(a) Commencing on January 1, 2012, and within the period established in subsection (a) of § 16-244s, each electric distribution company shall solicit and file with the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority for its approval one or more long-term contracts with owners or developers of Class I generation projects that emit no pollutants and that are less than one thousand kilowatts in size, located on the customer side of the revenue meter and serve the distribution system of the electric distribution company. The authority may give a preference to contracts for technologies manufactured, researched or developed in the state.

(b) Solicitations conducted by the electric distribution company shall be for the purchase of renewable energy credits produced by eligible customer-sited generating projects over the duration of the long-term contract. For purposes of this section, a long-term contract is a contract for fifteen years.

(c) (1) The aggregate procurement of renewable energy credits by electric distribution companies pursuant to this section shall (A) be eight million dollars in the first year, and (B) increase by an additional eight million dollars per year in years two to four, inclusive.

(2) After year four, the authority shall review contracts entered into pursuant to this section and if the cost of the technologies included in such contracts have been reduced, the authority shall seek to enter new contracts for the total of six years.

(3) After year six, the authority shall seek to enter new contracts for the total of ten years.

(A) The aggregate procurement of renewable energy credits by electric distribution companies pursuant to this subdivision shall (i) increase by an additional eight million dollars per year in years five to ten, inclusive, (ii) be eighty million dollars in years eleven to fifteen, inclusive, and (iii) decline by eight million dollars per year in years sixteen to twenty-five, inclusive, provided any money not allocated in any given year may roll into the next year’s available funds. On the date of approval of the procurement plan by the authority pursuant to subsection (a) of § 16-244z, any money not yet allocated pursuant to this section shall expire.

(B) For the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth year solicitations, each electric distribution company shall solicit and file with the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority for its approval one or more long-term contracts with owners or developers of Class I generation projects that: (i) Emit no pollutants and that are less than one thousand kilowatts in size, located on the customer side of the revenue meter and serve the distribution system of the electric distribution company, provided such contracts do not exceed fifty per cent of the dollar amount established for years six, seven, eight, nine and ten under subparagraph (A) of this subdivision; and (ii) are less than two megawatts in size, located on the customer side of the revenue meter, serve the distribution system of the electric distribution company, and use Class I technologies that either (I) use anaerobic digestion, or (II) have no emissions of no more than 0.07 pounds per megawatt-hour of nitrogen oxides, 0.10 pounds per megawatt-hour of carbon monoxide, 0.02 pounds per megawatt-hour of volatile organic compounds, and one grain per one hundred standard cubic feet, provided such contracts do not exceed fifty per cent of the dollar amount established for years six, seven, eight, nine and ten under subparagraph (A) of this subdivision. The authority may give a preference to contracts for technologies manufactured, researched or developed in the state.

(4) The production of a megawatt hour of electricity from a Class I renewable energy source first placed in service on or after July 1, 2011, shall create one renewable energy credit. A renewable energy credit shall have an effective life covering the year in which the credit was created and the following calendar year. The obligation to purchase renewable energy credits shall be apportioned to electric distribution companies based on their respective distribution system loads at the commencement of the procurement period, as determined by the authority. For contracts entered into in calendar year 2012, an electric distribution company shall not be required to enter into a contract that provides a payment of more than three hundred fifty dollars, per renewable energy credit in any year over the term of the contract. For contracts entered into in calendar years 2013 to 2017, inclusive, at least ninety days before each annual electric distribution company solicitation, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority may lower the renewable energy credit price cap specified in this subsection by three to seven per cent annually, during each of the six years of the program over the term of the contract. For contracts entered into in calendar year 2018, at least ninety days before the electric distribution company solicitation, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority may lower the renewable energy credit price cap specified in this subsection by sixty-four per cent, during year seven of the program over the term of the contract. For contracts entered into in calendar year 2019, at least ninety days before the electric distribution company solicitation, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority may lower the renewable energy credit price cap specified in this subsection by sixty-four per cent, during year eight of the program over the term of the contract. For contracts entered into in calendar year 2020, at least ninety days before the electric distribution company solicitation, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority may lower the renewable energy credit price cap specified in this subsection by sixty-four per cent, during year nine of the program over the term of the contract. For contracts entered into in calendar year 2021, at least ninety days before the electric distribution company solicitation, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority may lower the renewable energy credit price cap specified in this subsection by sixty-four per cent, during year ten of the program over the term of the contract. In the course of lowering such price cap applicable to each annual solicitation, the authority shall, after notice and opportunity for public comment, consider such factors as the actual bid results from the most recent electric distribution company solicitation and reasonably foreseeable reductions in the cost of eligible technologies.

(d) Notwithstanding subdivision (1) of subsection (h) of § 16-244c, an electric distribution company may retire the renewable energy credits it procures through long-term contracting to satisfy its obligation pursuant to § 16-245a.

(e) Nothing in this section shall preclude the resale or other disposition of energy or associated renewable energy credits purchased by the electric distribution company, provided the distribution company shall net the cost of payments made to projects under the long-term contracts against the proceeds of the sale of energy or renewable energy credits and the difference shall be credited or charged to distribution customers through a reconciling component of electric rates as determined by the authority that is nonbypassable when switching electric suppliers.