The Maine House has approved a microgrid bill that would open the state to microgrid development and clarify utility and operator roles.
L.D. 13, passed by the House on a 85-54 vote in mid-March, directs the Maine Public Utilities Commission to approve microgrid proposals of up to 25 MW if they are in the public interest.
The bill originally had a 10-MW cap on the size of potential microgrids, but Mt. Desert Island is considering setting up a microgrid and the Joint Standing Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology decided to increase the cap to match the island’s needs, according to Rep. Seth Berry, one of the panel’s chairs.
Maine technically allows microgrids, but under current law it is easier to form a utility to provide microgrid services than to simply establish a microgrid, Berry said in an interview.
“It’s not possible to set up a true microgrid,” Berry said. “The minute you need poles and wires to deliver power between customers, then you’re acting as a utility.”
To deal with that issue, the bill declares that microgrid operators would not be deemed public utilities under Maine statute.
Criteria for regulatory review
The bill sets criteria the PUC must use when reviewing microgrids proposals, including that they meet Maine’s renewable portfolio standard requirements and that they are in the service territory of a utility with at least 50,000 customers.
Also, anyone proposing a microgrid must have the financial and technical capacity to build and operate one, according to the bill. The microgrid must be shown not to hurt grid reliability.
There must also be a contractual relationship between the microgrid operator and consumers within the area to be served by the proposed microgrid.
In a key change, the bill was amended to remove language barring investor-owned utilities and their affiliates from owning and operating microgrids.
When reviewing proposed projects, the PUC may consider possible ratepayer effects, positive or negative, benefits from increased resilience or reliability of the electric grid, economic development benefits or “any other factors” the commission considers necessary to promote the public interest, according to the bill
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