<p> 1 Northwest Public Power Association 2 Resolution 2017-09 3 In Support of Equitable Distributed Generation Policies 4 5 Background 6 7 The future of dispersed or distributed generation (DG) is an important issue for electric 8 utilities. The technology has the potential of bringing benefits to utilities and their 9 consumers by generating electricity on-site, at times reducing the need to transmit it over 10 long distances. 11 12 Electric utilities are working to develop policies regarding DG and engineering 13 requirements including safety, reliability, costs and rates, and coordination and integration 14 on a region-wide basis where applicable. 15</p><p>16 The distribution and transmission components of the electric grid provide customers who 17 generate energy using DG with continuing services. These services include the ability to 18 sell their power, acquire backup or supplemental power when the customer’s generation is 19 not meeting its needs, and maintain continued reliability and adequacy of the overall 20 power system. However, net metering and other regulatory mechanisms often do not 21 provide a way for utilities to recover these costs from customers who self-generate, and 22 thus they must be recovered from other customers, resulting in the shifting of costs from 23 DG to non-DG customers. </p><p>24</p><p>25 Congress and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) have expressed growing 26 interest in managing DG interconnection and rate-setting policy. However, the Federal 27 Power Act commits retail-level policymaking authority to the states. A one-size-fits-all 28 policy to promote DG may overlook important regional and operational considerations.</p><p>29 30 NWPPA’s Position 31 32 • NWPPA supports future actions to facilitate DG where it is safe, cost effective, and 33 costs are equitably allocated. 34 • NWPPA opposes legislative or regulatory initiatives with respect to DG, feed-in 35 tariffs, and net metering that would shift costs among groups of customers, or 36 otherwise disproportionally impact consumers’ rates, degrade power quality, 37 reliability or safety, impose other undue economic costs on electric utilities, or 38 interfere with power supply or other contractual relationships. 39 • NWPPA supports maintaining local decision-making when implementing utility- 40 specific DG programs and/or participation. 41 42 Origination Date: 2014. Revised 2017. 43</p>