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Bill H.155 would raise standard-offer cap to 20 MW and restore community solar
Summary
Representative Garrett Torrey introduced H.155, a companion to S.57, to raise the state's standard-offer program cap to 20 megawatts annually, exclude combustion sources, and reinstate a 10% allocation for community solar (about 2 MW per year).
Representative Garrett Torrey introduced bill H.155 to the House Committee on Energy and Digital Infrastructure on Feb. 21, proposing an increase in the state's standard-offer program cap to 20 megawatts per year and the reinstatement of community-scale projects.
Torrey described the measure as "an extension and reinvention of the standard offer program," noting it is a companion to S.57 pending in the Senate and aims to continue a program that he said "helped drive low cost renewable deployment in the state." The bill follows last year's change to the Renewable Energy Standard (H.289 of 2024), which updated the state's renewable targets and prompted reconsideration of the standard-offer cap.
Under the proposal, the standard-offer program would apply only to noncombustion renewable resources: solar, wind and hydroelectric. H.155 would set the program's annual procurement maximum at 20 megawatts and reserve 10% of that amount (about 2 megawatts per year) for community-scale projects. Torrey said the program's reverse-auction format, which selects lowest-priced offers from small and local developers, helps drive down costs and supports in-state economic development.
The bill also removes a separate reserve that previously allocated capacity to distribution utilities and narrows eligible resource types by excluding landfill gas and certain biomass projects. Torrey said those resource categories saw limited uptake under the existing program and that the bill's narrower focus is intended to prioritize cost-effective, locally sited noncombustion renewables.
Committee members asked for clarification on which utilities would be subject to the standard-offer requirement and how exemptions work. Torrey said the existing statute exempts utilities that met a renewable percentage threshold as of the original 2015 statute; utilities that exceed renewable thresholds after that date remain subject to the program. He also said the program's procurement process awards contracts to the lowest qualifying bids, producing long-term fixed contracts that are intended to be cost-competitive with other procurement options.
Torrey and committee members flagged siting and distribution constraints as important implementation issues, noting that municipal and densely populated areas with multiple substations are different from rural locations with long distribution distances. The committee did not take a vote on H.155 at this hearing; the bill was introduced for consideration and discussion ahead of work on companion legislation in the Senate.
