Senate Bill 69

Amend KRS 278.212 to prohibit an electrical interconnection with a merchant electric generating facility that either operates at an aggregate capacity in excess of 10 megawatts or occupies in aggregate 10 acres or more of land until the plans for the electrical interconnection have been filed with the Public Service Commission; amend KRS 278.216 to prohibit a utility from beginning construction on an electric generating facility that either operates at an aggregate capacity in excess of 10 megawatts or occupies in aggregate 10 acres or more of land without first obtaining a site compatibility certificate from the Public Service Commission; amend KRS 278.700 to change the definition of "merchant electric generating facility" to include facilities that occupy in aggregate 10 acres or more of land; change the definition of "commence to construct" so that site clearing and excavation work satisfy the commence to construct requirements; amend KRS 278.704 to establish setback requirements for solar merchant electric generating facilities of 50 feet from the property boundary of any nonparticipating adjoining property and 100 feet from a residence on any other property than the one on which the facility is to be located unless waived in writing; provide exceptions; require that before exercising an option to acquire any interest in real estate in a county that a merchant electric generating entity notify the heads of local government entities of jurisdiction; allow the local officials or the commission to request a public hearing on the proposed merchant electric generating project; require ongoing notification of changes to the project from the merchant electric generating entities to local officials; remove outdated language; amend KRS 278.706 to conform; amend KRS 278.708 to require the site assessment report submitted by a person proposing to construct a merchant electric generating facility to include a decommissioning plan to explain in detail how the facility and its components will be removed at the end of their useful lives; require the decommissioning plan to be reviewed as needed, but at least once every 5 years; establish minimum requirements for the decommissioning plan; amend KRS 278.710 to require the application for the construction certificate of a merchant utility generating facility to be denied until the applicant can provide documentation of compliance with all local planning and zoning requirements that existed on the date that the application was filed; include whether the proposed decommissioning plan is in the public interest as a criterion for application approval; authorize the merchant utility siting board to require the decommissioning plan to be amended to ensure that it is in the public interest; provide that the construction certificate holder and any of its successors in interest shall be required to comply on an ongoing basis with all conditions of its application approval, subject to enforcement in Franklin Circuit Court; require that prior to the commencement of construction, the holder of a construction certificate for a merchant electric generating facility shall furnish bond or other similar security to assure the decommissioning of the facility at the end of its useful life; establish the procedure for setting the bond amount; provide for review of the bond amount as needed but at least once every 5 years; provide which entities will be named as beneficiaries of the bond depending on the circumstances; require that the bond be forfeited unless the person responsible for completing the decommissioning plan begins work on the plan within 12 months of the date that the facility ceases to produce electricity for sale and completes the work within 18 months of that date; require that any forfeited bond amounts only be used to decommission facilities on the properties for which the bond was posted; require prior authorization for any transfer of control of a merchant electric generating facility; define "control" and the circumstances under which control will be considered to be transferred and the conditions for approval; require a decision to be made on the approval of the transfer of control within 90 days of the application, except that an additional 60 days may be taken for good cause shown; require that notice of an application for approval of transfer of control of a merchant electric generating facility be given to local government officials for where the facility is located; provide that the requirements of the Act shall apply to all new and current applicants for construction certificates for merchant electric generating facilities whose applications have not been approved prior to the effective date of the Act; EMERGENCY.