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An Act To Provide Lower Energy Costs to Maine Businesses and Residences by Carrying Out the Legislature's Intent Regarding Funding of the Efficiency Maine Trust
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 35-A MRSA §10110, sub-§4-A, as enacted by PL 2013, c. 369, Pt. A, §20 and affected by §30, is amended to read:
 
4-A. Procurement of cost-effective energy efficiency resources.   The commission shall ensure that transmission and distribution utilities on behalf of their ratepayers procure all electric energy efficiency resources found by the commission to be cost-effective, reliable and achievable pursuant to section 10104, subsection 4, except that the commission may not require the inclusion in rates under this subsection of a total amount that exceeds 4% of total retail electricity and transmission and distribution sales in the State as determined by the commission by rule. The cost of procurement of cost-effective electric energy efficiency resources is a just and reasonable element of rates. The commission may issue any appropriate orders to transmission and distribution utilities necessary to achieve the goals of this subsection. When determining the amount of cost-effective electric energy efficiency resources to be procured under this subsection, the commission shall:
 
A. Consider electric energy efficiency resources that are reasonably foreseeable to be acquired by the trust using all other sources of revenue, including, but not limited to, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Trust Fund under section 10109;
 
B. Ensure that calculations of avoided energy costs and the budget identified by the trust in its triennial plan as needed to capture all cost-effective electric energy efficiency resources are reasonable, based on sound evidence and make use of best practices across the region; and
 
C. Maximize total electricity savings for all ratepayers.
 
The commission shall consider gross efficiency savings for the purpose of determining savings that are cost-effective, reliable and achievable and shall consider both net and gross efficiency savings for the purpose of determining the appropriateness of the amount identified by the trust in its triennial plan as needed to capture all cost-effective electric energy efficiency resources.
 
Rules adopted under this subsection are routine technical rules under Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
 
SUMMARY
This bill corrects an error that was created when the word "and" was inadvertently omitted during the production of a bill reported out by the Joint Standing Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology, "An Act To Reduce Energy Costs, Increase Energy Efficiency, Promote Electric System Reliability and Protect the Environment," which was enacted into law as Public Law 2013, chapter 369.