[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 120 (Tuesday, August 2, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5261-S5262]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. WYDEN:
  S. 1491. A bill to amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act 
of 1978 to expand the electric rate-setting authority of States; to the 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, today I rise to introduce the PURPA PLUS 
Act.
  In my home State we have numerous emerging small renewable energy 
technologies, such as wave energy buoys, hydropower turbines in 
irrigation canals, biomass burning cogeneration facilities and rooftop 
solar installations. Like Oregon, many States have sought to advance 
new electricity technologies by providing these kinds of projects with 
higher power purchase rates for their power than utility companies 
normally pay for electricity. These incentive rates allow individuals 
and small businesses to recover money they invest in solar panels or 
other electricity generation projects over a reasonable period of time.
  The PURPA PLUS Act simply provides States the clear legal authority 
to set these incentive rates for small renewable energy projects. 
Currently, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, FERC, has 
exclusive jurisdiction over wholesale energy prices. Under the Public 
Utility Regulatory Policies Act, PURPA, FERC regulates the price that 
utility companies pay for electricity from small, independent power 
providers and that rate can be no higher than what it would normally 
cost a utility company to buy additional power, known as ``avoided 
cost''. My bill would transfer the authority for setting power purchase 
rates for small power projects of less than 2 megawatts from FERC to 
the States. This transfer is voluntary. If a State chose to exercise 
this authority to promote small wind energy development, or solar, or 
cogeneration projects, it could. If a State chose not to use this 
authority, FERC would continue to regulate these projects as before. By 
capping the project size at 2 megawatts, the bill only extends this new 
authority for small projects that are providing very small amounts of 
power to the local utility company. It would leave regulation of large 
wind farms, hydroprojects and other large renewable energy projects 
that often sell their power to out-of-state customers unchanged. 
Conversely, it shouldn't be necessary for the Federal Government to get 
involved in setting rates for solar panels on top of a house or 
apartment building.
  At a time when both State legislatures and the Federal Government are 
tightening their purse strings on grants, loans and tax incentives for 
the development of renewable energy projects, this legislation would 
give State public utility commissions another tool to promote small 
renewable resources. In Oregon, the State legislature and State utility 
commission have already established a pilot program to spur residential 
rooftop solar projects.

[[Page S5262]]

Oregon's utility commission also has a program that allows net metering 
of renewable customer-produced energy where customers are charged for 
the extra energy they buy from the utility company minus the amount of 
electricity produced themselves. This bill will simply provide these 
programs stronger legal footing, and allow States to expand these sorts 
of programs if they wish.
  While I acknowledge that the power from these small projects may be 
more expensive than a large central generation station powered by coal 
or gas, I believe that States should be able to consider the associated 
benefits of small renewable power and set higher prices when the 
benefits outweigh the costs if they choose. Benefits of small renewable 
energy projects include local job creation, less investment in high-
voltage transmission lines, diversity in an area's power generation 
portfolio, and the environmental benefits of green energy.
  The bill has the support of the National Association of Regulatory 
Utility Commissioners, which represents the individual State 
commissions, as well as the Solar Energy Industry Association, the 
Distributed Wind Energy Association, the Clean Coalition and the Oregon 
Public Utility Commission. I am very pleased to be introducing this 
bill with my colleague on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, 
Senator Coons. I hope that many of our colleagues will join us in 
supporting this bill.
                                 ______