Massachusetts General Laws > Part I > Title II > Chapter 25 > § 20 - Funding for development and promotion of renewable energy projects; mandatory charge per kilowatt-hour.
Current as of: 2009 Chapter 25: Section 20. Funding for development and promotion of renewable energy projects; mandatory charge per kilowatt-hour[ Text of section effective until July 2, 2008. For text effective July 2, 2008, see below.] Section 20. (a)(1) Beginning on March 1, 1998, the department is hereby authorized and directed to require a mandatory charge per kilowatt-hour for all electricity consumers of the commonwealth, except those consumers served by a municipal lighting plant which does not supply generation service outside its own service territory or does not open its service territory to competition at the retail level, to support the development and promotion of renewable energy projects in accordance with the provisions of section 4E of chapter 40J. Said charge shall be the following amounts: three-quarters of one mill ($0.00075) per kilowatt-hour in calendar year 1998; one mill ($0.001) per kilowatt-hour in calendar year 1999; one and one-quarter mill ($0.00125) per kilowatt-hour in calendar year 2000; one mill ($0.001) per kilowatt-hour in calendar year 2001; three-quarters of one mill ($0.00075) per kilowatt-hour in calendar year 2002; and one-half of one mill ($0.0005) per kilowatt-hour in each calendar thereafter. (2) In calendar years 1998 through 2002, the revenues derived from one-quarter of one mill ($0.00025) of the charge assessed pursuant to the preceding paragraph in each such year shall be set aside and expended pursuant to implementing the provisions of paragraph (2) of subsection (f) of section 4E of chapter 40J. (b) In the fiscal year ending on June 30, 2001, the board of directors of the Massachusetts Technology Park Corporation shall, in consultation with the advisory committee established pursuant to subsection (i) of section 4E of chapter 40J, the department of telecommunications and energy and the division of energy resources, review the adequacy of the monies generated by such mandatory charge and meeting the requirements of said section 4E. If, after such review, said board determines that an adjustment in said mandatory charge is necessary, said board shall file recommendations in the form of legislation with the clerk of the house of representatives. On or before January 1, 2002, said board shall submit to the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on government regulations a report which reviews in detail the activities and expenditures of the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust Fund to date and proposed activities and funding levels of said trust fund for the succeeding five years for review and approval thereby; provided, however, that said proposed activities continue to achieve the objectives of the program. Following receipt of the five-year report from said board, the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on government regulations shall meet jointly and with sufficient public notice for the purposes of conducting a public hearing to review the contents of said report; provided, however, that the five-year review shall be made available to the public no later than 45 days before said public hearing. (c) The revenues generated by said mandatory charge shall be remitted to the Massachusetts Technology Park Corporation and deposited into the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust Fund, established pursuant to section 4E of chapter 40J. The public purpose of said trust fund shall be to generate the maximum economic and environmental benefits over time from renewable energy to the ratepayers of the commonwealth through a series of initiatives which exploits the advantages of renewable energy in a more competitive energy marketplace by promoting the increased availability, use, and affordability of renewable energy and by fostering the formation, growth, expansion, and retention within the commonwealth of preeminent clusters of renewable energy and related enterprises, institutions, and projects, which serve the citizens of the commonwealth. Chapter 25: Section 20. Funding for development and promotion of renewable energy projects; mandatory charge per kilowatt-hour; election by certain municipal lighting plants [ Text of section as amended by 2008, 169, Sec. 11 effective July 2, 2008. For text effective until July 2, 2008, see above.] Section 20. (a) The department shall require a mandatory charge of 0.5 mill per kilowatt-hour for all electricity consumers, except those served by a municipal lighting plant which does not supply generation service outside its own service territory or does not open its service territory to competition at the retail level, to support the development and promotion of renewable energy projects. All revenues generated by the mandatory charge shall be deposited into the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust Fund, established under section 4E of chapter 40J. (b) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary: (1) a municipal lighting plant which does not supply generation service outside its own service territory or does not open its service territory to competition may elect to assess and remit a mandatory charge per kilowatt-hour upon its electricity consumers on the same terms and conditions as apply to the charge imposed on consumers residing in competitive distribution service territories under this section; provided, however, that such an election by a municipal lighting plant shall be irrevocable and such a municipal lighting plant shall not be deemed to be supplying generation service outside its service territory or opening its service territory to competition at the retail level for the purposes of the first sentence of subsection (a); and (2) in administering the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust Fund, the Massachusetts Technology Park Corporation, doing business as the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, or the governing board, as applicable, shall not make any grant or loan or provide any subsidy from the trust fund to any municipal lighting plant or consumer residing in the distribution service territory of such municipal lighting plant unless: (A) a mandatory charge per kilowatt-hour is assessed against all consumers residing in the distribution service territory and remitted to the collaborative under the first sentence of subsection (a) or clause (1); or (B) the board of directors of the collaborative, as a condition precedent to any such grant, loan or subsidy, shall have determined and incorporated into the minutes of its proceedings findings that: (i) any such grant, loan or subsidy is intended for the principal purpose of generating public benefits for those consumers who reside in distribution service territories in which the mandatory charge is so imposed and remitted and will generate only incidental private benefits to the recipient or others residing in a distribution service territory in which the mandatory charge is not so imposed and remitted; and (ii) the facts and circumstances associated with the recipient or the residence of the recipient provide unique or extraordinary opportunities to advance the public purposes of the trust fund over those opportunities available through grants or subsidies made to recipients residing in distribution service territories in which such a mandatory charge is assessed and remitted. 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