An Act To Increase the Availability of Solar and Wind Power
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 35-A MRSA §3211-C, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2007, c. 661, Pt. D, §1, is further amended to read:
3. Funding level; fund. The commission shall assess transmission and distribution utilities to collect funds for the solar and wind energy rebate program in accordance with this subsection. The amount of all assessments by the commission under this subsection must result in total program expenditures by each transmission and distribution utility that do not exceed 0.005 0.01 cent per kilowatt-hour. To the extent practicable, the commission shall establish and collect the assessment in a manner that is consistent with the assessment made under section 3211-A. The commission shall establish a solar and wind energy rebate program fund to be used solely for the purposes of this section. All assessments made under this subsection are deposited in the fund. Any interest on funds in the fund must be credited to the fund. Funds not spent in any fiscal year remain in the fund to be used for the purposes of this section. The commission shall determine the allotment of the fund in each fiscal year between solar photovoltaic system rebates, solar thermal system rebates and qualified wind energy system rebates, with a minimum of 20% of the fund provided to each of the 3 types of rebates.
Sec. 2. 35-A MRSA §3211-C, sub-§6, as amended by PL 2007, c. 661, Pt. D, §1, is further amended to read:
6. Limitation to residents of State. Participation in the solar and wind energy rebate program and fund established in this section is limited to residents of the State. This section is repealed December 31, 2010.
Summary
This bill raises the upper limit of the assessments on transmission and distribution utilities for the solar and wind energy rebate program from 0.005 cent per kilowatt-hour to 0.01 cent per kilowatt-hour. The bill also repeals the provision abolishing the program on December 31, 2010.