Revision: March 5, 2025, 1:41 p.m.
Rep. Vose, Rock. 5
Rep. Harrington, Straf. 18
March 3, 2025
2025-0678h
09/06
Amendment to HB 219-FN
Amend the title of the bill by replacing it with the following:
AN ACT relative to changes to the minimum electric renewable portfolio standards.
Amend the bill by replacing all after the enacting clause with the following:
1 Electric Renewable Energy Classes. Amend RSA 362-F:4, I(a) to read as follows:
(a) Wind energy, except that mandated by government procurements.
2 Electric Renewable Energy Classes. RSA 362-F:4, I(h) is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
(h) Solar energy if the solar energy produces electricity.
3 Minimum Electric Renewable Portfolio Standards. Amend RSA 362-F:3 to read as follows:
362-F:3 Minimum Electric Renewable Portfolio Standards. For each year specified in the table below, each provider of electricity shall obtain and retire certificates sufficient in number and class type to meet or exceed the following percentages of total megawatt-hours of electricity supplied by the provider to its end-use customers that year, except to the extent that the provider makes payments to the renewable energy fund under RSA 362-F:10, II:
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2025 and thereafter
Class I 0.0% 0.5% 1% 2% 3% 3.8% 5% 6% 15% (*)
[Class II 0.0% 0.0% 0.04% 0.08% 0.15% 0.2% 0.3% 0.3% 0.7% ]
Class III 3.5% 4.5% 5.5% 6.5% 1.4% 1.5% 3.0% 8.0% 8.0%
Class IV 0.5% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1.3% 1.4% 1.5% 1.5%
*Class I increases an additional 0.9 percent per year from 2015 through 2025. A set percentage of the class I totals shall be satisfied annually by the acquisition of renewable energy certificates from qualifying renewable energy technologies producing useful thermal energy as defined in RSA 362-F:2, XV-a. The set percentage shall be 0.4 percent in 2014, 0.6 percent in 2015, 0.8 percent in 2016, and increased annually by 0.2 percent per year from 2017 through 2023, and then reduce to 1.7 percent beginning on August 1, 2025, after which it shall remain unchanged. [Class II shall increase to 0.5 percent beginning in 2018, 0.6 percent beginning in 2019, and 0.7 percent beginning in 2020, otherwise] Classes [II-IV] III and IV shall remain at the same percentages from 2015 through 2025 except as provided in RSA 362-F:4, V-VI.
4 Electric Renewable Energy Classes. Amend RSA 362-F:4, V to read as follows:
V. For good cause, and after notice and hearing, the department of energy may accelerate or delay by up to one year, any given year's incremental increase in class I [or II] renewable portfolio standards requirement under RSA 362-F:3.
5 Electric Renewable Portfolio Standard; Definitions. Amend RSA 362-F:2, XV to read as follows:
XV. "Renewable energy source," "renewable source," or "source" means a class I, [II,] III, or IV source of electricity or a class I source of useful thermal energy. An electrical generating facility, while selling its electrical output at long-term rates established before January 1, 2007, by orders of the commission under RSA 362-A:4, shall not be considered a renewable source.
6 Renewable Energy Fund. Amend RSA 362-F:10, I to read as follows:
I. There is hereby established a renewable energy fund. This nonlapsing special fund shall be continually appropriated to the department of energy to be expended in accordance with this section; provided that at the start of the period in which there is no adopted state operating budget, the department of energy shall in a timely manner seek the approval of the fiscal committee of the general court to continue using moneys from the renewable energy fund to support renewable energy rebate and grant programs in order to ensure there are no interruptions to the programs. The state treasurer shall invest the moneys deposited therein as provided by law. Income received on investments made by the state treasurer shall also be credited to the fund. All payments to be made under this section shall be deposited in the fund. Any remaining moneys paid into the fund under paragraph II of this section[, excluding class II moneys,] shall be used by the department of energy to support thermal and electrical renewable energy initiatives and offshore wind initiatives, including the office of offshore wind industry development and energy innovation. [Class II moneys shall primarily be used to support solar energy technologies in New Hampshire.] All initiatives supported out of these funds shall be subject to audit by the department of energy as deemed necessary. All fund moneys [including those from class II] may be used to administer this chapter, but all new employee positions shall be approved by the fiscal committee of the general court. No new employees shall be hired by the department of energy due to the inclusion of useful thermal energy in class I production.
7 Renewable Energy Fund. RSA 362-F:10, III is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
III. Beginning June 30, 2025 these rates shall be fixed at the following levels:
(a) Class I - $42, except for that portion of the class electric renewable portfolio standards to be met by qualifying renewable energy technologies producing useful thermal energy under RSA 362-F:3, which shall be $30.
(b) Class III - $42.
(c) Class IV - $37.
8 Renewable Energy Certificates. Amend RSA 362-F:6, II-a to read as follows:
II-a. The department of energy shall establish a methodology to estimate the total yearly production for customer-sited sources that are net metered under RSA 362-A:9 and for which class I [or II] certificates are not issued. For purposes of estimation, the department of energy shall use a capacity factor rating of 20 percent for each class I installation. [The department of energy shall separately estimate class II output using a capacity factor rating equal to the annual PV Energy Forecast issued by the Distributed Generation Working Group under ISO New England, or its successor.] Providers of electricity required to obtain and retire certificates under RSA 362-F:3 shall receive an annual credit for such production according to its class. By February 28 of each year, the department of energy shall compute and make public credit percentages that are equal to the estimated production for the prior calendar year in each class divided by the total amount of electricity supplied by providers of electricity to end-use customers in the prior calendar year, with the result converted to a percentage. Each provider may then, at the time of its annual report filing under RSA 362-F:8, claim a class I [and a class II] certificate credit equal to the credit percentage times the total megawatt-hours of electricity supplied by the provider to its end-use customers the prior calendar year.
9 Repeal. The following are repealed:
I. RSA 362-F:4, I(h), relative to class II sources.
II. RSA 362-F:4, II, relative to class II renewable energy.
III. RSA 362-F:15, I, relative to class II increases.
10 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
2025-0678h
AMENDED ANALYSIS
This bill makes changes to the minimum electric renewable portfolio standards.