relative to authorizing energy storage in connection with net metering.

A new paragraph 7 amends RSA 362-A:1-a, II-b to define 'eligible customer-generator' or 'customer-generator.' The definition specifies that a facility must be powered by renewable energy or use a heat-led combined heat and power system, have peak capacity up to one megawatt (with an exception for municipal hosts), be behind a retail meter on the customer's premises, operate in parallel with the grid, and offset the customer's own electricity needs. Critically, it states that adding energy storage does not affect the facility's size determination for net metering eligibility, and that exported electricity from such storage must be charged only from the generation facility.

The effective date provision stating the act would take effect January 1, 2027 was removed from the bill text.

The effective date was changed from '60 days after its passage' to a fixed calendar date of January 1, 2027. This means the energy storage net metering provisions will not take effect until the start of 2027, regardless of when the bill is signed into law.

A new Senate amendment (2026-1909s, dated 05/14/2026) was added alongside the prior amendment (2026-1791s). The fiscal note reference and document date stamps were updated accordingly.

A new Section 6 was added creating an explicit right for consumers to install, interconnect, and use energy storage systems on their property, subject to size and safety requirements, without unnecessary restrictions or unduly discriminatory rates or fees, provided systems conform to local zoning ordinances and building codes.

The authority to establish size and safety requirements for customer energy storage systems was changed from the Public Utilities Commission to the department (indicated by bracketed markup changing 'commission' to 'department'), shifting regulatory oversight away from the utility regulator.

Energy storage is no longer limited to being 'charged solely from' the generation facility. The amended text now explicitly contemplates that energy storage may be configured to export electricity to the grid, which is a significant expansion of what customers can do with stored energy.

A new Section 5 was added (amending RSA 374-H:2, II) that acts as a savings clause, clarifying that the bill does not alter existing net energy metering principles (except to confirm the commission's authority to allow storage as part of net metering) and does not override any existing electrical permit requirements or licensing/certification requirements for installers, manufacturers, or equipment.

A new requirement was added: if energy storage is configured to allow electricity to be exported to the grid, it must be charged only from the customer's own generation facility, unless charging is under the control of an entity other than the customer-generator or as otherwise authorized by the commission in an adjudicated proceeding.

In Section 4 (new paragraph XXIV of RSA 362-A:9), the language was changed from 'added to and charged solely from renewable energy generation sources' to 'from energy storage added to renewable energy generation sources,' shifting the focus from the charging source to the export of stored energy.

The fiscal note's detailed revenue and expenditure estimates (showing indeterminable increases of $127,000+, $133,000+, and $140,000+ in utility assessments for FY 2026-2028) were removed from the amended version.