Senate committee approves SB295 amendments to clarify net‑metering grandfathering; industry voices opposition

The Senate Insurance & Commerce committee approved SB295 with amendments that clarify which net‑metering facilities are grandfathered and make technical fixes to interconnection and cost‑allocation language.

Sponsor Senator Dismank told the committee the amendment was intended to ensure customers and projects that met certain interconnection milestones keep preexisting rate terms. The amendment specifies that a standard interconnection agreement executed on or before Dec. 31, 2022, or facilities that are necessary to interconnect the net‑metering facility on or before Sept. 30, 2024, will be eligible for grandfathering, providing continuity for projects started under earlier terms.

The amendment also revised cost language to replace ambiguous phrasing such as "pays the cost" with clearer language allowing the electric utility to require payment of the entire cost or the appropriate portion as determined under a commission‑approved rate schedule.

John Bethel, director of public affairs for Entergy Arkansas, told the committee the amendment clarifies that grandfathering applies to the facility itself, which addresses concerns from lenders about whether a change in customer ownership (for example, following foreclosure or sale) would terminate grandfathered treatment. “That makes it clear that it’s the facility in that instance,” Bethel said.

The Arkansas Advanced Energy Association’s executive director, Lauren Waldrip, said the association supported the clarification and appreciated the sponsor’s engagement with stakeholders.

Jordan Tinsley, representing Arkansas Electric Energy Consumers Inc. (AEEEC), testified in opposition and urged the committee to reject the bill in its current form. Tinsley raised three principal objections: (1) the bill would prohibit net metering for interruptible customers, undermining a program he described as working well for more than 25 years; (2) it reduces the allowable size limit for net‑metering facilities, which he said could hinder economic development; and (3) the bill authorizes utilities to recover payments for net excess generation through their fuel rider, which Tinsley warned could raise rates for all customers because fuel riders are billed volumetrically. “Authorizing the utilities to do that actually is going to result in rate increases across the board as a result of this bill,” Tinsley said.

Committee members asked clarifying questions about acronyms and the relationship between stakeholder groups; Tinsley and Waldrip confirmed the organizations they represented are distinct. After the amendment was adopted by voice vote, the committee voted to report SB295 do pass as amended.

The committee recorded the decisions as voice votes; the transcript does not include roll‑call tallies of individual yes/no votes.