Bill
HB 5611
Establishes a state Certified Microgrid Program to certify, interconnect, and oversee microgrids, boosting reliability, resilience, and safe operation for communities and facilitie
HB 5611 Summary — West Virginia, 2026 Session
Title: Certified Microgrid Program
Overview
- Purpose: Establish a state framework to support the development, certification, and operation of microgrids in West Virginia through a Certified Microgrid Program. The bill aims to promote reliability, resilience, and clean/efficient energy deployment by enabling communities, businesses, and institutions to deploy microgrids with defined standards and oversight.
Key Provisions and Changes
- Certified Microgrid Program
- Creation of a formal program to certify microgrids within the state.
- Establishes criteria, standards, and processes for certification to ensure reliability, safety, and interoperability.
- Certification Criteria
- Sets requirements related to technical design, performance standards, protective measures, interconnection with the utility grid, and safe operation.
- May include performance metrics (e.g., duration of islanded operation, resilience benchmarks) and testing/verification protocols.
- Oversight and Administration
- Designates a state or agency-led administrator (likely a public utility or energy department) to administer the program.
- Defines reporting, compliance, and potential auditing requirements.
- Interconnection and Grid Management
- Outlines procedures for interconnecting certified microgrids with the larger electric grid, including safety rules, coordination with the incumbent utility, and potential load management strategies.
- Procurement and Financing
- May address financing mechanisms, incentives, or qualification criteria for programs and projects seeking certification.
- Could specify eligibility for state funding, grants, or favorable regulatory treatment for certified microgrids.
- Resilience and Reliability
- Emphasizes the role of certified microgrids in enhancing service continuity during outages, extreme weather, or grid disturbances.
- May provide priority for critical facilities (e.g., hospitals, emergency services, water treatment) to adopt certified microgrid configurations.
- Economic and Workforce Considerations
- Potentially includes job-creation, workforce training, and local economic development benefits tied to microgrid deployment.
- Privacy and Security
- Addresses security, cyber resilience, and data privacy aspects related to microgrid operation and monitoring.
- Term and Sunset
- The bill may specify a effective date and potentially a sunset provision or review timeline to assess program performance.
Who Would Be Affected
- Consumers and Entities
- Commercial, industrial, educational, healthcare, and municipal entities that adopt certified microgrids.
- Project developers and energy service companies involved in microgrid design, installation, and operation.
- Utilities
- Interconnection coordination with the incumbent electric utility; utilities would be involved in certification oversight and compliance processes.
- State Agencies
- Energy/utility regulatory or public energy agencies would administer certification, monitoring, and reporting.
Procedural and Timeline Aspects
- Legislative Journey
- Introduced in the House (HB 5611) on February 16, 2026.
- Referred to the House Energy and Public Works committee for consideration.
- Sponsorship
- Primary sponsor: (not specified in the text) with co-sponsors: Bill Ridenour and Joe Funkhouser.
- Next Steps (typical)
- Committee hearings, potential amendments, floor votes in the House and Senate, then enactment and signing by the governor.
- Effective Date
- The bill would include an effective date upon passage; details are not provided in the excerpt.
Notes
- The provided text (bill content) appears to be corrupted or encoded, so exact statutory language, dollar amounts, timelines, and specific program mechanics are not visible here. The summary reflects the typical structure and intent of a “Certified Microgrid Program” bill, focusing on establishing a state framework for certification, interconnection, and resilience-enhancing microgrids.
If you have access to the official bill text or a clean summary, I can refine this with precise provisions, definitions, dates, and any fiscal impact.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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