56-578 - Nondiscriminatory access to transmission and distribution system.
§ 56-578. Nondiscriminatory access to transmission and distribution system.
A. All distributors shall have the obligation to connect any retail customer,including those using distributed generation, located within its serviceterritory to those facilities of the distributor that are used for deliveryof retail electric energy, subject to Commission rules and regulations andapproved tariff provisions relating to connection of service.
B. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, every distributor shallprovide distribution service within its service territory on a basis which isjust, reasonable, and not unduly discriminatory to suppliers of electricenergy, including distributed generation, as the Commission may determine.The distribution services provided to each supplier of electric energy shallbe comparable in quality to those provided by the distribution utility toitself or to any affiliate.
C. The Commission shall establish interconnection standards to ensuretransmission and distribution safety and reliability, which standards shallnot be inconsistent with nationally recognized standards acceptable to theCommission. In adopting standards pursuant to this subsection, the Commissionshall seek to prevent barriers to new technology and shall not makecompliance unduly burdensome and expensive. The Commission shall determinequestions about the ability of specific equipment to meet interconnectionstandards.
D. The Commission shall consider developing expedited permitting processesfor small generation facilities of fifty megawatts or less. The Commissionshall also consider developing a standardized permitting process andinterconnection arrangements for those power systems less than 500 kilowattswhich have demonstrated approval from a nationally recognized testinglaboratory acceptable to the Commission.
E. Upon the separation and deregulation of the generation function andservices of incumbent electric utilities, the Commission shall retainjurisdiction over utilities' electric transmission function and services, tothe extent not preempted by federal law. Nothing in this section shall impairthe Commission's authority under §§ 56-46.1, 56-46.2, and 56-265.2 withrespect to the construction of electric transmission facilities.
(1999, c. 411; 2007, cc. 888, 933.)