15A NCAC 01V .0103      Registration FEE amount for new and existing ussps

(a)  Existing USSPs. The amount of the registration fee required by G.S. 130A-309.240(h), submitted to the Department in accordance with Rule .0102 of this Section, for each existing USSP shall be as follows, and shall be adjusted in accordance with Paragraph (c) of this Rule:

(1)           The amount of the first registration fee for an existing USSP shall be one hundred and seventy-five dollars ($175.00) per megawatt alternating current (MW AC) of nameplate capacity.

(2)           The amount of the second registration fee, and all subsequent registration fees for an existing USSP, shall be twenty-five dollars ($25.00) per MW AC of nameplate capacity.

(b)  New USSPs. The amount of the registration fees required by G.S. 130A-309.240(h), submitted to the Department in accordance with Rule .0102 of this Section, for each new USSP shall be as follows, and shall be adjusted in accordance with Paragraph (c) of this Rule:

(1)           New USSPs capable of generating 20 MW AC or less:

(A)          The amount of the first registration fee shall be five hundred dollars ($500.00) per MW AC of nameplate capacity.

(B)          The amount of the second registration fee, and all subsequent registration fees, shall be fifty dollars ($50.00) per MW AC of nameplate capacity.

(2)           New USSPs capable of generating more than 20 MW AC:

(A)          The amount of the first registration fee shall be the lesser of three hundred dollars ($300.00) per MW AC of nameplate capacity or fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).

(B)          The amount of the second registration fee, and all subsequent registration fees, shall be the lesser of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) per MW AC of nameplate capacity for the USSP or twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000).

(c)  Adjustment for Legislatively Mandated Salaries and Benefits. Beginning July 1, 2029, and every five years thereafter, the Department may adjust the fee amounts in Paragraphs (a) and (b) of this Rule in accordance with the Consumer Price Index computed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics during the prior two bienniums. The Department may also increase or decrease the fees or adjust the fee structures in Paragraphs (a) and (b) of this Rule, on the same five-year schedule, to meet the requirements in G.S. 130A-309.240(h) and G.S. 130A-309.242 that the fees be used to fund program administration. No amendment to this Rule shall be necessary for the Department to adjust the fees in accordance with this Paragraph. The adjustment to the fee amounts shall be rounded to the nearest dollar ($1.00). No less than 180 days prior to a registration fee adjustment, the Department shall publish the adjusted fee amounts on the Department's website at https://www.deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/waste-management/utility-scale-solar-management-program.

(d)  The Department may charge the project owner a late fee of seventy-five dollars ($75.00) per month, per USSP, for every month or partial month that payment of the registration fee is delinquent.

History Note:        Authority G.S. 130A-309.240(j);

Eff. April 1, 2025.