Cleveland Public Power small generation interconnection: tiers, fees and insurance

Q: How does Cleveland Public Power small generation interconnection measure system size?

The published limits do not say whether they are measured in alternating or direct current.

How the size is measured: not published

The published limits here are stated in kilowatts without saying whether that is the inverter rating in alternating current or the array rating in direct current. On a system near a threshold that decides which band it lands in, so the checker asks the question rather than choosing an answer.

Size bands and what each one obliges

Certified inverter based, 10 kW and under Size 0 to 10 kW	The application fee is currently being waived. Liability insurance is expressly not required, and Cleveland Public Power says so in writing. No standby power charge applies at or below 10 kW of any generation type. Utility accessible disconnect or lock box; a molded case circuit breaker does not satisfy this Local wiring inspector certification and certificate of completion Commissioner signature on Part 2 before energizing
Above 10 kW to 1,000 kW per premises Size 10.001 to 1000 kW	The application fee is currently being waived at this tier too. Solar and wind are exempt from the standby charge at any size, but other generation above 10 kW at a single premises is subject to the standby rate multiplied by the rated capacity, so a solar plus generator job needs the non solar capacity screened separately. Utility accessible disconnect or lock box Payment of the utility’s cost to review the application and perform any necessary studies, at cost

Certified inverter based, 10 kW and under Size 0 to 10 kW

The application fee is currently being waived. Liability insurance is expressly not required, and Cleveland Public Power says so in writing. No standby power charge applies at or below 10 kW of any generation type.

Utility accessible disconnect or lock box; a molded case circuit breaker does not satisfy this
Local wiring inspector certification and certificate of completion
Commissioner signature on Part 2 before energizing

Above 10 kW to 1,000 kW per premises Size 10.001 to 1000 kW

The application fee is currently being waived at this tier too. Solar and wind are exempt from the standby charge at any size, but other generation above 10 kW at a single premises is subject to the standby rate multiplied by the rated capacity, so a solar plus generator job needs the non solar capacity screened separately.

Utility accessible disconnect or lock box
Payment of the utility’s cost to review the application and perform any necessary studies, at cost

The screens that decide it

Within the 1,000 kW per premises ceiling Limit 1000 kW.
The total rated capacity of generators may not exceed 1,000 kW per customer premises. Net metering carries no separate size cap and simply inherits this one.
Fifteen percent of the peak load of the line or line segment 15 percent of line section peak load, a figure only the utility holds.
The ordinance lets the utility limit interconnected generation to 15 percent of the peak load of the line or line segment, or such other limit as it deems appropriate for reliability. Read that carefully: it is permissive rather than mandatory, and the escape clause means 15 percent is not a safe harbor in either direction. The ordinance does not say where peak load is measured, over what period, or with what coincidence assumption.

Ask the utility this, before you sell it

Is the application fee still waived? The published text waives an existing fee rather than saying none exists, so it can be reinstated without a document revision.
What is the peak load of this line segment and how is it measured? The ordinance names the denominator but not the method.
How long will review and permission to operate take? No timeline is published at any step.
Does the 1,000 kW premises limit refer to the inverter AC rating or the DC source rating? The ordinance never says and the form collects both.

Worth knowing before you quote

Liability insurance is expressly not required, which is the cleanest published statement of that in the platform. Net metering is open and credits are in kilowatt hours rather than dollars, carried over to offset later months until service terminates, at which point any remaining balance is zeroed with no liability to the utility. There is no annual true up and no cash payment ever, which is a material disclosure at the sale of a home. No percentage of consumption cap and no transformer cap are published. For Level 1 review projects the witness test is deemed waived if the utility does not inspect within ten business days after a ten business day minimum notice period, although the documents never define Level 1 by kilowatts. Operational testing before the signed Part 2 may not exceed two hours. Any change to the contractor, inverter manufacturer or model, or system size after the request is deemed complete requires a brand new interconnection request. The installer may run the application as the customer’s recognized agent.

Source

Cleveland Public Power Procedure for Customers to Interconnect Small Generation dated 11 November 2020, reprinting Cleveland Codified Ordinances 523.25 and 523.26 under Ordinance 1662-09 effective 9 December 2009, with the Interconnection Application and Agreement updated 28 November 2022

Read and recorded 2026-09-12. Municipal or public power utility, outside its state's interconnection rule. Its own published documents govern. An Ohio municipal utility. Ohio has no statewide interconnection standard reaching municipals, so the city ordinance is the governing law.

All Ohio interconnection rules

Size bands and what each one obliges

The screens that decide it

Ask the utility this, before you sell it

Worth knowing before you quote

What to do with this