SB203: SB203 "Georgia Homegrown Solar Act of 2025"; enact

25 LC 55 0481 Senate Bill 203 By: Senators Anavitarte of the 31st, Robertson of the 29th, Hufstetler of the 52nd, Williams of the 25th, Halpern of the 39th and others A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Chapter 3 of Title 46 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to1 electrical service, so as to enact the "Georgia Homegrown Solar Act of 2025"; to provide2 definitions; to allow customers of an electric utility to aggre gate demand from multiple3 locations and subscribe to certain off-site solar facilities; to provide for nondiscriminatory4 interconnection of such facilities; to provide for consumer protections for customers; to allow5 customers to access their own meter usage and provide such usage data to authorized third6 parties; to provide legislative findings; to provide for related matters; to provide an effective7 date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.8 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:9 SECTION 1.10 Chapter 3 of Title 46 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to electrical service,11 is amended by adding a new part to Article 1, relating to gener ation and distribution of12 electricity generally, and amending Article 2, which is reserved, as follows:13 S. B. 203 - 1 - 25 LC 55 0481 "Part 614 46-3-80.15 This part shall be known and may be cited as the 'Georgia Homegrown Solar Act of 2025.'16 46-3-81.17 The General Assembly finds that it is in the public interest to:18 (1) Continue to encourage private investment in solar resources in the service territory19 of Georgia's largest electric utility;20 (2) Stimulate economic growth and job creation in this state;21 (3) Promote energy resilience; and22 (4) Enable customers in this state to access solar technologie s that help them manage23 their electric bills.24 25 46-3-82.26 As used in this part, the term:27 (1) 'Avoided cost' means the incremental cost to an electric u tility which, but for the28 provision of energy and capacity from a solar technology, such electric utility would29 incur to generate or procure electricity from another source.30 (2) 'Bill credit' means the monetary value of kilowatt hours generated by a community31 solar facility allocated to a subscriber's electricity bill pursuant to the community solar32 program created by the commission and subject to commission jurisdiction as described33 in this part.34 (3) 'Community solar facility' means a system that:35 (A) Generates electric energy that is fueled solely by ambient sunlight and is connected36 to the electric utility's distribution system;37 (B) Is located within the same electric service territory as the customers it serves; 38 S. B. 203 - 2 - 25 LC 55 0481 (C) Has no subscribers that own a subscription for more than 4 0 percent of such39 facility's output;40 (D) Is not selling its energy outside of the community solar program; and41 (E)(i) Except as provided in division (ii) of this subparagraph, is not located on the42 same parcel as another system that meets the requirements of su bparagraphs (A)43 through (D) of this paragraph if the total capacity of the syst ems would exceed 544 megawatts alternating current; provided, however, that such par cel shall not have45 been subdivided in order to meet such requirements.46 (ii) The requirements of division (i) of this subparagraph sha ll not apply to an47 aggregate of multiple systems that together do not exceed 5 meg awatts alternating48 current if such systems are located on the rooftops of building s, on brownfield49 properties, as such term is defined in Code Section 48-5-7.6, d eemed to be in50 compliance with risk reduction standards, on landfills, or over parking lots or51 roadways.52 (4) 'Community solar organization' means any for profit or nonprofit entity that owns,53 operates, or manages subscriptions for one or more community solar facilities.54 (5) 'Electric utility' means any retail supplier of electricity whose rates are fixed by the55 commission, and shall not include any electric membership corpo ration or municipal56 electric utility.57 (6) 'Subscriber' means a retail customer of an electric utilit y that owns one or more58 subscriptions of a community solar facility.59 46-3-83.60 A community solar organization:61 (1) May sell subscriptions at a rate that shall result in bill savings for the subscriber;62 provided, however, that such subscriptions shall be sized such that the estimated credits63 S. B. 203 - 3 - 25 LC 55 0481 do not exceed 90 percent of the subscriber's average or expecte d annual bill for the64 customer account to which the subscription is attributed;65 (2) Shall not require credit checks or up-front, sign-on, or exit fees to purchase, transfer66 or terminate a subscription;67 (3) Shall provide the electric utility with information necessary to allocate bill credits to68 each subscriber;69 (4) May bank unsubscribed energy for no more than 24 months at which point such70 energy shall be purchased by the electric utility at avoided cost;71 (5) May transfer or retire on behalf of subscribers the renewable energy credits produced72 by its community solar facilities; and73 (6) Shall be subject to the rules and regulations adopted by the commission pursuant to74 this part; provided, however, that the sale or transfer of subs criptions shall not be75 considered the provision of electric service to the public, retail electric service, or retail76 supply of electricity and neither the subscriber nor the community solar organization shall77 be considered an electric supplier within the meaning of Part 1 of this article or in78 violation of exclusive electric service rights arising therein.79 46-3-84.80 (a) On or before January 1, 2027, the commission shall establi sh a program that affords81 customers the opportunity to participate in community solar pro jects and which shall82 reasonably allow for the creation, financing, and accessibility of community solar facilities. 83 Under such program:84 (1) Electric utilities shall provide bill credits to subscribers derived from the utility's total85 aggregate retail rate on a per-customer-class basis, less commission approved distribution86 cost components;87 (2) Excess credits on a subscriber's bill shall role over from month to month until the end88 of each calendar year and any such excess credits shall automat ically be applied to the89 S. B. 203 - 4 - 25 LC 55 0481 next electric bill of a subscriber when the subscriber's subscription is terminated for any90 reason;91 (3) Electric utilities shall provide to community solar organizations a web based hosting92 capacity tool to indicate where and how much available capacity exists on the distribution93 system, updated on at least a semiannual basis;94 (4) Electric utilities may impose fees on community solar orga nizations which fees, if95 any, shall be:96 (A) Just, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory;97 (B) Based on the actual cost of providing the service for which the fee is imposed;98 (C) Approved by the commission after public notice, a public h earing, and an99 opportunity for public comment; and100 (D) Not more than 1 percent of the bill credit value accrued from such organization's101 subscriptions during the term for which the fee is imposed, unl ess found by the102 commission to be necessary to protect the public interest; and103 (5) Electric utilities may, notwithstanding the provisions of Code Section 46-3A-3, enter104 into a long-term purchase agreement with a community solar organization.105 (b) The commission may establish rules and regulations that provide for the protection of106 customers that have subscriptions with or are prospective subscribers of a community solar107 facility. Such rules and regulations may relate to the totality of the subscription and the bill108 crediting process, including requiring standardized customer disclosure forms that identify109 key information that shall be provided by community solar organ izations to potential110 subscribers.111 46-3-85.112 (a) On and after July 1, 2025, an electric utility shall accept interconnection applications113 for community solar facilities on a nondiscriminatory basis and study the impact of114 interconnecting such facilities to the grid using the current c ommission approved115 S. B. 203 - 5 - 25 LC 55 0481 interconnection rules, regulations, standards, and tariffs and in accordance with best116 practices.117 (b) On or before January 1, 2026, the commission shall establi sh an Interconnection118 Working Group between electric utilities and stakeholders with oversight from commission119 staff. The Interconnection Working Group shall review and reco mmend changes or120 adoption of any policies, processes, rules, regulations, standards, and tariffs associated with121 the interconnection of community solar facilities with the goal of transparency, accuracy,122 and efficiency to support the achievement of the objectives in this part. The123 Interconnection Working Group shall report its findings and rec ommendations to the124 commission on or before July 1, 2026. The commission shall rev iew the findings and125 recommendations of the Interconnection Working Group and take a ny action that the126 commission deems necessary.127 (c) On or before October 1, 2026, each electric utility shall submit for commission review128 and approval a standard interconnection agreement for community solar facilities that129 meets the following requirements:130 (1) An electric utility may recover any direct costs associated with interconnecting and131 administering metering services as approved by the commission. Any fees imposed shall132 be:133 (A) Just, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory;134 (B) Based on the actual cost of providing the service for which the fee is imposed; and135 (C) Approved by the commission after public notice, a public h earing, and an136 opportunity for public comment;137 (2) A community solar facility shall include, at the interconn ection applicant's own138 expense, all equipment necessary to meet applicable safety, pow er quality, and139 interconnection requirements established by the National Electr ical Code, National140 Electrical Safety Code, Institute of Electrical and Electronics E n g i n e e r s , a n d141 Underwriters Laboratories;142 S. B. 203 - 6 - 25 LC 55 0481 (3) An electric utility shall not require an interconnection applicant whose community143 solar facility meets the standards in paragraph (2) of this sub section to comply with144 additional safety or performance standards, perform or pay for additional tests, or145 purchase additional liability insurance; and146 (4) No electric utility shall be liable to any person, directly or indirectly, for any loss of147 property, injury, or death that may result from the interconnection of a community solar148 facility.149 46-3-86.150 On or before January 1, 2027, each electric utility shall file for commission review a data151 access program. Such data access program shall be designed to better enable customers'152 investments in or subscriptions to conservation and clean energy technologies, including,153 but not limited to, photovoltaic solar, energy efficiency technologies, battery storage, smart154 thermostats, and electric vehicles. Following public notice and an opportunity for public155 comment, the commission shall adopt or amend such proposed program, which the electric156 utility shall make available to customers within nine months of the commission's final157 order. An electric utility's data access program shall conform to the following158 requirements:159 (1) As part of basic utility service, an electric utility shal l provide meter usage data in160 electronic machine-readable form, without additional charge, to the customer or to any161 third-party recipient to whom the customer has authorized disclosure of the customer's162 meter usage data. Such access shall conform to nationally recognized open standards and163 best practices and shall be provided in 15 minute intervals or the shortest interval164 available through existing meters;165 (2) An electric utility shall maintain and provide at least 24 months of meter usage data166 or the period of time that a customer has had an account at a given address, whichever is167 less; and168 S. B. 203 - 7 - 25 LC 55 0481 (3) If requests are made for information other than meter usage data or data older than169 24 months preceding the request, the electric utility may charge customers a reasonable170 fee to provide such data that is established by the commission based on the electric171 utility's marginal cost to provide such data.172 ARTICLE 2173 46-3-70. 46-3-90.174 Reserved."175 SECTION 2.176 This Act shall become effective on July 1, 2025.177 SECTION 3.178 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.179 S. B. 203 - 8 -