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NEW LAW RESETS TIMELINE
20 percent renewable energy by 2016
Gov. Eloy S. Inos signed into law on Thursday a bill that resets a deadline for renewable energy use on or before Dec. 31, 2016. Previous deadlines and standards were unmet and the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. has yet to actually tap renewable energy sources.
House Vice Speaker Frank S. Dela Cruz’s (Ind-Saipan) House Bill 18-165, Senate Draft 1 is now Public Law 18-62.
It amends the standards for the renewable energy portfolio for electrical power producers and authorizes the installation of net energy metering for all eligible residential customer-generators.
In 2006, a law was enacted setting renewable portfolio standards requiring that a percentage of electrical energy be obtained from renewable energy resources. None of the standards have been achieved.
Dela Cruz, in his bill, said renewable energy standards should be reduced to 20 percent and the time within which to achieve the standards should be extended to 2016.
Renewable energy sources are becoming readily available and more residential customers are seeking new options, even if it is at their expense, to help reduce the high costs of utility rates.
But CUC has rejected the use of net energy metering by moratorium, Dela Cruz said.
The new law allows all eligible residential customer-generators to use net metering.
