HB662 creates a statewide community solar pilot program in Missouri to run during calendar years 2026 through 2028. The bill requires each retail electric supplier to allow community solar facilities and subscriber administrators to enroll customers, allocate bill credits, and manage subscriptions for electricity generated by off-site solar projects. A community solar facility must be located in Missouri, interconnected with a retail electric supplier’s distribution system, have a capacity between 100 AC kilowatts and 5,000 AC kilowatts, and serve at least 10 subscribers. The bill also defines key terms such as bill credit, subscriber, low-income customer, and unsubscribed energy, and it allows subscriptions to be portable if a customer moves within the same utility territory.
The bill directs the Missouri Public Service Commission to establish the value of bill credits within nine months of the effective date and to set a higher credit value for low-income subscribers so they save money on their electric bills. It also requires each community solar facility to have at least 10% low-income customers and 20% residential customers, and it requires utilities to purchase unsubscribed energy at avoided cost. Retail electric suppliers may recover reasonable direct costs associated with interconnection, billing, and implementation through fees charged to subscriber administrators. The commission must also develop interconnection and technical rules for larger systems and create a system map showing where new solar generation can be accommodated.
The bill’s main legal impact is to add a new section, section 386.875, to chapter 386, RSMo, creating a new regulatory framework for community solar in Missouri. It changes the relationship between utilities, solar developers, subscriber administrators, and customers by setting out billing, interconnection, compensation, and reporting obligations, while also clarifying that subscriber administrators and third-party operators are not treated as electric utilities solely because of their role in the program. It also limits concentration by prohibiting affiliated entities from developing, owning, or operating more than one community solar facility on the same or contiguous parcels.
Overall, the bill appears to have a generally supportive policy orientation toward expanding solar access and customer participation, especially for low-income households, but the available record does not include committee testimony or recorded votes showing specific support or opposition. The structure of the bill suggests an effort to balance renewable energy expansion with utility cost recovery and regulatory oversight. Likely points of contention include the required utility bill-credit methodology, the obligation to buy unsubscribed energy, the cost recovery provisions for utilities, and the extent of commission authority over implementation and interconnection rules.
HB662 would create a new statutory community solar pilot program in chapter 386, requiring retail electric suppliers to participate and establishing new duties for the Missouri Public Service Commission, utilities, subscriber administrators, and community solar operators. It would affect retail electric customers who subscribe to community solar, low-income households eligible for enhanced savings, and third-party solar developers by setting rules for subscriptions, bill credits, interconnection, and utility compensation.
The bill’s policy direction is pro-community-solar and pro-consumer, with particular emphasis on expanding access for low-income customers and increasing renewable energy participation. Because there are no committee transcripts or recorded votes in the provided material, there is no direct evidence of debate tone; however, the bill’s detailed regulatory structure suggests an attempt to address likely utility and implementation concerns while advancing solar deployment.
The most likely areas of contention are the mandate that utilities implement the pilot program, the PSC’s role in setting bill-credit values, and the requirement that utilities purchase unsubscribed energy at avoided cost. Utilities may also scrutinize the bill’s cost-recovery provisions, interconnection obligations, and system-map requirements, while solar advocates may focus on whether the bill-credit values and participation rules are strong enough to make community solar financially viable and accessible to low-income customers.