HB 5657
Electric Choice and Competition Act
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Sign in to take action- Introduced
- Passed House of Delegates
- Passed Senate
- To Governor
- Became Law
Bill overview
This bill, the Electric Choice and Competition Act, aims to allow certain large non-residential customers in West Virginia to purchase their own electric power from competitive suppliers instead of relying solely on their local utility. It establishes a framework for this retail competition, including procedures for determining eligible load capacity, managing a subscription queue for customers seeking to participate, and ensuring utility rate transparency. The bill also requires licensing of competitive service providers and prohibits utilities from unfairly shifting costs to ratepayers.
Key provisions
- Allows non-residential customers with over 1 MW of demand to purchase electricity from competitive suppliers.
- Establishes a load capacity allowance for electric utilities to manage the impact of increased competition.
- Creates a subscription queue for customers seeking to procure electricity from outside the utility.
- Requires competitive service providers to be licensed by the Public Service Commission.
- Mandates utility rate transparency, requiring detailed billing information for customers.
- Prohibits utilities from shifting costs to ratepayers who aren't participating in retail electricity choices.
- Requires the commission to establish annual reporting requirements on market participation.
- Provides for the commission rulemaking authority to implement the act.
Who is affected
- Non-residential retail customers (businesses, industrial facilities)
- Electric utilities
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