SB454

Senate Bill 454 amends existing Arkansas law regarding public utility contracts for interruptible service, which allows industrial customers to receive utility services at agreed-upon prices in exchange for the utility's ability to interrupt that service. The bill clarifies that such contracts must be approved by the Arkansas Public Service Commission and demonstrate that they are in the public interest. It establishes criteria for electric utilities to offer interruptible service rate schedules, particularly for large-scale consumers with usage exceeding 5,000,000 megawatt-hours. The bill further mandates that these rate schedules align with regional transmission organization tariffs and federal and state regulations. Additionally, it stipulates that customers participating in these interruptible service rate schedules are generally ineligible for net-metering, subject to specific grandfathering exceptions for facilities approved before December 31, 2022. Finally, the bill prevents utilities from denying interruptible service eligibility based solely on the customer's fuel source.