CHAPTER 45

H.P. 966 - L.D. 1312

Resolve, Relating to Renewable Resources

Sec. 1. Public Utilities Commission examination. Resolved: That the Public Utilities Commission shall examine mechanisms designed to ensure a secure, adequate and reliable supply of electricity for state residents and to maintain and increase the State's use of renewable and indigenous resources. In particular, the commission shall examine mechanisms that would provide adequate support for indigenous Maine generation facilities, including, but not limited to, hydroelectric facilities with a capacity of 30 megawatts or less, biomass generators and hydrogen-based fuel cell generators. The commission shall develop an analysis that articulates, to the extent possible, the cost of achieving the various goals and the most effective forms of each of the following support mechanisms:

1. A renewable portfolio requirement, similar in design to the current requirement under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35-A, section 3210, with appropriate modifications to ensure that it is both effective and permits a reasonable estimate of the cost to consumers;

2. A system benefits charge, with clearly articulated mechanisms for collecting and disbursing funds;

3. A mechanism that would use purchases from Maine's renewable generators to satisfy a portion of standard offer supply, with appropriate specificity for how such purchases would affect consumer prices, by and from whom purchases would be made, for what period of time any renewable portion of the standard offer supply should be offered and the impact on other features