§ 39-3-1.2 - Aggregation of electrical load by municipality or group of municipalities.
SECTION 39-3-1.2
§ 39-3-1.2 Aggregation of electrical loadby municipality or group of municipalities. – (a) The legislative authority of a municipality may adopt an ordinance orresolution, under which it may aggregate in accordance with this section one ormore classes of the retail electrical loads located, respectively, within themunicipality or town and, for that purpose, may enter into service agreementsto facilitate for those loads the sale and purchase of electricity. Thelegislative authority also may exercise this authority jointly with any otherlegislative authority. An ordinance or resolution under this section shallspecify whether the aggregation will occur only with the prior consent of eachperson owning, occupying, controlling, or using an electric load centerproposed to be aggregated or will occur automatically for all persons pursuantto the opt-out requirements of this section. Nothing in this section, however,authorizes the aggregation of retail electric loads of an electric load centerthat is located in the certified territory of a nonprofit electric supplier oran electric load center served by transmission or distribution facilities of amunicipal electric utility. If an ordinance or resolution adopted under thissection specifies that aggregation will occur automatically as described inthis section, the ordinance or resolution shall direct the board of canvassersto submit the question of the authority to aggregate to the electors of therespective municipality or town at a special election on the day of the nextprimary or general election in the municipality or town. The legislativeauthority shall certify a copy of the ordinance or resolution to the board ofcanvassers not less than seventy-five (75) days before the day of the specialelection. No ordinance or resolution adopted under this section that providesfor an election under this section shall take effect unless approved by amajority of the electors voting upon the ordinance or resolution at theelection held pursuant to this section.
No legislative authority pursuant to an ordinance orresolution under this section that provides for automatic aggregation asdescribed in this section, shall aggregate the electrical load of any electricload center located within its jurisdiction unless it in advance clearlydiscloses to the person owning, occupying, controlling, or using the loadcenter that the person will be enrolled automatically in the aggregationprogram and will remain so enrolled unless the person affirmatively elects by astated procedure not to be so enrolled. The disclosure shall state prominentlythe rates, charges, and other terms and conditions of enrollment. The statedprocedure shall allow any person enrolled in the aggregation program theopportunity to opt-out of the program every two (2) years, without paying aswitching fee. Any person that leaves the aggregation program pursuant to thestated procedure shall default to the last resort service until the personchooses an alternative supplier.
A governmental aggregator under this section is not a publicutility engaging in the wholesale purchase and resale of electricity, and theaggregated service is not a wholesale utility transaction. A governmentalaggregator shall be subject to supervision and regulation by the commissiononly to the extent of any competitive retail electric service it provides andcommission authority.
A town may initiate a process to authorize aggregation by amajority vote of a town meeting or of the town council. A city may initiate aprocess to authorize aggregation by a majority vote of the city council, withthe approval of the mayor, or the city manager. Two (2) or more municipalities,as a group, initiate a process jointly to authorize aggregation by a majorityvote of each particular municipality as required in this section.
Upon the applicable requisite authority under this section,the legislative authority shall develop a plan of operation and governance forthe aggregation program so authorized. Before adopting a plan under thissection, the legislative authority shall hold at least two (2) public hearingson the plan. Before the first hearing, the legislative authority shall publishnotice of the hearings once a week for two (2) consecutive weeks in a newspaperof general circulation in the jurisdiction. The notice shall summarize the planand state the date, time, and location of each hearing. A municipality or groupof municipalities establishing load aggregation pursuant to this section shall,in consultation with the commission, develop a plan, for review by itscitizens, detailing the process and consequences of aggregation. The plan shallidentify which classes of customers may participate, based on their applicableelectric distribution company tariff or rate schedule. Any municipal loadaggregation plan established pursuant to this section shall provide foruniversal access to all applicable customers and equitable treatment ofapplicable classes of customers and shall meet any requirements established bylaw or the commission concerning aggregated service. The plan shall be filedwith the commission, for its final review and approval, and shall include,without limitation, an organizational structure of the program, its operations,and its funding; methods of establishing rates and allocating costs amongparticipants; the methods for entering and terminating agreements with otherentities; the rights and responsibilities of program participants; andtermination of the program. The plan must also include the terms and conditionsunder which retail customers who have chosen to opt-out of the aggregatedservice may take service from the aggregated entity. Prior to its decision, thecommission shall conduct a public hearing. Following approval of the plan, thelegislative authority may solicit bids from nonregulated power producerspursuant to the methods established by the plan. The legislative authorityshall report the results of this solicitation and proposed agreement awards tothe commission, which shall have five (5) business days in which it may suspendsuch awards if the solicitation or awards are not in conformance with the planor if the cost for energy would in the first year exceed the cost of thatenergy on the standard offer, as established pursuant to this chapter, forcitizens in the municipality or group of municipalities, unless the applicantcan demonstrate that the cost for energy under the aggregation plan will belower than the standard offer in the subsequent years or the applicant candemonstrate that the excess cost is due to the purchase of renewable energy asdescribed by the commission. If the commission does not suspend the proposedcontract awards within five (5) business days of filing, the legislativeauthority shall have the right to award the proposed agreements.
Any retail customer in a municipality with an approvedaggregation plan may elect instead to receive retail supply from anotherlicensed retail supplier or from the local distribution company. Within thirty(30) days of the date the aggregated entity is fully operational, ratepayerswho have not affirmatively elected an alternative authorized supplier shall betransferred to the aggregated entity subject to the opt-out provision in thissection. Following adoption of aggregation as specified above, the programshall allow any retail customer to opt-out and choose any supplier or providerthat the retail customer wishes. Nothing in this section shall be construed asauthorizing any city or town or any municipal retail load aggregator torestrict the ability of retail electric customers to obtain or receive servicefrom any authorized provider of it.
It shall be the duty of the aggregated entity to fully informparticipating ratepayers in advance of automatic enrollment that they are to beautomatically enrolled and that they have the right to opt-out of theaggregated entity without penalty. In addition, such disclosure shallprominently state all charges to be made and shall include full disclosure ofthe standard offer rate, how to access it, and the fact that it is available tothem without penalty, if they are currently on standard offer service. Thecommission shall furnish, without charge, to any citizen a list of all othersupply options available to them in a meaningful format that shall enablecomparison of price and product.
(b) The commission shall promulgate rules by which thelegislative authority may request information from the electric distributioncompany or companies whose customers would be included in its plan. These rulesshall ensure that municipalities have reasonable and timely access toinformation pertinent to the formation of the plan and solicitation of bids toserve customers, that confidentiality of individuals is protected, that chargesfor production of data are reasonable and not unduly burdensome to thelegislative authority.