Responsibility:     

The General Manager shall be responsible for carrying out the provisions of this Policy, and may delegate certain responsibilities to staff members or consultants of the Cooperative.

Preamble:     

Marias River Electric Cooperative recognizes that their members may want to take advantage of alternative on-site generation sources. This policy outlines the means and requirements for interconnection of this generation with Marias River Electric Cooperative’s distribution lines. While this policy primarily assesses interconnection options, it is recognized that a member may generate without interconnecting to the Cooperative lines.

Availability and Requirements:

When a member desires to interconnect to the Cooperative’s grid the following minimal requirements must be met:

  1. A signed interconnection agreement outlining specific terms and conditions with the Cooperative is required.
  2. The Generation source shall be renewable including but not limited to wind, solar, geothermal, hydro or fuel cells.

NET METERING PROGRAM

Net Metering is defined as the interconnection of member owned generation from a renewable source to Cooperative facilities, in which the generation output of energy not used at the service is netted against the energy delivered by the Cooperative within the following guidelines:

  • Name-plate generating capacity shall not exceed 10 kW.
  • Member generation is intended primarily to offset part or all of the member’s own electrical requirements at the service.
  • Costs associated with interconnecting or administering net metering systems are the responsibility of the customer generator.
  • A standard non-detent meter may be allowed to turn the direction the power flows. Two detent meters may be required if needed for automated meter reading systems.
  • Charges for energy delivered by the Cooperative in excess of the energy flowed back onto the system by the customer-generator shall be billed monthly at a retail rate.
  • Monthly net metering facilities charges will be assessed for cooperative costs and expenses including distribution and transmission costs and expenses.
  • Net electricity produced or consumed during the billing period shall be measured, in accordance with normal metering practices.
  • If the electricity supplied by the electricity supplier exceeds the electricity generated by the customer-generator and fed back to the electricity supplier during the billing period, the customer-generator must be billed for the net electricity supplied by the electricity supplier, in accordance with normal metering practices.
  • If electricity generated by the customer-generator exceeds the electricity supplied by the electricity supplier, the customer-generator must be:
    • Billed for the appropriate customer charges for that billing period.
    • Credited for the excess kilowatt hours generated during the billing period, with this kilowatt-hour credit appearing on the bill for the following billing period.
    • Each year, on a date designated by the power supplier as the beginning date of a 12-month billing period, any remaining unused kilowatt-hour credit accumulated during the previous 12 months must be granted to the electricity supplier, without any compensation to the customer-generator.