1. The Commission shall adopt regulations to establish as part of the Solar Program a program for the payment of incentives for the installation of energy storage systems by customers of a utility. The regulations must include, without limitation, regulations that:

(a) Establish a process to set and periodically review the level of incentives available to customers of a utility.

(b) Require that each energy storage system for which an incentive is awarded pursuant to this section provides a minimum level of benefit to customers of the utility, including, without limitation:

(1) Reducing peak demand for electricity;

(2) Avoiding or deferring investment by the utility in assets for the generation, transmission or distribution of electricity; or

(3) Improving the reliability of the operation of the transmission or distribution grid.

(c) Determine the allocation of incentives among customers in the following categories:

(1) Residential and small commercial;

(2) New construction;

(3) Public entities; and

(4) Any other category determined by the Commission.

(d) Establish the:

(1) Qualifications and requirements an applicant must meet to be eligible to be awarded an incentive pursuant to this section;

(2) Form and content of the application for an incentive pursuant to this section;

(3) Process for accepting and approving applications, which must provide that applications are approved based on the order in which complete applications are submitted and not on a lottery process; and

(4) Requirements an applicant must meet to receive the payment of an incentive from the utility, including, without limitation, the form and content of a form to claim the incentive that must be submitted by the applicant.

(e) Require a utility to include in its annual plan submitted pursuant to NRS 701B.230 information concerning the incentives available pursuant to this section.

2. To be eligible to receive an incentive pursuant to this section, a person must:

(a) Be a customer of a utility;

(b) Be a property owner, a participant or a person who has installed on the property of the person a solar energy system or energy storage system; and

(c) Submit an application to a utility and be selected by the utility for inclusion in the Solar Program and the award of an incentive pursuant to this section.

3. A utility shall review each application submitted pursuant to subsection 2 to ensure that the applicant meets the qualifications and requirements to be eligible to be awarded an incentive pursuant to this section.

4. The Commission shall not authorize the payment of an incentive pursuant to this section as part of the Solar Program if the payment of the incentive would cause the total amount of incentives paid by all utilities pursuant to this section to exceed $5,000,000.

5. As used in this section, “residential or small commercial customer of a utility” means an existing residential or small commercial customer of a utility or a prospective residential or small commercial customer of a utility that affirms it will become an actual customer of the utility within 12 months after the date on which the application is filed.

(Added to NRS by 2017, 1265)