Kansas writes its own rules for interconnecting
renewable projects
 |
| The Kansas Corporation Commission believes
that establishing statewide interconnection standards will
pave the way for distributed renewable energy systems to
become a larger building block in the state's energy portfolio.
(artwork courtesy of Kansas
Energy Education Foundation) |
The Kansas State Legislature passed a bill in
April 2003 that will make the state one of the few in the country
to have its own statewide uniform interconnection standards
for distributed renewable energy systems up to 5 MW.
The Kansas
Corporation Commission, which regulates the state's public
utilities, common carriers, motor carriers and oil and gas producers,
is taking the lead on drafting the new rules. KCC Energy Manager
Jim Ploger believes
that standardization will ultimately make developing renewable
energy projects easier. "Among other things, it will clarify
the application process and set fees for grid-tying a system,"
he observed. "Vendors, especially locally, will be able to give
their customers a better idea of how much time and money a project
requires."
State standards to take
up where Federal standards leave off
KCC opened Docket
no. 04-GIME-080-GIE July 23, 2003, to review and analyze
proposed standards. Ideally, the state's standards will complement
the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission's proposed interconnection procedures, with an
added focus on distributed generation. FERC regulations only
apply to generators that connect directly to the transmission
systems of FERC-transmission owners. Many small applications
connect directly to the lower voltage distribution power lines
serving small commercial and residential retail customers. "To
encourage the development of Kansas resources, standards have
to address the unique needs of projects under 2 MW," explained
KCC Energy Operations Chief Larry Holloway, the lead staff person
assigned to the docket.
The commission is looking at model standards
proposed by the National Rural
Electric Cooperative Association and Interstate
Renewable Energy Council. Some of those rules were incorporated
in early versions. "It's been through several iterations already,
and we'll be holding more roundtable discussions to get input
from the parties that will be subject to the rules," said Holloway.
"We're at least a year away from a completed procedure."
Co-ops help craft standards
that will affect their members
The new standards will apply to all utilities under KCC's jurisdiction.
Only two rural electric cooperatives are under commission jurisdiction,
added Ploger, so REC and municipality compliance will be voluntary.
"But they have shown a lot of interest in the process," he said.
"I have been really impressed with the positive attitude and
cooperation from the utilities that have a choice in adopting
the standards."
In the first round of discussions, utilities
under KCC jurisdiction, as well as unregulated providers, filed
their own interconnection standards with the commission. "The
co-ops' standards actually went a little further than the IOUs,"
recalled Holloway. "A lot of them were voluntarily installing
external disconnect switches on generators at their own expense."
"It makes sense from the co-ops' perspective,"
he continued. "The people doing those projects—small businesses,
farms and residential members—are owners. The utility
is going to look out for the best interests of its owners."
Workshop introduces utilities to interconnection
issues
With their member-owners' interest in mind, Kansas co-ops and
municipalities made a strong showing at an implementation workshop
KCC organized in cooperation with IREC. A total of 50 people
attended the event, including representatives from the commission's
major jurisdictional utilities and policymakers from Kansas
Energy Cooperative.
The agenda offered an overview of how establishing
interconnection standards would affect Kansas energy providers.
Among the topics the workshop covered were national codes and
standard development and the legal aspects of interconnections.
Utility representatives discussed their current standards and
learned how other states handle the issue.
Holloway's presentation laid out the requirements
for initial standards. Those included developing a review process
flow chart and a standard application form. The standards will
define large vs. small generators, and describe the approval
process and application time for both types of interconnection.
The rules will also establish technical requirements such as
specifications, standard contract and application fee.
Chris
Cook, founder of the energy consulting company E3
Energy Services, explained how FERC's proposed interconnection
standards relate to the Kansas standards. As interconnection
and net metering specialist to IREC, Cook participated in building
consensus for small generator issues for the FERC rulemaking
on national interconnection standards. He is also working closely
with KCC on the state standards.
In adopting a state standard for interconnecting
renewable generators to the grid, Kansas is breaking new ground.
According to a National Regulatory
Research Institute survey, New York, Texas and California
are the only states so far to adopt their own standard procedure
and standard agreement for distributed generation interconnection,
with Oregon and New Jersey expected to follow shortly. Ploger
is looking forward to seeing Kansas join that company. "Kansas
utilities are ready to do something progressive, and state standards
will open the door, not just to wind, but to fuel cells, biomass
and solar projects," he noted.
