WAC 480-108-001   Purpose and scope.  (1) The purpose of this chapter is two-fold:

     (a) Part 1 of this chapter establishes rules for determining the charges, terms and conditions governing the interconnection of customer-owned electric generating facilities with a nameplate generating capacity of no more than 300 kilowatts (kW) to the electric system of an electrical company over which the commission has jurisdiction.

     (b) Part 2 of this chapter establishes rules requiring each electrical company to file interconnection service tariffs for interconnection of electric generating facilities with a nameplate generating capacity greater than 300 kW but no more than 20 megawatts (MW) to the electric system of an electrical company over which the commission has jurisdiction. The terms and conditions in such interconnection service tariffs must be either equivalent in all procedural and technical respects with the electrical company's interconnection service offered under its open access transmission tariff approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or they must comply with a specified set of requirements set out in WAC 480-108-090.

     (2) These rules are intended:

     (a) To be consistent with the requirements of chapter 80.60 RCW, Net metering of electricity;

     (b) To comply with Section 1254 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Pub. L. No. 109-58 (2005) that amended section 111(d) of the Public Utility Regulatory Policy Act (PURPA) relating to Net Metering (subsection 11) and Interconnection (subsection 15); and

     (c) To promote the purposes of RCW 82.16.120 (effective July 1, 2005).

     (3) This chapter governs the terms and conditions under which an interconnection customer's generating facility, including without limitation net-metered facilities, will interconnect with, and operate in parallel with, the electrical company's electric system. This chapter does not govern the settlement, purchase or delivery of any power generated by an interconnection customer's net-metered or production-metered generating facility.

     (4) This chapter does not govern interconnection of, or electrical company services to, PURPA qualifying facilities pursuant to chapter 480-107 WAC.

     (5) This chapter does not govern standby generators designed and used only to provide power to the customer when the local electric distribution company service is interrupted and that operate in parallel with the electric distribution company for less than 0.5 seconds both to and from emergency service.



[Statutory Authority: RCW 80.01.040 and 80.04.160. 07-20-059 (Docket UE-060649, General Order 545), § 480-108-001, filed 9/27/07, effective 10/28/07; 06-07-017 (Docket No. UE-051106, General Order No. R-528), § 480-108-001, filed 3/6/06, effective 4/6/06.]