Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and before the summary and inserting the following:
‘Sec. 1. PL 2011, c. 637, §11, sub-§2, ¶¶A, D and E are amended to read:
A. May provide efficient electric heat pumps or electric thermal storage units to up to 500 residential or small business customers within its service territory . The number of efficient electric heat pumps provided to customers may exceed 500 if proposed by the utility and approved by the Public Utilities Commission;
D. May offer rebates incentives to participating customers to be applied to the total installation cost of the efficient electric heat pumps or electric thermal storage units; and
E. May With respect to electric thermal storage units, may enroll customers in the pilot program only until December 31, 2013 and with respect to efficient electric heat pumps, may enroll customers in the pilot program until December 31, 2014, except that the deadline may be extended if proposed by the utility and approved by the Public Utilities Commission.
Sec. 2. PL 2011, c. 637, §11, sub-§2 is amended by adding at the end a new blocked paragraph to read:
Nothing in this subsection is intended to limit the authority of the commission to establish special rates for customers purchasing electricity through the pilot program. Those rates may include the recovery of costs associated with incentives or loans authorized under the pilot program. Any recovery of those costs must be through customers participating in the program and may not be passed through to customers not participating in the pilot program.’
This amendment strikes and replaces the provisions in the bill. The amendment authorizes the Public Utilities Commission to extend the number of customers who may participate in the pilot program for efficient electric heat pumps and extend the length of the pilot period, allows more flexibility in the manner in which incentives are provided to customers and clarifies that nothing in the legislation related to the pilot program is intended to limit any currently existing authority of the Public Utilities Commission to establish special rates with respect to customers participating in the pilot program, as long as the costs of the pilot program are recovered only from customers participating in the program.