(A) Agreement required. Pursuant to an agreement with the City and applicable state and federal regulations, any consumer may operate generating equipment in parallel with the City's electric utility system, provided it can be done without adverse effects on the operation, reliability, and safety of the City's electric utility system or the City's other consumers, as determined by the City. No person shall connect any source of electrical energy to the City's electric utility system except as provided by the terms of the agreement. All services to any consumer with self-generation are to be inspected and approved by the City prior to connection.
(B) City's purchase obligation. The City shall purchase all net electrical capacity and energy offered by a consumer at a rate or rates which reflect the avoided costs that would otherwise be incurred by the City. The obligation of the City to purchase electricity from a consumer shall not include periods during which the City is limited by prudent utility operating practices or by the requirement to purchase from other qualifying facilities or to maintain minimum loading levels on the City's generating equipment. Purchases by the City of the electrical output from a consumer will not prevent the consumer from making simultaneous purchases from the City to serve the electrical load on the consumer's premises unrelated to the production of electricity. The purchases shall be at the normal retail rates of the City for the quantities and service characteristics of the consumer's electric purchases.
(C) Determination of rates. At the request of a consumer with a designed capacity greater than twenty (20) kilowatts, the City shall prepare and offer terms, conditions and rates for supplemental, back-up, maintenance, and interruptible electric service. The offer for this service shall become effective upon approval by Council. For facilities with a designed capacity of twenty (20) kilowatts or less, sales by the City will be provided through the published retail rate schedule of the City appropriate for the size and other load characteristics of the requested electric service.
(Ord. No. 2001-05, passed 5-8-01; Am. Ord. 2005-18, passed 10-5-05)