Public Electrical Savings Act

HB 2994, the Public Electrical Savings Act, establishes rules for public entities (like schools or government buildings) entering into solar power purchase agreements (PPAs) with private providers. It requires these agreements to guarantee customers a lower cost per kilowatt-hour than the local utility's rate, limits contracts to five years (with renewal), and mandates 48-hour backup power storage during outages. The bill also caps total solar capacity at 3% of a utility's annual peak demand and sets individual limits: 50kW for residential, 1,000kW for commercial, and 2,000kW for industrial facilities. Utilities must respond within 30 days to PPA requests regarding capacity limits, or the agreement proceeds as if limits weren't reached. This directly affects public entities seeking solar partnerships and solar providers offering such agreements in West Virginia.