Draft Report on Net Metering Implementation Plan for Georgia

The report aims to provide recommendations on key steps and considerations for the Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulatory Commission (GNERC) to effectively implement its net metering policies. The primary piece of legislation governing Georgia's electricity market is the Law of Georgia on Electricity and Natural Gas, which is currently being amended to bring it into compliance with European Union (EU) requirements. Georgia does not have a national renewable energy policy, but a task force has been formed to develop a National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP) that will establish targets for renewable energy development and set out an action plan for meeting those targets. Net metering is specifically addressed in Article 251 of the Electricity (Capacity) Supply and Consumption Rules, which defines net metering installations as "micro-generation power plants" and refers to them as renewable energy sources with installed capacity less than 100 kW that are connected to the electricity distribution network and are under the ownership of a retail customer and located at the customer's point of electricity consumption. The Consultant is working with GNERC to draft net metering policies, make revisions to technical requirements, and develop a net metering implementation plan with recommendations for next steps. The proposed implementation plan includes the development of three additional pieces of secondary legislation to ensure fairness and the success of the net metering program: a standard "Net Metering Application" form, a "Net Metering Contract and Connection Agreement," and a document defining the roles and responsibilities of the Net Metering Customer and the Distribution Licensee during the application and connection process. The NREAP will be the principle driver of Georgia's net metering program, and the Consultant's earlier reports under this project have determined that no additional primary legislation is necessary to support the net metering program. According to the Law of Georgia on Electricity and Natural Gas, generators under 13 MW are not subject to licensing requirements, and micro-generation power plants are not subject to licensing requirements due to their size being capped at 100 kW. Revisions have been proposed by the Consultant to the Electricity (Capacity) Supply and Consumption Rules to incorporate design and administrative changes to the net metering program as recommended in the Consultant's Task 3A report and agreed to by GNERC and the Distribution Licensees during the Consultant's in-country assistance. The proposed revisions include the development of a standard "Net Metering Application" form, a "Net Metering Contract and Connection Agreement," and a document defining the roles and responsibilities of the Net Metering Customer and the Distribution Licensee during the application and connection process. The report includes three annexes with illustrative examples of net metering documents for GNERC to use as models for similar documents in compliance with Georgian Law. Annex A includes an illustrative example of a Net Metering Application form, Annex B includes an illustrative example of a Net Metering Contract and Connection Agreement, and Annex C includes an illustrative example of a document defining the roles and responsibilities of the Net Metering Customer and the Distribution Licensee during the application and connection process. The proposed net metering implementation plan aims to ensure fairness and the success of the net metering program by developing three additional pieces of secondary legislation and revising the Electricity (Capacity) Supply and Consumption Rules to incorporate design and administrative changes to the net metering program. The plan also includes the development of illustrative examples of net metering documents for GNERC to use as models for similar documents in compliance with Georgian Law.