Georgia Legislature Considers Two Bills Impacting Cooperatives
The Georgia Senate this week passed a bill providing that consumers may elect not to use “smart meters.” Senate Bill 459 further permits the Georgia Public Service Commission to create and regulate a surcharge for consumers who elect not to use smart meters. The bill has been sent to the House for consideration. The full text of SB 459 can be viewed here. A second bill impacting electric cooperatives, SB 401, failed to make it out of committee and to a vote by the Senate. Senate Bill 401, which was supported by the solar industry, would have amended the Georgia Cogeneration Act to, among other things, expand the definition of a customer generator to include customers who not only own and operate, but who also finance a distributed generation facility by purchase, lease, loan, or other form of financing, including a power purchase agreement. As SB 401 failed to be passed by the Senate by the March 7 “cross over” deadline, it is defunct for this legislative session, unless added as an amendment to other legislation. The full text of SB 401 can be viewed here.
