House Bill 19-1003: Community Solar Gardens

• Increases the maximum nameplate capacity for community solar gardens from 2 megawatts to 5 megawatts, with the Public Utilities Commission authorized to approve gardens up to 10 megawatts on or after July 1, 2023.

• Removes county adjacency requirements for community solar garden subscribers, allowing subscribers to be located anywhere within the same utility service territory instead of requiring same-county or adjacent-county location.

• Requires all photovoltaic electrical work for installations of 300 kilowatts or more (including module interconnection, grounding, balance of system wiring, and utility grid connection) to be performed by licensed electricians or properly supervised electrical apprentices, effective January 1, 2020.

• Establishes construction and operation standards for community solar gardens exceeding 2 megawatts, including final inspection requirements and apprenticeship program access for contractors performing operation and maintenance work.

• Directs the Public Utilities Commission to initiate proceedings by January 30, 2020 to determine whether subscribers may retain or sell their renewable energy credits to the utility, or if the utility must purchase all generated credits.