Amend the amendment by striking out all of section 1.

Amend the amendment by striking out all of section 4 and inserting the following:

Amend the amendment by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or section number to read consecutively.

summary

This amendment modifies Committee Amendment "B" as follows.

1. It provides that the new contracts with renewable resources for the purposes of reducing the price of electricity to ratepayers must comply with the current requirement that the price paid by the investor-owned transmission and distribution utility for any renewable energy credits must be lower than the price received for those renewable energy credits at the time they are sold by the transmission and distribution utility.

2. It removes the provision that allows a generator whose total power production capacity exceeds 100 megawatts to qualify as a renewable capacity resource under the so-called Class 1 portfolio requirement under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35-A, section 3210, subsection 3.

3. It limits the amount of electricity that can be contracted from generators whose total power production capacity exceeds 100 megawatts, to the extent those generators, as a result of the contracts, are allowed to qualify for the so-called Class 2 portfolio requirement under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35-A, section 3210, subsection 3-A. In the aggregate such contracts may not in any year account for more than 50% of the statewide Class 2 portfolio requirement.

The result of this amendment together with Committee Amendment "B" is to authorize the Public Utilities Commission to direct investor-owned transmission and distribution utilities to enter into contracts with renewable resources for the purpose of reducing the price of electricity to ratepayers. The contracts for electricity must be priced less than the applicable market clearing price at the time of delivery, except that if the commission determines that a discount price closer to the applicable market clearing price is necessary to achieve the purposes of this legislation, the commission may by major substantive rule establish a lower discount. Contracts may not involve in aggregate an amount of electric energy that exceeds 10% of the total statewide electric energy load and may not have a term that exceeds 20 years. The commission may require contracts for the electric energy and associated renewable energy credits, with appropriate valuation of each component. Resources under these contracts that otherwise qualify as renewable resources under the portfolio requirements but that exceed the current 100-megawatt limitations will become qualified to meet those portfolio requirements, commonly known as Class 2 renewable energy credits, in accordance with rules adopted by the commission. Such resources may not qualify for the portfolio requirements applicable to new renewable capacity resources, commonly known as Class 1 renewable energy credits. The contracts may not involve an amount of qualified renewable resources that exceeds in aggregate 50% of the applicable statewide portfolio requirements.