Floor speech for SB166 - load-reduction credit for electricity generated

Floor speech for SB166

Thank you, Mr. Speaker

Mr. Speaker, Senate bill 166 is concerned with so-called “competitive suppliers” of electricity, and their so-called “customer-generator” clients. “Competitive suppliers” can be thought of as independent or third-party electricity companies, while “customer-generators” includes electricity consumers, such as NH manufacturers, who (for example) also have legacy hydropower electric generators associated with their mill buildings. They can produce electricity 24/7, even after their production shifts have ended. Shouldn’t they be allowed to sell their surplus electricity?

I believe this bill is very simple and uncontroversial. It corrects a flaw in the language of the existing statute, which requires competitive generation companies to credit customer-generators for the “full retail value” of the electricity returned to the grid. Because “full retail value” includes additional items (such as the Systems Benefits Charge and RPS compliance charges) on top of the billable energy price, competitive generation companies would always lose money, and thus be obliged to refuse such customers. 

This bill simply changes the basis of crediting customer generation from a retail dollar amount, to crediting a kilowatt-hour amount of load reduction. SB166 thus solves the flaw, so that competitive suppliers and customer-generators are free to do business with each other.

Thank you.

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Main points for caucus:

• Encourages competitive electricity pricing by supporting industrial sub-grid-scale net metering and competitive generation
  
• Simple fix by paying for kWh, not “full retail cost” makes net metering attractive for both parties, competitive suppliers and customer-generators
  
• By counting customer-generation as load reduction, this bill has the added benefit of driving down the amount the state of NH owes ISO-NE for our (very costly!) share of regional transmission