Bill > SB547

Introduced Session

Legislative Counsel's Digest: Section 2of this bill excludes from regulation as a public utility certain plants 1 or equipment used by a data center but only with respect to operations of the data 2 center which consist of providing electric service. 3 Existing law authorizes certain customers of an electric utility to apply to the 4 Public Utilities Commission of Nevada for approval to purchase energy, capacity 5 and ancillary services from a provider of new electric resources. If the Commission 6 approves such an application, the Commission is required to order such terms, 7 conditions and payments as the Commission deems necessary and appropriate to 8 ensure that the transaction will not be contrary to the public interest and the eligible 9 customer is authorized to begin purchasing energy, capacity and ancillary services 10 from the provider of new electric resources in accordance with the order of the 11 Commission. (NRS 704B.310) 12 Existing law requires the Commission to levy and collect an annual mill tax on 13 public utilities that are subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission. (NRS 14 704.033) Under existing law, if the Commission authorizes a customer of an 15 electric utility to purchase energy, capacity and ancillary services from a provider 16 of new electric resources, the Commission is required to order the customer to pay 17 its share of the annual mill tax levied by the Commission and to pay any other tax, 18 fee or assessment that would be due to a governmental entity had the customer 19 continued to purchase energy, capacity or ancillary services from the electric utility. 20 (NRS 704B.360) Sections 3and 21of this bill revise this requirement by removing 21 the requirement for an order of the Commission and, instead, imposing the 22 requirement to pay the annual mill tax and any other taxes, fees or assessments on 23 the customer or the provider of new electric resources, as applicable. Section 2124 further requires the customer or the provider of new electric resources, as 25 applicable, to pay any costs, fees or rates which are imposed by the electric utility, 26 associated with the implementation of certain public policies and determined by the 27 Commission to be appropriate for collection from customers who purchase energy, 28 capacity or ancillary services from a provider of new electric resources. 29 Existing law requires each electric utility to submit to the Commission every 3 30 years an integrated resource plan to increase the utility s supply of electricity or 31 decrease the demands made on its system by its customers. (NRS 704.741) Section 32 5of this bill requires the integrated resource plan to include a proposal for annual 33 limits on the energy and capacity that eligible customers are authorized to purchase 34 from providers of new electric resources through transactions approved by the 35 Commission. Section 5further requires the proposal to include certain information, 36 including, without limitation, impact fees applicable to each megawatt or megawatt 37 hour to account for certain costs. Section 6of this bill requires the Commission, in 38 considering whether to approve or modify the annual limits, to consider whether the 39 proposed limits promote safe, economic, efficient and reliable electric service and 40 encourage the development and use of renewable energy resources. 41 Section 16of this bill prohibits a provider of new electric resources from 42 selling energy, capacity or ancillary services to any person or governmental entity 43 in this State unless the provider holds a license to do so issued by the Commission. 44 Section 9of this bill establishes the requirements a provider of new electric 45 resources is required to satisfy to qualify for a license and authorizes the 46 Commission to adopt regulations requiring a provider of new electric resources to 47 provide certain information. Section 26of this bill authorizes a provider of new 48 electric resources who sold energy, capacity or ancillary services to a customer 49 before the effective date of this bill to continue to sell energy, capacity or ancillary 50 services to that customer without obtaining a license if the provider submits an 51 application for a license to the Commission not later than 30 days after a date 52 established by the Commission by regulation and the Commission issues the 53 license. Sections 8and 11of this bill make conforming changes. 54 Section 10of this bill: (1) requires the Commission to adopt regulations to 55 establish a procedure by which a customer who has been approved to purchase 56 energy, capacity or ancillary services from a provider of new electric resources may 57 apply to the Commission to return to purchasing bundled electric service from an 58 electric utility; (2) authorizes the Commission to establish such terms and 59 conditions on such a return as the Commission deems necessary and appropriate to 60 protect the existing customers of the electric utility; and (3) authorizes the 61 Commission to limit the number of times a customer is authorized to be approved 62 to purchase energy, capacity or ancillary services from a provider of new electric 63 resources. 64 Section 12of this bill provides that a nongovernmental commercial or 65 industrial end-use customer that was not a customer of an electric utility at any time 66 before the effective date of this bill is eligible to apply to the Commission for 67 approval to purchase energy, capacity or ancillary services from a provider of new 68 electric resources only if the average annual load of the customer will be 1 69 megawatt or more and the customer is expected to commence purchasing energy, 70 capacity or ancillary services from a provider of new electric resources within 2 71 years after filing the application with the Commission. Section 25of this bill 72 provides that this provision does not apply to a person who, before the effective 73 date of this bill, was approved to purchase energy, capacity and ancillary services 74 from a provider of new electric resources. 75 Under existing law, a provider of new electric resources is qualified to sell 76 energy, capacity or ancillary services to an eligible customer if, among other 77 criteria, the provider makes the energy, capacity or ancillary services available from 78 certain generation assets. (NRS 704B.110, 704B.130) Section 13of this bill 79 authorizes a provider of new electric resources to make energy, capacity and 80 ancillary services available by market purchases made through the provider. 81 Existing law provides that the provisions of existing law governing the 82 purchase of energy, capacity or ancillary services from a provider of new electric 83 resources do not affect any rights or obligations arising under certain contracts 84 which were in existence on July 17, 2001. (NRS 704B.170) Section 14of this bill 85 removes the date from this provision and, thus, provides that the existing law 86 governing the purchase of energy, capacity or ancillary services from a provider of 87 new electric resources does not affect any contract. 88 Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada to submit to 89 the Legislative Commission, not later than 2 business days after receiving a request 90 from the Legislative Commission, a written report summarizing certain information 91 related to transactions between providers of new electric resources and customers 92 approved by the Commission to purchase energy, capacity or ancillary services 93 from such providers. (NRS 704B.210) Section 15of this bill requires this report to 94 include only the public information that the customer included in the application 95 filed with the Commission rather than all information that the customer included in 96 the application. 97 Section 17of this bill revises the procedure to apply for and obtain the 98 approval of the Commission to purchase energy, capacity and ancillary services 99 from a provider of new electric resources by: (1) authorizing an eligible customer to 100 file an application with the Commission only between January 2 and February 1 of 101 each calendar year; (2) requiring the application to be filed with the Commission 102 not later than 280 days, rather than not later than 180 days, before the date on 103 which the customer intends to begin purchasing energy, capacity or ancillary 104 services from a provider of new electric resources; (3) requiring the information 105 included with the application to be specific information about the customer, the 106 proposed provider and the terms and conditions of the proposed transaction; (4) 107 requiring the specific information included with the application to include 108 information identifying transmission requirements and the extent to which 109 transmission import capacity is needed; (5) prohibiting the Commission from 110 approving the application unless the Commission determines the application is in 111 the public interest rather than requiring approval of the application unless the 112 Commission finds the application contrary to the public interest; (6) revising the 113 factors the Commission is required to consider in determining whether the proposed 114 transaction is in the public interest; (7) revising the terms and conditions which the 115 Commission is required to order if it approves the application; and (8) prohibiting 116 the approval of an application if the approval of the application would cause the 117 energy and capacity that eligible customers are authorized to purchase from 118 providers of new electric resources to exceed the annual limit included in the 119 resource plan of the electric utility that has been accepted by the Commission. 120 Existing law authorizes a customer that is purchasing energy, capacity or 121 ancillary services from a provider of new electric resources to purchase energy, 122 capacity or ancillary services from an alternative provider without obtaining the 123 approval of the Commission if the terms and conditions of that transaction, other 124 than the price of the energy, capacity or ancillary services, conform to the 125 transaction originally approved by the Commission. (NRS 704B.325) Section 18of 126 this bill prohibits the purchase of energy, capacity or ancillary services from an 127 alternative provider unless the alternative provider is licensed as a provider of new 128 electric resources by the Commission pursuant to section 9. 129 Existing law authorizes a customer that is purchasing energy, capacity or 130 ancillary services from a provider of new electric resources to replace some or all 131 of that energy, capacity or ancillary services with energy, capacity or ancillary 132 services purchased from an electric utility pursuant to a tariff approved by the 133 Commission. (NRS 704B.330) Section 19of this bill provides that if the customer 134 receives such service from an electric utility for more than 30 days in a calendar 135 year, the customer is no longer authorized to purchase energy, capacity or ancillary 136 services from a provider of new electric resources and is required to reapply for 137 authorization to purchase energy, capacity or ancillary services from such a 138 provider if the customer wishes to make such purchases. 139 Existing law prohibits a provider of new electric resources from selling energy, 140 capacity or ancillary services to a customer unless the customer has a time-of-use 141 meter installed at the point of delivery of energy to the customer. Under existing 142 law, an electric utility is required to install a time-of-use meter at each point of 143 delivery of energy to the customer if the customer does not have a time-of-use 144 meter at that point of delivery. (NRS 704B.340) Section 20of this bill requires the 145 Commission to determine the date by which the electric utility is required to ensure 146 that metering equipment is operational for each customer who has been approved 147 by the Commission to purchase energy, capacity or ancillary services from a 148 provider of new electric resources. 149 Existing law requires each utility to: (1) conduct a vulnerability assessment in 150 accordance with the requirements of certain federal and regional agencies; (2) 151 prepare and maintain an emergency response plan in accordance with the 152 requirements of certain federal and regional agencies; and (3) at least once each 153 year, review its vulnerability assessment and emergency response plan and submit 154 to the Division of Emergency Management of the Department of Public Safety the 155 results of that review and any additions or modifications to its emergency response 156 plan. (NRS 239C.270) Section 23of this bill imposes these requirements on 157 providers of new electric resources. 158 Section 24of this bill provides that any application to purchase energy, 159 capacity or ancillary services from a provider of new electric resources that was 160 submitted to the Commission before the passage and approval of this bill is deemed 161 to be denied unless the Commission issues a final order approving the application 162 before July 1, 2019. 163 SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. NRS 703.330 is hereby amended to read as follows: 703.330 1. A complete record must be kept of all hearings 2 before the Commission. All testimony at such hearings must be 3 taken down by the stenographer appointed by the Commission or, 4 under the direction of any competent person appointed by the 5 Commission, must be reported by sound recording equipment in 6 the manner authorized for reporting testimony in district courts. The 7 testimony reported by a stenographer must be transcribed, and the 8 transcript filed with the record in the matter. The Commission may 9 by regulation provide for the transcription or safekeeping of sound 10 recordings. The costs of recording and transcribing testimony at any 11 hearing, except those hearings ordered pursuant to NRS 703.310, 12 must be paid by the applicant. If a complaint is made pursuant to 13 NRS 703.310 by a customer or by a political subdivision of the 14 State or municipal organization, the complainant is not liable for any 15 costs. Otherwise, if there are several applicants or parties to any 16 hearing, the Commission may apportion the costs among them in its 17 discretion. 18 2. A copy of the proceedings and testimony must be furnished 19 to any party, on payment of a reasonable amount to be fixed by the 20 Commission, and the amount must be the same for all parties. 21 3. The provisions of this section do not prohibit the 22 Commission from: 23 (a) Restricting access to the records and transcripts of a hearing 24 pursuant to paragraph (a) of subsection 3 of NRS 703.196. 25 (b) Protecting the confidentiality of information pursuant to 26 NRS 704B.310 , 704B.320 or 704B.325.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Christopher Brooks (D)*,  Yvanna Cancela (D)*,  Nicole Cannizzaro (D)*,  Jason Frierson (D)*,  Daniele Monroe-Moreno (D)*,  David Parks (D)*,  Pat Spearman (D)*,  Mo Denis (D),  James Ohrenschall (D),  Julia Ratti (D),  Joyce Woodhouse (D), 

Chapter 556. (on 06/13/2019)

Official Document