Iowa HF 2668: A bill for an act relating to the regulation of public utilities, including virtual power plants and integrated resource planning.

Bill Text

House
File
2668
-
Introduced

HOUSE
FILE
2668

BY
COMMITTEE
ON
COMMERCE

(SUCCESSOR
TO
HF
2365)

A
BILL
FOR

An
Act
relating
to
the
regulation
of
public
utilities,
1

including
virtual
power
plants
and
integrated
resource
2

planning.
3

BE
IT
ENACTED
BY
THE
GENERAL
ASSEMBLY
OF
THE
STATE
OF
IOWA:
4

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2668

Section
1.
Section
476.53,
subsection
2,
Code
2026,
is
1

amended
by
adding
the
following
new
paragraph:
2

NEW
PARAGRAPH

.
c.
Customer-owned
generation
and
storage
3

is
vital
to
cost-effectively
meeting
rising
demand
for
4

electricity.
Virtual
power
plants
are
a
collection
of
5

customer-owned
distributed
generation
resources
and
energy
6

storage
devices
managed
and
dispatched
by
a
common
control
7

mechanism,
which
may
only
be
located
in
the
service
territory
8

of
a
rate-regulated
electric
utility.
Virtual
power
plants
9

shall
not
be
considered
public
utilities
under
this
chapter.
10

The
commission
shall
promulgate
rules
that
provide
a
process
11

and
standards
for
the
commission’s
approval
and
oversight
of
12

virtual
power
plants,
including
information
the
commission
13

finds
necessary
for
the
evaluation
of
a
virtual
power
plant
14

proposal.
Such
information
shall
include
the
nature
of
the
15

resources
that
may
participate
in
a
virtual
power
plant,
16

the
entities
who
may
propose
virtual
power
plants,
and
the
17

estimated
benefits
to
customers
in
the
service
territory
in
18

which
the
virtual
power
plant
will
operate.
The
commission
19

shall
not
approve
or
continue
to
allow
the
operation
of
a
20

virtual
power
plant
if
the
virtual
power
plant
does
not,
under
21

standards
established
by
the
commission,
benefit
the
customers
22

in
the
service
territory
in
which
the
virtual
power
plant
23

operates.
24

Sec.
2.
NEW
SECTION

.
476.53B
Integrated
resource
planning.
25

1.
To
implement
the
intent
of
the
general
assembly
as
set
26

forth
in
sections
476.53
and
476.53A,
each
rate-regulated
27

public
utility
shall
file
with
the
commission
an
integrated
28

resource
plan
every
five
years,
with
the
first
plan
due
29

July
1,
2028.
The
commission
shall
promulgate
rules
for
the
30

development
and
evaluation
of
integrated
resource
plans.
At
a
31

minimum,
the
rules
shall
include
all
of
the
following:
32

a.
A
process
under
which
a
utility
files
a
new
plan
every
33

five
years
that
includes
a
five-year
and
a
twenty-year
planning
34

horizon.
35

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b.
A
quantitative
comparative
analysis
of
multiple
resource
1

mixes
to
serve
anticipated
customer
needs
using
industry
best
2

practices,
including
capacity
expansion
and
production
cost
3

modeling
that
include
all
of
the
following
for
both
planning
4

horizons:
5

(1)
Existing
and
potential
generating
resources
needed
to
6

serve
customers,
including
competitively
procured
purchase
7

power
agreements
and
market
purchase.
8

(2)
The
process
for
determining
the
forecast
projects,
9

costs,
and
other
inputs
and
assumptions
to
be
used
in
an
10

integrated
resource
plan
by
all
parties.
It
is
the
intent
of
11

the
general
assembly
that
the
utilities
use
uniform
scenarios,
12

inputs,
assumptions,
and
sources
of
data.
13

(3)
An
assessment
of
customer
costs
and
seasonal
14

reliability.
15

(4)
Resources
including
energy
efficiency,
demand
response,
16

peak
load
conservation,
and
distributed
generation
plans,
17

as
described
elsewhere
in
this
chapter,
that
will
assist
in
18

meeting
energy
and
capacity
needs.
19

(5)
A
utility’s
energy
and
capacity
forecasts,
for
existing
20

and
potential
generating
resources,
as
described
elsewhere
21

in
this
chapter,
including
filings
made
with
any
federal
or
22

regional
authority.
The
forecast
shall
include
but
is
not
23

limited
to
a
forecast
of
the
requirements
of
customers,
its
24

anticipated
sources
of
supply,
and
its
anticipated
means
of
25

addressing
the
forecasted
electric
generating
needs.
26

(6)
Transmission
and
distribution
upgrades
and
expansion
27

plans
needed
to
reliably
serve
the
utility’s
customers
and
28

integrate
each
potential
resource,
and
the
associated
costs
29

of
such
plans
in
connection
with
the
various
resource
mixes
30

proposed.
31

c.
Determination
of
eligibility
for
access
to
modeling
32

software
and
data,
including
access
to
appropriate
data
from
33

the
utilities’
production
cost
model
scenarios.
The
commission
34

may
determine
the
number
of
parties
eligible
for
access
to
the
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modeling
software.
1

d.
The
ability
of
parties
eligible
for
access
to
the
2

modeling
software
license
to
have
at
least
four
alternative
3

scenarios
and
a
process
to
best
balance
and
represent
the
input
4

of
the
respective
parties.
The
alternative
scenarios
will
be
5

included
on
equal
footing
with
utility
scenarios.
6

e.
Annual
reporting
on
the
performance
of
the
plan
and
any
7

nonmaterial
updates.
8

f.
Mechanisms
for
the
utility
to
make,
or
for
the
9

commission,
the
office