An Act To Ensure Fairness among Large Consumers of Natural Gas
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 35-A MRSA §10111, sub-§2-A, as enacted by PL 2015, c. 425, §2, is amended to read:
2-A. Exemptions. A wholesale electricity-generating facility that has a nameplate capacity of 3 megawatts or greater or a large-volume customer that does not purchase its natural gas from a gas utility is not eligible to participate in any natural gas conservation program under this section. The commission may not allow a gas utility to collect an assessment under this section through its rates from a wholesale electricity-generating facility that has a nameplate capacity of 3 megawatts or greater or a large-volume customer that does not purchase its natural gas from a gas utility. For purposes of this section, "large-volume customer" means a customer that purchases at least 1,000,000 centum cubic feet of natural gas per year.
summary
This bill extends the existing ineligibility for participation in and the exemption from assessment for natural gas conservation programs to large-volume customers that do not purchase their natural gas from a Maine gas utility. Large-volume customers are defined as those purchasing at least 1,000,000 centum cubic feet of natural gas per year.