Senate Bill No. 871 Summary

• Repeals and replaces section 386.890, RSMo, establishing the "Net Metering and Easy Connection Act" for customer-generators using renewable energy systems with capacity not exceeding 100 kilowatts.

• Requires retail electric suppliers to offer net metering to customer-generators on a first-come, first-served basis until total generating capacity equals 5% of the utility's single-hour peak load, with a cap of 1% of peak load per calendar year for required approvals.

• Changes net excess energy credits from avoided fuel cost compensation to month-to-month carry-forward credited at a 1-to-1 ratio against customer consumption, with accumulated credits expiring at the end of March billing period annually or when service terminates.

• Requires customer-generators to pay for metering equipment upgrades and additional distribution equipment costs, which may be financed over up to 12 billing cycles at reasonable interest rates.

• Establishes interconnection application timelines of 30 days for systems 10 kilowatts or less and 90 days for larger systems, with approvals expiring one year after issuance if interconnection is not completed.