As used in this section:

(A) "Commission" means the Public Service Commission of the State of South Carolina.

(B) "Customer" means the person who is named on the electrical utility bill for the premises.

(C) "Customer-generator" means the owner, operator, lessee, or customer-generator lessee of an electric energy generation unit which:

(1) generates or discharges electricity from a renewable energy resource, including an energy storage device configured to receive electrical charge solely from an onsite renewable energy resource;

(2) has an electrical generating system with a capacity of:

(a) not more than the lesser of one thousand kilowatts (1,000 kW AC) or one hundred percent of contract demand if a nonresidential customer; or

(b) not more than twenty kilowatts (20 kW AC) if a residential customer;

(3) is located on a single premises owned, operated, leased, or otherwise controlled by the customer;

(4) is interconnected and operates in parallel phase and synchronization with an electrical utility and complies with the applicable interconnection standards;

(5) is intended primarily to offset part or all of the customer-generator's own electrical energy requirements; and

(6) meets all applicable safety, performance, interconnection, and reliability standards established by the commission, the National Electrical Code, the National Electrical Safety Code, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Underwriters Laboratories, the federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and any local governing authorities.

(D) "Electrical utility" shall be defined as in Section 58-27-10; provided, however, that electrical utilities serving less than one hundred thousand customer accounts shall be exempt from the provisions of this chapter.

(E) "Net energy metering" means using metering equipment sufficient to measure the difference between the electrical energy supplied to a customer-generator by an electrical utility and the electrical energy supplied by the customer-generator to the electricity provider over the applicable billing period.

(F) "Renewable energy resource" means solar photovoltaic and solar thermal resources, wind resources, hydroelectric resources, geothermal resources, tidal and wave energy resources, recycling resources, hydrogen fuel derived from renewable resources, combined heat and power derived from renewable resources, and biomass resources.

(G) "Solar choice metering measurement" means the process, method, or calculation used for purposes of billing and crediting at the commission determined value.

HISTORY: 2014 Act No. 236 (S.1189), Section 3, eff June 2, 2014; 2019 Act No. 62 (H.3659), Sections 3, 4, eff May 16, 2019.

Editor's Note

2014 Act No. 236, Section 7, provides as follows:

"SECTION 7. Each distribution electric cooperative board shall consider the general objectives of Section 58-40-10, et seq. and any methodology promulgated thereunder in adopting a net energy metering policy. Each distribution electric cooperative shall adopt a net energy metering policy and shall report their policy to the ORS within one year of the passage of this act. Provided, however, that the requirements of this section do not apply to an electric cooperative organized under the laws of a state other than South Carolina."

2014 Act No. 236, Section 9, provides as follows:

"SECTION 9. If the application of the provisions of this act to any wholesale electrical contract existing on the date of its adoption is determined to impair unlawfully any term of such contract or to add material costs to either party, then that contract will be exempt from the terms of this act to the extent necessary to cure such impairment or to avoid the imposition of additional material costs."

Effect of Amendment

2019 Act No. 62, Section 3, in (C), rewrote (1).

2019 Act No. 62, Section 4, added (G), relating to the definition of "Solar choice metering measurement".