D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 15, r. 15-999

Current through Register 71, No. 45, November 7, 2024

Rule 15-999 - DEFINITIONS

When used in this chapter; the following terms and phrases shall have the following meaning:

999.1

"Behind-the -meter generator" - anon-site generator that is located behind a retail customer's meter such that no Electric Company-owned transmission or distribution facilities are used to deliver the energy from the generating unit to the on-site load.

"Back-up generation" - Any electric generating facility, as defined in D.C. Official Code Section 34-205, which is connected to the electric distribution system in the District of Columbia and not subject to the Commission's Small Generator Interconnection Rules because it does not operate parallel to the electric distribution system or operates in parallel less than 100 milliseconds.

"Capacity" means the maximum output, expressed in kilowatts, of an electric generator under specific conditions designated by the manufacturer, as indicated on a nameplate physically attached to the generator.

"Cogeneration facility" or "combined heat and power (CHP) facility" - A system that produces both electric energy, steam, or other forms of useful energy (such as heat) that are used for industrial, commercial, residential, heating or cooling purposes.

"Commission" means the Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia.

"Community Net Metering" or "CNM" means a billing arrangement under which the monetary value of electric energy generated by a Community Renewable Energy Facility and delivered to the Electric Company's local distribution facilities is used to create a billing credit for CREF Subscribers.

"Community Net Metering Credit" or "CNM Credit" means the credit realized by the Subscriber, based on its ownership share in the CREF. The credit will be reflected on the Subscriber's bills from the Electric Company.

"Community Renewable Energy Facility" or "CREF" means an energy facility with a capacity no greater than five (5) megawatts that: (a) uses renewable resources defined as a Tier One Renewable Source in accordance with Section 3(15) of the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard Act of 2004, effective April 12, 2005, (D.C. Law 15-340; D.C. Official Code § 34-1431(15) as amended); (b) is located within the District of Columbia; (c) has at least two (2) Subscribers; and (d) has executed an Interconnection Agreement and a CREF Rider with the Electric Company.

"Competitive Electricity Supplier" means a person, including an aggregator, broker, or marketer, who generates electricity; sells electricity; or purchases, brokers, arranges or markets electricity for sale or retail customers: The term excludes the following:

(A) Building owners, lessees, or managers who manage the internal distribution. system serving such building and who supply electricity solely to occupants of the building for use by the occupants;

(B)

(1) Any person who purchases electricity for its own use or for the use of its subsidiaries or affiliates; or

(2) Any apartment building or office building manager who aggregates electric service requirements for his or her building or buildings, or who does not:

(a) Take title to the electricity;

(b) Market electric services to the individually-metered tenants of his or her building; or

(c) Engage in the resale of electric service to others;

(C) Property owners who supply small amounts of power, at cost, as accommodation to lessors or licensees of the property; and

(D) A consolidator.

"Competitive Electricity Supplier" or "CES" means a person, other than the SOS Administrator, including an aggregator, broker, or marketer, who generates electricity; sells electricity; or purchases, brokers, arranges or markets electricity for sale to customers, and shall have the same meaning as the term "Electricity Supplier" set forth Section 101 of the Retail Electric Competition and Consumer Protection Act of 1999, effective May 9, 2000 (D.C. Law 13-107; D.C. Official Code § 34-1501) .

"CREF Credit Rate" means a credit rate applied to subscribers of community renewable energy facilities, which shall be equal to:

(a) For residential subscribers, the full retail rate, which includes generation, transmission, and distribution charges for the standard offer service General Service Low Voltage Non-Demand Customer class or its successor, as determined by the Commission, based upon Section 118 of the CREA; and

(b) For commercial subscribers, the standard offer service rate - including generation and transmission charges for the General Service Low Voltage Non-Demand Customer class or its successor, as determined by the Commission, based upon Section 118 of the CREA.

"Customer-generator" means a residential or commercial customer that owns (or leases or contracts) and operates an electric generating facility that:

(a) has a capacity of not more than 1000 kilowatts;

(b) uses renewable resources, cogeneration, fuel cells, or microturbines;

(c) is located on the customer's premises;

(d) is interconnected with the Electric Company's transmission and distribution facilities; and

(e) is intended primarily to offset all or part of the customer's own electricity requirements.

"Demand response" - A reduction or modification in the consumption of electric energy by customers from their expected consumption in response to an increase in the price of electric energy or to incentive payments, or behavioral signals designed to induce lower consumption of electric energy.

"Distributed energy resource" or "DER"- A resource sited close to the customer's load that can provide all or some of the customer's energy needs, can also be used by the system to either reduce demand (such as demand response) or increase supply to satisfy the energy, capacity, and/or ancillary service needs of the distribution or transmission system. Types of DER include, but are not limited to: photovoltaic solar, wind, cogeneration, energy storage, demand response, electric vehicles, microturbines, biomass, waste-to-energy, generating facilities, and energy efficiency.

"Distributed generation" - Any electric generating facility, as defined in D.C. Official Code § 34-205, which is connected to the electric distribution system in the District of Columbia and subject to the Commission's Small Generator Interconnection Rules.

"Electric company " includes every corporation, company, association, joint-stock company or association, partnership, or person doing business in the District of Columbia, their lessees, trustees, or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever, physically transmitting or distributing electricity in the District of Columbia to retail electric customers, excluding any person or entity distributing electricity from a behind-the- meter generator to a single retail customer behind the same meter and located on the same premise as the customer's meter. In addition, the term excludes any building owner, lessee, or manager who, respectively, owns, leases, or manages, the internal distribution system serving the building and who supplies electricity and other electricity related services solely to the occupants of the building for use by the occupants. The term also excludes a Person or entity that does not sell or distribute electricity and that owns or operates equipment used exclusively for the charging of electric vehicles.

"Electric vehicle " - A vehicle which is powered by an electric motor drawing current from rechargeable storage batteries, fuel cells, or other portable sources of electrical current, and which may include a non-electrical source of power designed to charge batteries and components thereof.

"Electricity supplier" means a person, including an Aggregator, Broker, or Marketer, who generates electricity; sells electricity; or purchases, brokers, arranges or markets electricity for sale to customers. The term excludes the following:

(A) Building owners, lessees, or managers who manage the internal distribution system serving such building and who supply electricity solely to the occupants of the building for use by the occupants;

(B) Any Person who purchases electricity for its own use or for the use of its subsidiaries or affiliates;

(C) Any apartment building or office building mana ger who aggregates electric service requirements for his or her building or buildings, and who does not:

(i) Take title to electricity;

(ii) Market electric services to the individually- metered tenants of his or her building; or

(iii) Engage in the resale of electric services to others;

(D) Property owners who supply small amounts of power, at cost, as an accommodation to lessors or licensees of the property;

(E) Consolidators;

(F) Community Renewable Energy Facilities (CREFs) as defined in Section 4199.1 and as described in Sections 4109.1 through 4109.3 of Title 15, pursuant to the Community Renewable Energy Amendment Act of 2013 (D.C. Law 20-47; D.C. Official Code §§ 34-1518et seq.);

(G) An Electric Company; and

(H) Any Person or entity that owns a behind-the- meter generator and sells or supplies the electricity from that generator to a single retail customer or customers behind the same meter located on the same premise.

"Eligible customer-generator" or "net energy metering facility" means a customer-generator whose net energy metering system for renewable resources, cogeneration, fuel cells, and or microturbines meets all applicable safety and performance standards.

"Energy storage" - A resource capable of absorbing electric energy from the grid, from a behind-the- meter generator, or other DER, storing it for a period of time and thereafter dispatching the energy for use on-site or back to the grid, regardless of where the resource is located on the electric distribution system. These resources include all types of energy storage technologies, regardless of their size, storage medium (e.g., batteries, flywheels, electric vehicles, compressed air), or operational purpose.

" Fly-wheel" - A device that is able to store electrical energy in the form of kinetic energy, and convert that energy into electricity.

"Fossil fuel generator" - Any electric generating facility that utilizes coal, natural gas, or any petroleum product as a fuel.

"Fuel cell" - A device that produces electricity through a chemical reaction between a source fuel and an oxidant.

"Full Retail Distribution Rate" means the per kilowatt-hour distribution charges applicable to the net energy billing customer during the billing period.

"Full Retail Transmission Rate" means the per kilowatt-hour transmission charges applicable to the net energy billing customer during the billing period.

"Generation value" means the product of the applicable SOS kilowatt-hour rate times the number of kilowatt-hours consumed and/or supplied, during the time period(s) associated with such usage and/or supply.

"Individual Billing Meter" means an individual meter within the District of Columbia or a set of individual meters within the District of Columbia when meters are combined for billing purposes.

"Microgrid" - A collection of interconnected loads, generation assets, and advanced control equipment, installed across a limited geographic area and within a defined electrical boundary that is capable of disconnecting from the larger electric distribution system. A microgrid may serve a single customer with several structures or serve multiple customers. A microgrid can connect and disconnect from the distribution and or transmission system to enable it to operate in both interconnected or island mode.

"Microturbine " - A small combustion turbine with an output of 25kW to 500 kW.

"Net energy metering" means the difference between the kilowatt-hours consumed by a customer-generator and the kilowatt-hours generated by the customer-generator's facility over any time period determined as if measured by a single meter capable of registering the flow of electricity in two directions.

"Net energy billing" means a billing and metering practice under which a customer-generator is billed on the basis of net energy over the billing period.

"Renewable Energy Credit" or "REC" shall have the same meaning as that provided in Section 3(10) of the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard Act of 2004, effective April 12, 2005 (D.C. Law 15-340; D.C. Official Code § 34-1431(10) ).

"SOS Administrator" means the provider of Standard Offer Service mandated by Section 109 of the Retail Electric Competition and Consumer Protection Act of 1999, effective May 9, 2000 (D.C. Law 13-107; D.C. Official Code § 34-1509) .

"Standard Offer Service" means that electric service mandated by Section 109 of the Retail Electric Competition and Consumer Protection Act of 1999, effective May 9, 2000 (D.C. Law 13-107; D.C. Official Code § 34-1509) .

"Standard Offer Service Provider" means a provider of standard offer service chosen pursuant to Chapter 29 of the Commission's rules.

"Subscriber" means a retail customer of a Competitive Electricity Supplier or a SOS customer of the Electric Company in the District of Columbia who owns a Subscription in a CREF and who has identified an individual billing meter within the District of Columbia to which the Subscription shall be attributed.

"Subscriber Organization" means any individual or for-profit or nonprofit entity permitted by District of Columbia law that owns or operates one or more CREFs for the benefit of the Subscribers.

"Subscription" means a percentage interest in a CREF's electrical production.

"Tier One Renewable Source" shall have the same meaning as that provided in Section 3(15) of the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard Act of 2004, effective April 12, 2005 (D.C. Law 15-340; D.C. Official Code § 34-1431(15)) , as amended.

D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 15, r. 15-999

Final Rulemaking published at 52 DCR 1588 (February 18, 2005); as amended by 55 DCR 7302 (July 4, 2008); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 57 DCR 5249, 5253 (June 18, 2010); Amended by Final Rulemaking published at 62 DCR 5694 (5/8/2015); amended by Final Rulemaking published at 63 DCR 016086 (12/30/2016); amended by Final Rulemaking published at 65 DCR 11025 (10/5/2018)

Authority: D.C. Code § 2-505(a) (2001 Ed.) and D.C. Code § 34-1518 (2001 Ed.).