Committee advances bill tightening disclosures and interconnection rules for rooftop solar

The Senate Utilities Committee on a voice vote advanced House Bill 2149, a measure that would impose new consumer-disclosure requirements on companies that sell residential distributed energy systems and change how utilities handle interconnection and compensation for customer-owned generation.

Nick Myers, Assistant Revisor, Office of the Revisor of Statutes, told the committee that “this bill would primarily do two things,” saying it (1) creates mandatory disclosures for distributed energy retailers selling to residential customers and (2) amends the state's parallel generation and net metering statutes to expand interconnection rules.

The disclosure and consumer-protection provisions require distributed energy retailers who sell, market or solicit residential rooftop systems for single-family homes and duplexes to be registered with the secretary of state when registration is required by law, and to give potential customers a list of specified information before a contract is signed. The bill requires the disclosures to include the total costs the customer will incur, contact information for the retailer, whether a lien may be placed on the property, and a prominent statement that the retailer is not a utility or a government agency. Myers said the bill prescribes a minimum 10-point font for certain disclosures and creates a civil penalty of up to $10,000 for violations; the statute would also allow an aggrieved consumer, the attorney general, or a county or district attorney to pursue the penalty. The bill further states that a contract can be declared void if the required disclosures were not provided.

The bill directs utilities to provide distributed energy retailers…