Columbia Customer generation—Net metering ordinance (§ 27-105)

(a) To the extent required of retail electric suppliers by Section 386.890 RSMo, a customer of the city electric utility may install and operate electric generation facilities, compatible with the electric utility, which are qualified as a net metering unit.

(b) Sales of electricity to and purchase of electricity from customer generation shall be in accordance with rates established in division 5 of this article.

(c) Each qualified net metering unit used by a customer-generator shall meet all applicable safety, performance, synchronization, interconnection and reliability standards established by the Missouri Public Service Commission, the National Electrical Safety Code, National Electrical Code, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and Underwriters Laboratories for distributed generation. The customer-generator's system shall contain a switch, circuit breaker, fuse or other easily accessible device or feature located in immediate proximity to the customer-generator's metering equipment that would allow a utility worker the ability to manually and instantly disconnect the unit from the city's electric distribution system.

(d) Liability and insurance requirements.

(1) For any cause of action relating to any damages to property or person caused by the generation unit of a customer-generator or the interconnection thereof, the city shall have no liability absent clear and convincing evidence of fault on the part of the city.

(2) For customer-generators of ten kilowatts (10 kW) or less, the customer-generator is not required to carry additional liability insurance.

(3) For customer-generators greater than ten kilowatts (10 kW), the customer-generator shall carry no less than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00) of liability insurance that provides for coverage of all risk of liability for personal injuries (including death) and damage to property arising out of or caused by the operation of the net metering unit.