and a description of the competitive
purchase procurement process administered by the electric utility that is required under this
section;
(2) A proposed concurrent cost-recovery mechanism for actual and projected capital
investments in the renewable electric-generating facilities, energy storage resources, or
both, and for operation and maintenance expenses and taxes associated with such facilities;
and
(3) Other information that the applicant considers relevant or the commission requires.
(f) Upon filing of an application, the applicant shall publish, in the form the commission
directs, which form shall include, but not be limited to, the anticipated rates and, if any, rate
increase under the proposal, by average percentage and dollar amount for customers within
a class of service, as a Class I legal advertisement in compliance with §59-3-1 et seq., of this
code, the publication area to be each county in which service is provided by the electric
utility, a notice of the filing of the application and that the commission shall hold a hearing
on the application within 90 days of the notice; unless no opposition to the rate change is
received by the commission within one week of the proposed hearing date, in which case the
hearing can be waived, and the commission shall issue a final order within 150 days of the
application filing date. e
(g) The planning, design, construction, purchase, ownership, and operartion of renewable
electric-generating facilities, energy storage resources, or both, pursuant to this section is in
the public interest, and the commission shall so find when considering applications for
renewable energy facilities programs submitted by an electric utility pursuant to this
section. t
(h) Upon notice and hearing, if required by the commission, the commission shall approve
the applications made under this section and allow concurrent recovery of costs related to
the expenditures, as provided in subsection (i) of this section, if the commission finds that
the expenditures and the associated rate requsirements are just and reasonable and that the
applications comply with the requirements of this section.
(i) Upon commission approval, electgric utilities shall be authorized to implement renewable
electric facilities programs and to concurrently recover their costs, including a return on
capital investments, operatione and maintenance, depreciation, and tax expenses directly
attributable to the renewable electric facilities program capital investments, if any, as
provided in the followinLg:
(1) An allowance for return shall be calculated by applying a rate of return to the
average planned net incremental increase to rate base attributable to the renewable electric
facilities program for the coming year, considering the projected amount and timing of
capital investments under the renewable electric facilities program plus any capital
inveWstments in previous years of the program. The rate of return shall be determined by
utilizing the rate of return on equity and the capital structure authorized by the commission
in the electric utility's most recent base rate case proceeding or in the case of a settled base
rate case, a rate of return on equity set forth in or associated with such settlement or, if
neither is set forth in or associated with such settlement, a rate of return on equity and a
capital structure determined by the commission to be reasonable, and the projected average
weighted cost of the electric utility's debt during the period of the renewable electric
facilities program to determine the weighted cost of capital based upon the electric utility's
capital structure determined as specified above.
(2) Income taxes applicable to the return allowed on the renewable electric facilities
program shall be calculated at the statutory rate for inclusion in rates.
(3) Incremental operation and maintenance, depreciation, and property tax expenses directly
attributable to the renewable electric facilities program shall be estimated for the upcoming
year.
(4) Following commission approval of its application made under this section, an electric
utility shall place into effect rates that include an increment for concurrent cost recovery
that recovers the allowance for return, related income taxes at the statutory rate, operation
and maintenance, depreciation, and property tax expenses associated with the electric
utility's actual and projected capital investments under the renewable electreic facilities
program for the upcoming year, net of contributions to recovery of those incremental costs
provided by customers who have executed renewable special contractsr, or who are taking
power under renewable tariffs and are served by the renewable electric facilities program
investments, if any, ("incremental cost-recovery increment"). In each year subsequent to the
order approving the renewable electric facilities program and the incremental cost-
recovery increment, the electric utility shall file an applicatiotn with the commission setting
forth a new proposed incremental cost recovery increment for concurrent cost recovery of
forecasted costs to be made in the subsequent year, plus any under-recovery or minus any
over-recovery of actual incremental costs attributable to the renewable electric facilities
program, for the preceding year.
(5) The renewable electric-generating facilities, energy storage resources, or both,
constructed, purchased, contracted, owned, installed, and in service pursuant to an
application approved by the commisgsion shall be considered used and useful for rate
recovery purposes. Any concurrent cost recovery mechanism approved by the commission
shall limit the amount of cost teo be recovered from any individual customer of the electric
utility to a maximum of $1,000 per month: Provided, That this limitation shall not impact the
electric utility's ability tLo recover all costs incurred pursuant to this section from other
customers. Customers who have executed renewable special contracts or are taking power
under renewable tar iffs pursuant to an approved renewable electric facilities program are
not subject to any such limits imposed by the commission.
(6) If an electric utility serves customers in more than one jurisdiction, and a jurisdiction
othWer than this state denies the electric utility recovery of the costs incurred pursuant to a
renewable electric facilities program approved by the commission and allocated to that
jurisdiction, the electric utility shall recover all of the costs of the renewable electric
facilities program from its West Virginia jurisdictional customers if the commission finds that
the expenditures and the associated rate requirements are just and reasonable, and all
attributes of the renewable electric facilities program, including energy, capacity, and
renewable energy credits shall be assigned to this state.
(j) The electric utility may make any accounting accruals necessary to establish a regulatory
asset or liability through which actual incremental costs incurred and costs recovered
through the rate mechanism are tracked.
(k) With respect to renewable electric facilities programs, electric utilities may defer
incremental operation and maintenance expenses attributable to regulatory and compliance-
related requirements introduced after the electric utility's last base rate case proceeding
and not included in the electric utility's current base rates or incremental cost-recovery
increment in lieu of current recovery. In a future base rate case, the commission shall allow
recovery of such deferred costs amortized over a reasonable period of time to be determined
by the commission provided the commission finds that the costs were reasonable and
prudently incurred and were not reflected in rates in prior base rate cases.
(l) The provisions of this section shall expire on December 31, 2025. The expeiration of this
section shall not affect the full and timely cost recovery associated with a renewable energy
facilities program for which an application has been filed with the commrission pursuant to
this section on or before December 31, 2025, nor for any projects previously approved by the
commission pursuant to this section.
(m) Notwithstanding any provision of this article to the conttrary, no provision herein this
section shall displace any current levels of coal-fired generation capacity.
(n) Notwithstanding the provisions of §24-2-11c of this code, any person or entity: (1) Who is
not an electric utility; (2) who intends to purchase lor construct and operate an electric
generating facility as an exempt wholesale gesnerator under federal law; (3) who will
generate electricity solely through solar photovoltaic or other solar methods; and (4) who, if
desired, intends to purchase or construct and operate energy storage for such electricity
may file an application with the Pubglic Service Commission under this section in such detail
and with such publication requirements as the commission may prescribe; and the
commission shall hold a hearineg, unless waived, within 90 days of publication and issue a
final order on a siting certificate or modification thereof within 150 days of the application
filing date. No other proLvision of this section shall apply to these exempt wholesale
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