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EPACT 2005 Provides Residential Net Metering

Below are excerpts from the 2005 EPACT.  It requires utilities to provide net metering and smart metering upon request of the consumer.  Net metering allows the home owner to produce his own electricity and run his meter backwards so that at the end of the billing period he or she has a reduced electric bill.  The home owner can produce electricity from a number of sources such as wind generators or solar cells or hydrogen fuel cells.  Renewable Energy Sources or Green energy or Environmentally Friendly sources of electricity are becoming available to the home owner.

EPACT 2005 Provides Residential Time of Use Metering

Your summer electricity bills are higher than in the winter because utility companies charge almost double for electricity during the heat of the afternoon when the electricity demands are so great.  Smart metering or time of use metering can help you observe your electricity use hour by hour during the day.  You can use the data to see how much electricity your house is using when you think everything is turned off.  You can also use the data to use less electricity during the high dollar peak load times, generally from 2pm to 7pm for the five summer months, May through September.

SEC. 1251. NET METERING AND ADDITIONAL STANDARDS.

(a) ADOPTION OF STANDARDS.—Section 111(d) of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2621(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

‘‘(11) NET METERING.—Each electric utility shall make available upon request net metering service to any electric consumer that the electric utility serves. For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘net metering service’ means service to an electric consumer under which electric energy generated by that electric consumer from an eligible on-site generating facility and delivered to the local distribution facilities may be used to offset electric energy provided by the electric utility to the electric consumer during the applicable billing period.

SEC. 1252. SMART METERING.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 111(d) of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2621(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

‘‘(14) TIME-BASED METERING AND COMMUNICATIONS.—

(A) Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this paragraph, each electric utility shall offer each of its customer classes, and provide individual customers upon customer request, a time-based rate schedule under which the rate charged by the electric utility varies during different time periods and reflects the variance, if any, in the utility’s costs of generating and purchasing electricity at the wholesale level. The time-based rate schedule shall enable the electric consumer to manage energy use and cost through advanced metering and communications technology.

‘‘(B) The types of time-based rate schedules that may be offered under the schedule referred to in subparagraph (A) include, among others—

‘‘(i) time-of-use pricing whereby electricity prices are set for a specific time period on an advance or forward basis, typically not changing more often than twice a year, based on the utility’s cost of generating and/or purchasing such electricity at the wholesale level for the benefit of the consumer. Prices paid for energy consumed during these periods shall be pre-established and known to consumers in advance of such consumption, allowing them to vary their demand and usage in response to such prices and manage their energy costs by shifting usage to a lower cost period or reducing their consumption overall;

‘‘(ii) critical peak pricing whereby time-of-use prices are in effect except for certain peak days, when prices may reflect the costs of generating and/or purchasing electricity at the wholesale level and when consumers may receive additional discounts for reducing peak period energy consumption;

‘‘(iii) real-time pricing whereby electricity prices are set for a specific time period on an advanced or forward basis, reflecting the utility’s cost of generating and/or purchasing electricity at the wholesale level, and may change as often as hourly; and 

‘‘(iv) credits for consumers with large loads who enter into pre-established peak load reduction agreements that reduce a utility’s planned capacity obligations.

‘‘(C) Each electric utility subject to subparagraph (A) shall provide each customer requesting a time-based rate with a time-based meter capable of enabling the utility and customer to offer and receive such rate, respective