Title
Public Hearing for Modification of Department of Public Utilities Rules and Regulations - Rule E-5 Interconnection - Connection with Cogeneration and Small Power Producers and the Fee Schedule.
Recommended Action
I move that the Board of Public Utilities approve as presented the modifications to the following Department of Public Utilities Rules and Regulations: Rule E-5 Interconnection - Connection with Cogeneration and Small Power Procedures and the Fee Schedule.
Staff Recommendation
Staff recommends changes to Rule E-5 Interconnection - Connection with Cogeneration and Small Power Producers and the associated Fee Schedule as presented.
Body
With the recent goal adopted by the Board of Public Utilities to achieve 6 MW of solar PV penetration by 2040, staff proposes some minor modifications to Rule E-5 and the associated Fee Schedule. The current language in Rule E-5 indicates that a customer is limited to the lesser of 10 kW for residential and 100 kW for commercial customers or the capacity available on the transformer serving the customer. This program has been popular with some homeowners because there is a federal tax credit for alternative energy equipment. This calendar year the IRS is offering for property placed in service after December 31, 2020, and before January 1, 2022, a 22 percent tax credit.
Staffs first recommendation changes to Purchases of Energy form Customer-Owned Qualifying Facilities, E-5.03. We propose this language be modified, so that a customer is limited to the level of current consumption up to 10 kW for residential and 100 kW for commercial customers, if the capacity available on the transformer serving the customer is sufficient. While it was suggested by the BPU that DPU should remove the distributed generation caps in Rule E-5, DPU staff does not believe that at this time it would be financially sustainable until other mechanisms can be implemented, i.e. Completion of the AMI project and a Modi...
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