HR 1624
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1624
To amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to establish
uniform national standards for the interconnection of certain small power
production facilities.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 15, 2011
Mr. LUJAN (for himself, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. TONKO,
and Mr. POLIS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to establish
uniform national standards for the interconnection of certain small power
production facilities.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. UNIFORM NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR INTERCONNECTION OF CERTAIN SMALL
POWER PRODUCTION FACILITIES.
(a) Findings- Section 2 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978
(16 U.S.C. 2601) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (5), by striking `and' at the end;
(2) in paragraph (6), by striking the period at the end and inserting `,
and'; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
`(7) uniform national standards for the interconnection of certain small
power production facilities.'.
(b) Standards for Interconnection-
(1) IN GENERAL- Subtitle B of title I of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies
Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2621 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
`SEC. 118. INTERCONNECTION OF CERTAIN SMALL POWER PRODUCTION FACILITIES.
`(a) Standard for Facilities That Have a Power Production Capacity of Not
More Than 2 Megawatts- The Commission shall establish a standard by which
each electric utility shall make available, on request, interconnection service
to any electric consumer that the electric utility serves with respect to
any facility on the premises of the electric consumer that has a power production
capacity of not more than 2 megawatts.
`(A) IN GENERAL- Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Commission may
enforce the standard established under subsection (a) against any electric
utility.
`(B) ADMINISTRATION- The requirements of the standard established under
subsection (a) shall be treated as a rule enforceable under the Federal
Power Act (16 U.S.C. 791a et seq.).
`(2) BY A STATE REGULATORY AUTHORITY- The Commission may enter into an agreement
with a State regulatory authority to discontinue the enforcement of this
section in the State by the Commission if the Commission finds that the
State or the State regulatory authority has adopted and is enforcing a standard
for interconnection services that is consistent with or exceeds the standard
established under subsection (a).
`(3) RESUMPTION OF COMMISSION ENFORCEMENT- The Commission may rescind an
agreement under paragraph (2) and resume enforcement of the standard established
under subsection (a) if, as determined by the Commission, the State or the
State regulatory authority has failed to enforce a consistent State standard.
`(c) Considerations- In establishing the standard under subsection (a), the
Commission shall consider the standards developed by the Institute of Electrical
and Electronics Engineers: IEEE Standard 1547 for Interconnecting Distributed
Resources with Electric Power Systems, as they may be amended from time to
time. The standard established under subsection (a) shall promote current
best practices of interconnection for distributed generation, including practices
stipulated in model codes from State best practices. The standard established
under subsection (a) shall be just and reasonable, and not unduly discriminatory
or preferential.
`(d) Model Standard for Facilities of up to 20 Megawatts- The Commission shall
establish a model standard for the interconnection of small power production
facilities that have a power production capacity of more than 2 megawatts,
but not more than 20 megawatts, for the consideration of State regulatory
authorities under section 111(d)(15).'.
(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT- The table of contents in section 1(b) of the Public
Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. prec. 2601) is amended
by adding at the end of the items relating to subtitle B of title I the
following:
`Sec. 118. Interconnection of certain small power production facilities.'.
END
