SB 131 Summary

• Requires retail electricity suppliers to offer net energy metering to residential and commercial customers with on-site renewable energy generation facilities (solar, wind, tidal, geothermal, or hydropower) at no additional fee beyond standard meter costs.

• Limits eligible generation facilities to 25 kilowatts capacity (unless utility elects higher limit) and requires facilities to operate in parallel with the utility's distribution system and offset the customer's electricity needs.

• Credits customers in kilowatt-hours for excess energy generated, allowing credits to reduce future bills in subsequent billing periods; unused credits from the previous calendar year revert to the supplier without compensation at year's end.

• Sets capacity limits for net energy metering participation at up to one percent of the supplier's annual peak energy usage on a first-come, first-served basis (suppliers may adopt higher limits), with exceptions allowed for engineering constraints.

• Exempts suppliers generating 100 percent from alternative energy sources and suppliers selling under 1,000,000 kilowatt-hours annually if customers vote to opt out; requires the Regulatory Commission of Alaska to establish minimum interconnection standards and equipment quality requirements.