Joint Order, Establishing the Renewable Energy Study Commission

ORDERED, the House concurring, that the Renewable Energy Study Commission is established as follows.

1. Renewable Energy Study Commission established. The Renewable Energy Study Commission, referred to in this order as "the commission," is established.

2. Membership. The commission consists of 13 members appointed as follows:

AThree members of the Senate appointed by the President of the Senate, including at least one member from each of the 2 parties holding the largest number of seats in the Legislature; andBTen members of the House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House, including at least one member from each of the 2 parties holding the largest number of seats in the Legislature.

3. Commission chairs. The first-named Senator is the Senate chair of the commission and the first-named member of the House is the House chair of the commission.

4. Appointments; convening of commission. All appointments must be made no later than 30 days following passage of this order. The appointing authorities shall notify the Executive Director of the Legislative Council once all appointments have been made. When the appointment of all members has been completed, the chairs of the commission shall call and convene the first meeting of the commission. If 30 days or more after the passage of this order a majority of but not all appointments have been made, the chairs may request authority and the Legislative Council may grant authority for the commission to meet and conduct its business.

5. Duties. The commission shall:

AConduct a comprehensive review of the State's diverse renewable energy policies, as set out in statutes and rules, in order to develop an integrated approach to ensure that the benefits of renewable energy are realized in this State at a reasonable cost;BReview the effectiveness of the State's current renewable energy policies in encouraging renewable energy generation at a reasonable cost, as well as in achieving other objectives set forth in relevant statute as those objectives may relate to renewable energy generation, including economic development, greenhouse gas reduction, reliability and price predictability and stability. The renewable energy policies to be considered must include, but are not limited to: the renewable portfolio standard under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35-A, section 3210, net energy billing under Title 35-A, section 3209-A, small generator aggregation under Title 35-A, section 3210-A, green power options under Title 35-A, section 3212-A, authority for long-term contracting under Title 35-A, section 3604, financial support provided for renewable energy projects under Title 35-A, section 10121, property assessed clean energy programs under Title 35-A, chapter 99 and incentives for tidal energy and offshore wind development;CConsider new policies including, but not limited to, customer rebates, feed-in tariffs and incentives for thermal energy derived from renewable resources;DIdentify the most appropriate policies and policy changes to encourage the development of renewable energy for specific classes of generation, including, but not limited to, residential-, commercial- and industrial-scale generation;EConsider the scope of each type of policy and the possibility of a generator of renewable energy receiving more than one type of incentive;FConsider the extent to which such policies could be achieved more effectively or at lower cost to the citizens of the State or both by combining or modifying the current diverse approaches to achieving the State's various objectives relating to renewable energy;GAccept public comment regarding renewable energy policies; andHConduct meetings in geographically diverse areas of the State.

For the purposes of this study, "renewable energy generation" includes, but is not limited to, energy generated from the following sources: onshore and offshore wind, solar, tidal, hydropower and biomass energy generation and any energy generation eligible for class I or class II renewable energy credits.

6. Staff assistance. The Legislative Council shall provide necessary staffing services to the commission.

7. Report. No later than December 4, 2013, the commission shall submit a report that includes its findings and recommendations, including suggested legislation, to the Second Regular Session of the 126th Legislature.