§ 37-18-102 — Energy generation portfolio standards; reporting requirements; rate recovery and limitations

(a) Consistent with the objective of ensuring Wyoming
electric utilities maintain access to reliable and cost
effective electric generation resources, the public service
commission shall establish by rule energy portfolio standards
that will maximize the use of dispatchable and reliable low-
carbon electricity. In establishing standards, the commission:
(i) Shall require a public utility serving more than
ten thousand (10,000) Wyoming electric customers to generate a
specified percentage of electricity that is dispatchable and
reliable low-carbon electricity from an existing coal-fired
generation unit or an equivalent new coal-fueled generation
unit;
(ii) Shall establish a date not later than July 1,
2033 for requiring a percentage of electricity generated by a
public utility to be dispatchable and reliable low-carbon
electricity taking into consideration any potentially expiring
federal tax credits;
(iii) Shall establish intermediate requirements for
dispatchable and reliable low-carbon electricity that public
utilities must generate before the electricity generation
standard established in paragraphs (i) and (ii) of this
subsection;
(iv) Beginning July 1, 2024, shall require each
public utility to file with the commission an annual report
outlining the steps in the past calendar year the public utility
has taken to determine the market for carbon dioxide from the
electricity generation and to achieve the electricity generation
standard established in paragraphs (i) through (iii) of this
subsection. In the annual report required under this paragraph,
each public utility shall, for purposes of determining the
market for carbon dioxide from electricity generation, report
the potential customers the public utility has contacted and any
information or estimates the customers are willing to make
public on the quantities of carbon dioxide they may need;
(v) Shall for each public utility:
(A) Not later than December 15, 2024, establish
baseline standards for electric reliability to ensure adequate
reliable dispatchable power in Wyoming. The standards
established under this subparagraph may include limits on
outages and shall ensure that new or expanded intermittent
generation resources do not unreasonably diminish power quality
or increase momentary outages across a utility's service
territory or in any particular location;
(B) Require the utility to monitor and report
electric reliability and power quality outcomes in integrated
resource plan submissions or as otherwise directed by the
commission; and
(C) Require the utility to take any steps the
commission deems reasonably necessary to maintain reasonable
levels of electric reliability and power quality;
(D) In considering generation facilities for
inclusion in a utility's investment on which the utility is
entitled to earn a rate of return, the commission may disallow
the inclusion of some or all of the investment associated with
nondispatchable resources if those resources do not operate as
projected and require the utility to rely on more expensive
sources of generation or materially contribute to a failure to
comply with reliability standards.
(vi) A public utility that fails to maintain the
standards established under this subsection may be subject to a
civil penalty not to exceed one hundred thousand dollars
($100,000.00) for each day that the violation persists. However,
the maximum civil penalty shall not exceed one million dollars
($1,000,000.00) for any related series of violations.
(b) In addition to W.S. 37-3-117(a), the rates charged by
an electric public utility shall not include any recovery of or
earnings on the capital costs associated with new electric
generation facilities built, in whole or in part, to replace the
electricity generated from one (1) or more coal fired electric
generation facilities located in Wyoming and retired on or after
January 1, 2024, unless the commission determines that the
public utility that owned the retired coal fired electric
generation facility:
(i) Has satisfied the requirements of W.S. 37-3-
117(a); and
(ii) Is achieving or has taken steps to the
commission's satisfaction to achieve the electricity generation
standards established under subsection (a) of this section.
(c) Subject to W.S. 37-3-117(a) and the limitation in
subsection (b) of this section, the commission shall consider
the following when establishing reasonable rates for a public
utility working toward and achieving the electricity generation
standards established under subsection (a) of this section:
(i) A public utility that generates dispatchable and
reliable low-carbon electricity may apply to the commission for
rate recovery of the cost of any carbon capture, utilization and
storage technology used to achieve the electricity generation
standards established under subsection (a) of this section,
including a higher return on equity, provided that the carbon
capture, utilization and storage technology is integral or
adjacent to a coal fired generation facility in Wyoming;
(ii) A public utility may apply to the commission for
authorization to allow a portion of any revenues from the sale
of carbon dioxide captured, stored or utilized as a result of
generating dispatchable and reliable low-carbon electricity to
be returned to the shareholders of the public utility;
(iii) To the extent a public utility can demonstrate
that it will incur incremental costs to comply with the reliable
and dispatchable low-carbon energy standard, the commission
shall authorize the public utility to implement a rate recovery
mechanism that collects a surcharge from customers not to exceed
two percent (2%) of each customer's total electric bill to
provide for the recovery of the prudently incurred incremental
costs to comply with the reliable and dispatchable low-carbon
energy standard. A rate recovery mechanism may be authorized and
established prior to the public utility incurring incremental
costs to comply with the reliable and dispatchable low-carbon
energy standard and the public utility may retain funds
collected through a mechanism in a regulatory account approved
by the commission to offset future costs. To the extent the rate
recovery mechanism is insufficient to compensate the public
utility for its prudently incurred incremental costs to comply
with the reliable and dispatchable low-carbon energy standard,
the commission shall take such actions as necessary to ensure
the public utility is able to recover its prudently incurred
incremental costs and customers are not charged for those
incremental costs other than through the rate recovery mechanism
specified in this subsection. No rate recovery shall be allowed
by the commission under this paragraph after the public utility
has been authorized by the commission to collect these costs
through the utility's base rates or another recovery mechanism
approved by the commission.
(d) The commission shall promulgate rules to ensure that
public utilities are satisfactorily progressing toward achieving
the dispatchable and reliable low-carbon electricity generation
standard that the commission establishes as required in
subsection (a) of this section and achieving reasonable electric
reliability and power quality outcomes as required by subsection
(a) of this section.
(e) Beginning in 2023, and occurring every second year
thereafter, the commission shall report to the joint minerals,
business and economic development interim committee and the
joint corporations, elections and political subdivisions interim
committee regarding implementation of the electricity portfolio
standards and recommend whether it should be continued, modified
or repealed. To the extent the electricity portfolio standards
are modified or discontinued, nothing shall impair the ability
of a public utility that has incurred costs to comply with the
electricity portfolio standards to recover its prudently
incurred costs as authorized by the commission.
(f) Nothing in this chapter shall prevent a public utility
from entering into individualized energy contracts or
arrangements with large commercial or industrial customers to
procure energy or capacity to meet customers' needs or from
utilizing customer-specific energy portfolios pursuant to
tariffs approved by the commission.