Maine Commission Begins Process to Solicit Long-Term Contracts for 375 Megawatts of Distributed Generation

The Maine Public Utilities Commission on Aug. 28 proposed rules governing the periodic procurement of distributed renewable resources in accordance with legislation enacted in June. The law directs the agency to conduct multiple solicitations to obtain 250 megawatts of distributed generation from shared resources and 125 megawatts from commercial and institutional accounts over the next five years.

The commission is required to hold an initial solicitation for the first block of output on or before July 1, 2020, and establish market-based, declining block contract rates to procure the remainder by July 1, 2024.

In addition to the competitive procurements, the legislation broadens customer access to net metering by expanding the capacity of eligible facilities to 5 megawatts from the previous 660 kilowatts and removes the limit on the number of customers who can participate in a community solar farm.

Initial and final comments are due by Sept. 20 and Oct. 18, respectively. The commission will hold a public hearing on the proposed rule on Oct. 8.