Ohio Administrative Code
Title 4901:1 - Utilities
Chapter 4901:1-10 - Electric Companies
Section 4901:1-10-28 - Net metering
Universal Citation: OH Admin Code 4901:1-10-28
Current through all regulations passed and filed through March 18, 2024
(A) For purposes of this rule, the following definitions shall apply:
(1)
"Advanced meter"
means any electric meter that meets the pertinent engineering standards using
digital technology and is capable of providing two-way communications with the
electric utility to provide usage and/or other technical data.
(2)
"CRES provider"
shall mean any provider of competitive retail electric service.
(3)
"Customer-generator" shall have the meaning set forth in division (A)(29) of
section 4928.01 of the Revised Code. A
customer that hosts or leases third party owned generation equipment on its
premises is considered a customer-generator.
(4)
"Electric
utility" shall have the meaning set forth in division (A)(11) of section 4928.1
of the Revised Code.
(5)
"Hospital" shall have the meaning set forth in division
(C) of section 3701.01 of the Revised
Code.
(6)
"Interval meter" means any electric meter that is
capable of measuring interval usage data on at least an hourly
basis.
(7)
"Microturbine" shall mean a turbine or an integrated
modular turbine package with a capacity of two megawatts or
less.
(8)
"Net metering" shall have the meaning set forth in
division (A)(30) of section
4928.01 of the Revised
Code.
(9)
"Net metering system" shall have the meaning set forth
in division (A)(31) of section
4928.01 of the Revised Code. Net
metering system includes all facilities, regardless of whether the
customer-generator is on the electric utility's net metering tariff or engaged
in net metering with a CRES provider.
(10)
"Third party"
means a person or entity that may be indirectly involved or affected but is not
a principal party to an arrangement, contract, or transaction between other
parties.
(B) Net metering.
(1)
Each electric
utility shall develop a standard net metering tariff and a hospital net
metering tariff. The electric utility shall make such tariffs available to
customer-generators upon request, in a timely manner, and on a
nondiscriminatory basis.
(a)
Each electric utility shall offer a standard net
metering tariff to all customers upon request.
(b)
Each electric
utility shall offer the hospital net metering tariff to all qualifying hospital
customers upon request.
(c)
A CRES provider may offer net metering contracts to its
customers, consistent with Chapter 4901:1-21 of the Administrative Code, at any
price, rate, credit, or refund for excess generation. The CRES provider and the
customer shall define the terms of any contract, including the price, rate,
credit, or refund for any excess production by a customer-generator. A CRES
provider is not required to enter into any net metering contract with any
customer. Only customers who have signed an interconnection agreement with the
electric utility may engage in net metering with a CRES
provider.
(2)
Except as used by hospitals, a net metering system must
use as its fuel either solar, wind, biomass, landfill gas, or hydropower, or
use a microturbine or a fuel cell.
(3)
Net metering
arrangements shall be made available regardless of the date the
customer-generator's net metering system was installed.
(4)
The electric
utility's standard net metering tariff shall be identical in rate structure,
all retail rate components, and any monthly charges, to the tariff to which the
same customer would be assigned if that customer were not a customer-generator.
Such terms shall not change simply because a customer becomes a
customer-generator.
(a)
The electric utility shall disclose on the electric
utility's website, and to any customer upon request, the name, address,
telephone number, and email address of the electric utility's net metering
department or contact person.
(b)
The electric
utility shall provide on the electric utility's website, and to any customer
upon request, all necessary information regarding eligibility for the electric
utility's net metering tariffs. The electric utility shall also provide this
information to any customer, upon request, within a net metering application
packet. The website and application packet shall describe and provide the
following information in a straightforward manner: net metering tariff terms
and conditions, sample net metering and interconnection agreements, and the
terms and conditions for eligibility to be a net metering customer-generator.
The website and application packet shall also provide information on costs that
the customer may incur as a result of net metering enrollment, including any
costs associated with the following: application, interconnection, and meter
installation.
(5)
The electric utility's net metering tariffs shall not
require customer-generators to:
(a)
Comply with any additional safety or performance
standards beyond those established by rules in Chapter 4901:1-22 of the
Administrative Code and division (B)(4) of section
4928.67 of the Revised Code in
effect as set forth in rule
4901:1-22-03
of the Administrative Code.
(b)
Perform or pay
for additional tests beyond those required by paragraph (B)(5)(a) of this
rule.
(c)
Purchase additional liability insurance beyond that
required by paragraph (B)(5)(a) of this rule.
(6)
A net metering
system must be located on the customer-generator's premises. A
customer-generator's premises is the area that is owned, operated, or leased by
the customer-generator with the metering point for the customer-generator's
account. A contiguous lot to the area with the customer-generator's metering
point may be considered the customer-generator's premises regardless of
easements, public thoroughfares, transportation rights-of-way, or utility
rights-of-way, so long as it would not create an unsafe or hazardous condition
pursuant to the interconnection standards set forth in Chapter 4901:1-22 of the
Administrative Code.
(7)
Unless it is a hospital, a customer-generator must
intend primarily to offset part or all of the customer-generator's requirements
for electricity, regardless of whether the customer-generator is on the
electric utility's net metering tariff or engaged in net metering by contract
with a CRES provider.
(a)
The electric utility shall communicate with and assist
a customer-generator in calculating the customer-generator's requirements for
electricity based on the average amount of electricity supplied by the electric
utility to the customer-generator annually over the previous three years. In
instances where the electric utility cannot provide data without divulging
confidential or proprietary information, or in circumstances where the electric
utility does not have the data or cannot calculate the average annual
electricity supplied to the premises over the previous three years due to new
construction, vacant properties, facility expansions, or other unique
circumstances, the electric utility shall use any available consumption data or
measures to establish an appropriate consumption estimate. Upon request from
any customer-generator, the electric utility shall provide or make available to
the customer-generator either the average electricity supplied to the premises
over the previous three years or a reasonable consumption estimate for the
premises.
(b)
A customer-generator must size its facilities so as to
not exceed one hundred twenty per cent of its requirements for electricity at
the time of interconnections, regardless of whether the customer-generator
intends to take service through an electric utility or a CRES
provider.
(8)
Net metering shall be accomplished using a single meter
capable of registering the flow of electricity in each direction. Upon request
from a customer-generator, the electric utility shall provide the
customer-generator with a detailed cost estimate of installing an interval
meter. If the net metering system is located in an area where advanced meters
have been deployed or are proposed to be deployed within twelve months, then
the electric utility shall provide the customer-generator with a detailed cost
estimate of installing an advanced meter that is also an interval meter.
(a)
If a
customer-generator requests an advanced meter that is also an interval meter,
then such cost shall be paid by the customer-generator through the applicable
smart grid rider. If the net metering system is not located in an area where
the electric utility has deployed, is deploying, or proposes to deploy within
twelve months advanced meters, then the electric utility may install any
interval meter.
(b)
The electric utility, at its own expense and with the
written consent of the customer-generator, may install one or more additional
meters to monitor the flow of electricity in each direction. No electric
utility shall impose, without commission approval, any additional
interconnection requirement or additional charges on customer-generators
refusing to give such consent.
(c)
If a customer's
existing meter needs to be reprogrammed for the customer to become a
customer-generator, or to accommodate net metering, then the electric utility
shall provide the customer-generator a detailed cost estimate for the
reprogramming or setup of the existing meter. The cost of setting up the meter
to accommodate net metering shall be at the customer's expense. If a
customer-generator has a meter that is capable of measuring the flow of
electricity in each direction, is sufficient for net metering, and does not
require setup or reprogramming, then the customer-generator shall not be
charged for a new meter, setup, or reprogramming to accommodate net
metering.
(d)
For hospital customer-generators, net metering shall be
accomplished using either two meters or a single meter with two registers that
are capable of separately measuring the flow of electricity in both directions.
One meter or register shall be capable of measuring the electricity generated
by the hospital at the output of the generator or net of the hospital's load
behind the meter at the time it is generated. If the hospital's existing
electric meter is not capable of separately measuring electricity the hospital
generates at the time it is generated, the electric utility, upon written
request from the hospital, shall install at the hospital's expense a meter that
is capable of such measurement.
(9)
The measurement
of net electricity supplied by the electric utility or received from the
customer-generator shall be calculated in the following manner:
(a)
The electric
utility shall measure the net electricity produced or consumed during the
billing period, in accordance with normal metering practices.
(b)
If the
electricity supplied by the electric utility exceeds the electricity received
from the customer-generator over the monthly billing cycle, then the
customer-generator shall be billed for the net electricity consumed by it in
accordance with normal metering practices.
(c)
For
customer-generators on the electric utility's standard net metering tariff,
when the electric utility receives more electricity from the customer-generator
than it supplied to the customer-generator over a monthly billing cycle, the
excess electricity shall be converted to a monetary credit at the energy
component of the electric utility's standard service offer and shall
continuously carry forward as a monetary credit on the customer-generator's
future bills. The electric utility shall not be required to pay the monetary
credit, other than to credit it to future bills, and the monetary credit may be
lost if a customer-generator does not use the credit or stops taking service
from the electric utility.
(d)
The hospital net
metering tariff shall be based upon the rate structure, rate components, and
any charges to which the hospital would otherwise be assigned if the hospital
were not a customer-generator and upon the market value of the
customer-generated electricity at the time it is generated. The market value
means the locational marginal price of energy determined by a regional
transmission organization's operational market at the time the
customer-generated electricity is generated.
(e)
A CRES provider
may offer a net metering contract at any price, rate, or manner of credit for
excess generation. The CRES provider shall notify the electric utility whenever
a net metering contract has been entered into with a customer-generator. The
electric utility may move the customer-generator to bill-ready billing, unless
the CRES provider and the customer-generator agree to dual
billing.
(f)
If a customer-generator is net metering with a CRES
provider and uses an advanced meter capable of measuring at least hourly
interval usage data, the electric utility shall transmit or make available to
the CRES provider the customer-generator's interval data for that billing
period within twenty-four hours of performing industry-standard validation,
estimation, and editing processes. The electric utility shall also transmit or
make available to the CRES provider the customer-generator's daily interval
usage data within twenty-four hours of performing daily industry-standard
validation, estimation, and editing processes.
(g)
The electric
utility shall at least annually calculate and provide or make available to the
CRES provider the individual network service peak load values and peak load
contributions of customer-generators engaged in net metering with that CRES
provider.
(h)
The electric utility shall ensure that any final
settlement data sent to a regional transmission organization includes negative
loads in the hourly load calculation of any electricity provided to a CRES
provider from its customer-generators with hourly interval metering. Load from
a customer-generator shall be incorporated in the CRES provider's total hourly
energy obligation reported to the regional transmission organization and will
offset the CRES provider's reported load to the regional transmission
organization. For customer-generators with non-hourly metering, customer
generation will offset the CRES provider's energy obligation.
(10)
In no
event shall the electric utility impose on the customer-generator any charges
that relate to the electricity the customer-generator feeds back to the
system.
(11)
All customer-generators shall comply with the
interconnection standards set forth in Chapter 4901:1-22 of the Administrative
Code.
(12)
Renewable energy credits associated with a
customer-generator's net metering facility shall be the property of the
customer-generator unless otherwise contracted with an electric utility, CRES
provider, or other entity.
(13)
The electric
utility shall annually report to the commission the total number and installed
capacity of customer-generators on the electric utility's net metering tariffs
for each technology and consumer class. The electric utility shall provide any
other net metering data to the commission upon request and in a timely
manner.
Replaces: 4901:1-10-28
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