(a) Purpose. The purpose of this section is to implement Public Utility Regulatory Act (PURA) §39.905 and establish:
  (1) an energy efficiency cost recovery factor (EECRF) that enables an electric utility to timely recover the reasonable costs of providing a portfolio of cost-effective energy efficiency programs that complies with this section and §25.181 of this title (relating to Energy Efficiency Goal).
  (2) an incentive to reward an electric utility that exceeds its demand and energy reduction goals under the requirements of §25.181 of this title at a cost that does not exceed the cost caps established in subsection (d)(7) of this section.
(b) Application. This section applies to electric utilities.
(c) Definitions. The definitions provided in §25.181(c) of this title shall also apply in this section. The following terms, when used in this section, shall have the following meaning unless the context indicates otherwise:
  (1) Billing determinants--The measures of energy consumption or load used to calculate a customer's bill or to determine the aggregate revenue from rates from all customers.
  (2) Rate class--For the purpose of calculating EECRF rates, a utility's rate classes are those retail rate classes approved in the utility's most recent base-rate proceeding, excluding non-eligible customers.
(d) Cost recovery. A utility shall establish an EECRF that complies with this subsection to timely recover the reasonable costs of providing a portfolio of cost-effective energy efficiency programs under §25.181 of this title.
  (1) The EECRF shall be calculated based on the following:
    (A) The utility's forecasted annual energy efficiency program expenditures, the preceding year's over- or under-recovery including interest and municipal and utility EECRF proceeding expenses, any performance bonus earned under subsection (e) of this section, and evaluation, measurement, and verification (EM&V) contractor costs allocated to the utility by the commission for the preceding year under §25.181 of this title.
    (B) For a utility that collects any amount of energy efficiency costs in its base rates, the amounts described in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph in excess of the actual energy efficiency revenues collected from base rates as described in paragraph (2) of this subsection.
  (2) The commission may approve an EECRF for each eligible rate class. The costs shall be directly assigned to each rate class that received services under the programs to the maximum extent reasonably possible. In its EECRF proceeding, a utility may request a good cause exception to combine one or more rate classes, each containing fewer than 20 customers, with a similar rate class that received services under the same energy efficiency programs in the preceding year. For each rate class, the under- or over-recovery of the energy efficiency costs shall be the difference between actual EECRF revenues and actual costs for that class that comply with paragraph (12) of this subsection, including interest applied on such over- or under-recovery calculated by rate class and compounded on an annual basis for a two-year period using the annual interest rates authorized by the commission for over- and under-billing for the year in which the over- or under-recovery occurred and the immediately subsequent year. Where a utility collects energy efficiency costs in its base rates, actual energy efficiency revenues collected from base rates consist of the amount of energy efficiency costs expressly included in base rates, adjusted to account for changes in billing determinants from the test year billing determinants used to set rates in the last base rate proceeding.
  (3) A proceeding conducted under this subsection is a ratemaking proceeding for purposes of PURA §33.023 and §36.061. EECRF proceeding expenses shall be included in the EECRF calculated under paragraph (1) of this subsection as follows:
    (A) For a utility's EECRF proceeding expenses, the utility may include only its expenses for the immediately previous EECRF proceeding conducted under this subsection.
    (B) For municipalities' EECRF proceeding expenses, the utility may include only expenses paid or owed for the immediately previous EECRF proceeding conducted under this subsection for services reimbursable under PURA §33.023(b).
  (4) Base rates shall not be set to recover energy efficiency costs.
  (5) If a utility recovers energy efficiency costs through base rates, the EECRF may be changed in a general rate proceeding. If a utility is not recovering energy efficiency costs through base rates, the EECRF may be adjusted only in an EECRF proceeding under this subsection.
  (6) For residential customers and for non-residential rate classes whose base rates do not provide for demand charges, the EECRF rates shall be designed to provide only for energy charges. For non-residential rate classes whose base rates provide for demand charges, the EECRF rates shall provide for energy charges or demand charges, but not both. Any EECRF demand charge shall not be billed using a demand ratchet mechanism.
  (7) The total EECRF costs outlined in paragraph (1) of this subsection, excluding EM&V costs, excluding municipal EECRF proceeding expenses, and excluding any interest amounts applied to over- or under-recoveries, shall not exceed the amounts prescribed in this paragraph unless a good cause exception filed under §25.181(e)(2) of this title is granted.
    (A) For residential customers for program year 2018, $0.001263 per kWh increased or decreased by a rate equal to the 2016 calendar year's percentage change in the South urban consumer price index (CPI), as determined by the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics; and
    (B) For commercial customers for program year 2018, rates designed to recover revenues equal to $0.000790 per kWh increased or decreased by a rate equal to the 2016 calendar year's percentage change in the South urban CPI, as determined by the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics times the aggregate of all eligible commercial customers' kWh consumption.
    (C) For the 2019 program year and thereafter, the residential and commercial cost caps shall be calculated to be the prior period's cost caps increased or decreased by a rate equal to the most recently available calendar year's percentage change in the South urban CPI, as determined by the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  (8) Not later than May 1 of each year, a utility in an area in which customer choice is not offered shall apply to adjust its EECRF effective January 1 of the following year. Not later than June 1 of each year, a utility in an area in which customer choice is offered shall apply to adjust its EECRF effective March 1 of the following year. If a utility is in an area in which customer choice is offered in some but not all parts of its service area and files one energy efficiency plan and report covering all of its service area, the utility shall apply to adjust the EECRF not later than May 1 of each year, with the EECRF effective January 1 in the parts of its service area in which customer choice is not offered and March 1 in the parts of its service area in which customer choice is offered.
  (9) Upon a utility's filing of an application to establish a new EECRF or adjust an EECRF, the presiding officer shall set a procedural schedule that will enable the commission to issue a final order in the proceeding required by subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of this paragraph as follows:
    (A) For a utility in an area in which customer choice is not offered, the presiding officer shall set a procedural schedule that will enable the commission to issue a final order in the proceeding prior to the January 1 effective date of the new or adjusted EECRF, except where good cause supports a different procedural schedule.
    (B) For a utility in an area in which customer choice is offered, the effective date of a new or adjusted EECRF shall be March 1. The presiding officer shall set a procedural schedule that will enable the utility to file an EECRF compliance tariff consistent with the final order within ten days of the date of the final order. The procedural schedule shall also provide that the compliance filing date will be at least 45 days before the effective date of March 1. In no event shall the effective date of any new or adjusted EECRF occur less than 45 days after the utility files a compliance tariff consistent with a final order approving the new or adjusted EECRF. The utility shall serve notice of the approved rates and the effective date of the approved rates by the working day after the utility files a compliance tariff consistent with the final order approving the new or adjusted EECRF to retail electric providers that are authorized by the registration agent to provide service in the utility's service area. Notice under this subparagraph may be served by email. The procedural schedule may be extended for good cause, but in no event shall the effective date of any new or adjusted EECRF occur less than 45 days after the utility files a compliance tariff consistent with a final order approving the new or adjusted Cont'd...