Senate committee advances substitute to limit public-entity PPAs to five years and require 48-hour on-site backup

A West Virginia Senate committee voted to send a committee substitute for Senate Bill 763 to the full Senate with a recommendation that it "do pass," preserving language that would limit power purchase agreements (PPAs) for public entities to five years and require on-site power storage capable of supplying 48 hours of backup power.

The committee substitute would also require a PPA to contractually guarantee the customer a total cost per kilowatt-hour that is lower than the local public electric utility at the start of the agreement and for each year of the agreement; require a third party to inspect meters used in PPAs at the start of the agreement and at least once every three years; and require reporting of inspection findings, including usage and cost-per-watt, to the customer.

Supporters said the five-year limit protects public entities — particularly school systems — from long-term contracts with built-in escalators that can leave taxpayers paying more than expected over decades. "The intent of this bill was to make sure that the…