SB 1718 Summary

• Public educational institutions may contract with third parties to install renewable energy devices on school property and purchase electricity through power purchase agreements without subjecting the contractor to utility regulation.

• Electric utilities must provide meter aggregation for public schools by January 1, 2022, allowing net metering credits from a single solar facility to be allocated to 2-20 school accounts within the same district regardless of physical location.

• Business entities and contractors may install renewable energy devices and sell electricity to adjacent businesses without regulation, with annual credits capped at 150% of prior year usage.

• Local governments, colleges, and universities may aggregate electricity consumption across multiple properties within the same county and utility service territory to offset usage with customer-owned renewable energy generation through net metering.

• Costs associated with solar energy systems on school properties are excluded from per-student cost calculations for new construction, effective July 1, 2021.