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RENEW Wisconsin Newswire - September 29, 2003
PSC Adopts New Interconnection Rules
MADISON – The Public Service Commission (PSC) adopted September 25 a new chapter in its administrative code (PSC 119) that sets forth uniform standards for interconnecting small-scale generators to utility distribution systems. If final approval is given by the Legislature, the new rules will standardize the technical requirements and application procedures that prospective system owners must follow.
A combination of improved technological performance and growing customer interest in distributed generation (DG) systems created the impetus to revise the state’s 22-year-old interconnection rules. Regarded by DG equipment manufacturers and installers as obsolete and a formidable barrier to system hook-ups, the old rules allowed utilities considerable latitude in setting their own procedures and requirements for interconnection.
“Under the old rules, installers and system owners often found themselves flying blind when dealing with their local utilities, and some fell into a black hole as a result,” said Michael Vickerman, Executive Director of RENEW Wisconsin. “With the new rules, prospective customer-generators will know going into the interconnection process what their obligations are and how long the application review will last.”
The new rules will apply to all public utilities, and will govern new distributed generating systems up to 15 megawatts (MW) that are operating in parallel with electric utilities.
PSC 119 was drafted by an advisory committee reporting to the PSC. This group is composed of electric utility representatives, state agency officials, and DG equipment manufacturers, contractors, dealers and installers.
“These rules will ease a significant implementation barrier to distributed generation and will lay a foundation to foster future improvements to support the functioning of the electric power distribution grid in Wisconsin,” said Larry Krom of Focus on Energy, a public-private partnership promoting energy conservation and customer-owned renewable energy use.
Though PSC 119 is not yet official, one utility, Alliant Energy, has already incorporated many provisions from it into their internal procedures. Similarly, Wisconsin’s rural electric cooperatives are likely to adopt the new standards and procedures for themselves, even though they are not subject to PSC rulemaking authority.
Under the new rules, there will be four categories of DG facilities, differentiated by the installation’s nameplate capacity.
Category 1
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20 kW or less
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Category 2
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Greater than 20 kW to 200 kW
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Category 3
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Greater than 200 kW to 1 MW
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Category 4
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Greater than 1 MW to 15 MW
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The new rules define the application procedures that utilities and customers must observe during the application process. Under the new procedures, utilities must respond to inquiries and conduct engineering reviews within a specified amount of time that varies according to installation size. All applicants are expected to furnish a site plan that shows the location of the disconnect switch and a one-line schematic diagram.
PSC 119 also spells out the technical, legal and financial obligations that applicants must accept prior to interconnection. Generally speaking, these requirements become more stringent as installation size increases.
The 20 kW dividing line between Category 1 and Category 2 installations corresponds with the maximum capacity allowable under the state’s net energy billing regulation. Systems that qualify for net energy billing are not considered commercial ventures that require commercial liability insurance.
The rules will not take effect until the appropriate legislative committees have signed off on them. Upon receiving the new rules, the Legislature has 30 days to review them and to decide whether to hold a hearing on them.
The interconnection rulemaking, which began in August 2001, grew out of a stakeholder effort launched by RENEW early in 2001. Operating on a $50,000 grant from the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation, RENEW assembled a collaborative body that closely resembled the Advisory Committee that put together PDSC 119. This group met regularly to discuss ways of removing or reducing barriers to interconnection that customer-generators routinely experience. Much of the technical and legal research occurred in this initial phase, before the Legislature directed the PSC in the summer of 2000 to convene a formal rulemaking docket to revise the old interconnection rules.
Focus on Energy contact: Larry Krom.
Phone: 608.588.7231;
E-mail: LK@wisolarelectric.com
Michael Vickerman
RENEW Wisconsin
222 S. Hamilton St.
Madison, WI 53703
Phone: (608) 255-4044
E-mail: mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org
To learn how renewable energy is powering Wisconsin, visit RENEW Wisconsin's web site at http://www.renewwisconsin.org.
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