Purpose:

In accordance with the Administrative Standard Procedure Law for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Number 170, August 12, 1988, as amended, and state Law Number 114, August 16, 2007, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) publishes the Regulation to Establish the Net Metering Program.

This Regulation establishes the requirements and the process to participate in the Net Metering Program, which will be available to customers with electric power generation systems that utilize renewable energy sources, and that are interconnected with PREPA’s electric system.  It also defines how the customer’s electricity bill will reflect the billing of the energy consumed or the credits received for the energy generated by the customer and exported to PREPA’s electric system. 

Law Number 114 requires that PREPA establishes a Net Metering Program available to customers with electric power generation systems that use renewable energy sources and operate interconnected with PREPA’s electric power system.  This Law establishes the requirements that customers must meet to qualify for the Net Metering Program and the way that the customer will be credited for the energy exported to PREPA’s electric system.

The Law states that this program will be available to customers with electric power generation systems that use renewable energy sources, with capacities not greater than 25 kilowatts (kW) for residential customers and up to 1 megawatt (MW) for commercial, industrial, or agricultural customers, educational institutions, hospitals and healthcare facilities.  It also establishes the installation and certification requirements that customers must meet to qualify for the program.

In the Net Metering Program, PREPA will credit the customer the energy it exports to PREPA’s electric system.  Law Number 114 establishes how this energy will be measured and accredited to the customer.  The customer’s revenue meter will register the energy consumed from, and exported to, PREPA’s system.  For each billing period, PREPA will charge the customer for its net consumption if it consumes more energy than it exports, or will credit the excess energy to the next billing period if the customer exports more energy than it consumes from PREPA.  For the billing period that ends in June of each year, PREPA will pay the customer for 75 per cent of any excess energy accumulated up to that period, and will distribute the remaining 25 per cent as credits to the electric bills of public schools.  The Law establishes how PREPA will calculate the rate, in cents per kilowatt-hour, at which it will pay for the excess energy.

Copy of the Regulation will be available to the public for review from Monday through Friday, until thirty days from this announcement, from 8:00 AM to 3:30 PM, at the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, Administrative Research and Procedures Department, Antonio Lucchetti Building, Second Floor, 206 Office, Stop 16˝, Santurce.  Also, copy of this Regulation and of Law Number 114 will be available on the Internet in www.aeepr.com.

The commentaries for this proposed Regulation will be received during the next 30 days, beginning from the publication of this announcement, to our E-mail reglamento@prepa.com or the following address:

Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority
Regulation to Establish the Net Metering Program
Administrative Services Directorate
Administrative Research and Procedures Department
PO Box 364267, San Juan, PR 00936-4267