HB3293 Summary: Low Carbon Energy Portfolio

• Establishes a low carbon portfolio standard requiring electric utilities to procure low carbon energy credits (LCE credits) equal to 70% of annual retail electricity sales beginning January 1, 2016, through contracts of 1-5 years in length.

• Defines "low carbon energy resources" as energy from solar, wind, hydro, nuclear, tidal, wave, and clean coal facilities that do not emit air pollution including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, or carbon dioxide.

• Requires utilities to provide quarterly pie-chart disclosures to customers showing the percentage of low carbon energy credits procured as part of their electric supply mix.

• Allows utilities to recover all costs associated with purchasing low carbon energy credits through automatic adjustment clause tariffs applied uniformly to all retail customers as a separate line item on bills.

• Specifies that renewable energy credits, carbon emission credits, and low carbon energy credits can only be used once to comply with a single portfolio standard and cannot satisfy multiple standards simultaneously.