Rules for community renewable energy programs

(a) Each electric utility in the State shall file a proposed community-based renewable energy tariff or tariffs with the public utilities commission by October 1, 2015. The public utilities commission shall establish a community-based renewable energy tariff or tariffs, pursuant to section 269-16; provided that the tariff or tariffs are found to be in the public interest. (b) Any person or entity may own or operate an eligible community-based renewable energy project or projects provided that the person or entity complies with all applicable statutes, rules, tariffs, and regulations governing the ownership and interconnection of such project or projects. (c) As used in this section: "Community-based renewable energy tariff" means a tariff approved by the commission that: (1) Allows an electric utility customer to participate in an eligible renewable energy project that is providing electricity and electric grid services to the electric utility; (2) Allows the electric utility to implement a billing arrangement to compensate those customers for the electricity and electric grid services provided to the electric utility; (3) Is designed to provide fair compensation for electricity, electric grid services, and other benefits provided to or by the electric utility, participating ratepayers, and non-participating ratepayers; and (4) To the extent possible, standardizes and streamlines the related interconnection processes for community-based renewable energy projects.