P.R. Laws tit. 22, § 1019
It shall be the public policy of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to ensure that the procedures for the interconnection of distributed generators to the electric power system of the Electric Power Authority are effective in terms of costs and processing time, in order to promote the development of these types of projects and incentivize economic activity through the reduction of energy costs in the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. For such reasons, it is hereby established that the procedures for the interconnection of distributed generators with a generating capacity of up to five (5) megawatts (MW) which shall participate in the Net Metering Program, shall be consistent with the Small Generator Interconnection Procedures (SGIP) and the Small Generator Interconnection Agreement (SGIA), provided in Order No. 2006 of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), as amended, and any other future amendments thereto that are adopted by the Energy Commission. PREPA shall uniformly follow the interconnection procedures in all of its regions.
Using the provisions of the SGIP as a model, the Electric Power Authority shall approve expedited processes so that distributed generators with a generating capacity of less than one megawatt (1MW) may connect to the grid, provided, that the technical features of the distributed generator to be interconnected and the existing conditions of the electric power grid thus allow. Provided, further, That for the interconnection of generators with a generating capacity of more than five hundred megawatts (500MW) but less than one megawatt (1MW), the Commission may require the necessary reliability studies.
An electrical engineer and an expert electrician both members of their professional associations and admitted to the practice of their profession shall certify that the electrical installation of the distributed generation system meets the specifications required by PREPA’s and the Energy Commission’s regulations, and that the same was completed in accordance with the laws, regulations, and rules applicable to the interconnection of distributed generation to PREPA’s transmission and distribution grid. Once said certification is submitted to PREPA, the applicant shall interconnect and operate his distributed generation system to PREPA’s grid, provided that the generation capacity of said system does not exceed 10 kilowatt.
In the event that the Electric Power Authority refuses to evaluate or determines that it is not possible to evaluate an interconnection request through the fast track process, or when as part of the interconnection evaluation process, or during the negotiation of evaluation studies and/or interconnection agreements, PREPA determines that it is necessary to implement additional technical requirements and/or improvements to its electric power system, the applicant shall be entitled to challenge said determination or findings through any of the procedures provided in § 1020b of this title.
History —Aug. 16, 2007, No. 114, added as § 9 on May 27, 2014, No. 57, § 5.3; Aug. 5, 2016, No. 133, § 8.