Parallel Generation Law

Governor Bill Graves signed Kansas HB 2245 into law on May 22, 2001, enabling small renewable systems to interconnect to the utility grid. The law is similar in scope to many of the net metering bills that have recently passed in a number of other states. It applies to all renewables up to 25 kW for residential applications and 100 kW for commercial applications, but the law does not allow net metering per se. Excess generation that flows back to the utility is metered separately and is credited at 150% of the wholesale rate for energy. The law does not reference national interconnection standards such as those developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and Underwriters’ Laboratories (UL). These issues are expected to be addressed by the Kansas Corporation Commission.