Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 18, September 24, 2024
A.
General.
(1) A qualifying facility
contracting to provide power may displace its own load. The utility may require
appropriate metering. Billing for any power from the utility will be at the
utility's approved rate applicable to the service provided to the qualifying
facility in accordance with Subsections A-G of
17.9.570.12
NMAC.
(2) The tariff filed by each
utility pursuant to Subsection H of
17.9.570.13
NMAC shall include the offer to any qualifying facility that has not contracted
to receive capacity payments, the metering options in Subsections B, C and D of
17.9.570.10 NMAC.
(3) The options
of Subsections B, C and D of 17.9.570.10 NMAC may involve time-of-day metering
if the utility has in effect time-differentiated rates and metering for the
class of customer to which the qualifying facility belongs or if the parties
negotiate time-differentiated payments to the qualifying
facility.
B. Load
displacement option. If the qualifying facility wishes primarily to serve its
own load, the utility shall agree to interconnect with a single meter or meter
set measuring flow from the utility to the qualifying facility; billing for any
power from the utility will be at the utility's approved tariff applicable to
the service provided to the qualifying facility; there will be no additional
customer charge and no payment by the utility for any excess energy which might
be generated by the qualifying facility.
C. Net metering option.
(1) The utility shall install the metering
necessary to determine the net energy delivered from the qualifying facility to
the utility or from the utility to the qualifying facility for each time-of-use
or single rate period, as applicable, during a billing period; the net energy
delivered to either the qualifying facility or to the utility is the difference
between the energy produced by the qualifying facility's generation and the
energy that would have otherwise been supplied by the utility to the qualifying
facility absent the qualifying facility's generation.
(2) The net energy delivered from the
qualifying facility to the utility shall be purchased by the utility at the
utility's applicable time-of-use or single period energy rate as described in
Subsection B of
17.9.570.11
NMAC; the qualifying facility shall be billed for the net energy delivered from
the utility in accordance with the tariffs that are applicable to the
qualifying facility absent the qualifying facility's generation; the qualifying
facility shall also be billed for all demand and other charges in accordance
with the applicable tariffs. At the end of the billing period the utility shall
net all charges owed to the utility by the qualifying facility and all payments
owed by the utility to the qualifying facility. If a net amount is owed to the
qualifying facility for the billing period, and is less than $50, the payment
amount may be carried over to the following billing period. If a net amount is
owed to the qualifying facility and is $50 or more, the utility shall make
payment to the qualifying facility prior to the end of the next billing
period.
(3) If provision of the net
metering option requires metering equipment and related facilities that are
more costly than would otherwise be necessary absent the requirement for net
metering, the qualifying facility shall pay all incremental costs associated
with installing the more costly metering equipment and facilities. An
additional customer charge to cover the added costs of billing and
administration may be included in the tariff if supported with evidence of need
for such charge.
D.
Separate load metering (simultaneous buy/sell) option. The utility shall
install the metering necessary to determine separately:
(1) all the energy produced by the qualifying
facility's generator; and
(2) all
of the power consumed by the qualifying facility's loads; the utility shall
purchase all energy produced by the qualifying facility's generator at the
utility's applicable time-of-use or single period energy rate as described in
Subsection B of
17.9.570.11
NMAC. The qualifying facility shall purchase all power consumed at its normally
applicable rate; an additional customer charge to cover the added costs of
billing and administration may be included in the tariff if supported with
evidence of need for such charge.
E. Metering configurations. Metering
configurations used to implement the provisions of 17.9.570 NMAC shall be
reasonable, nondiscriminatory, and shall not discourage cogeneration or small
power production.