A. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, there is hereby established a public rights-of-way use fee to be charged in lieu of any and all fees of general application, except for zoning, subdivision, site plan, and comprehensive plan fees of general application, otherwise chargeable to a renewable generator by the Department of Transportation or a locality in connection with a permit for such occupation and use granted in accordance with § 56-615 or 56-616. The public rights-of-way use fee established by this section is imposed on all renewable generators that occupy and use public rights-of-way in order to (i) supply electricity generated at its renewable energy facility to the electric distribution grid, (ii) distribute steam generated at its renewable energy facility to customers, or (iii) supply landfill gas to customers or to a natural gas distribution or transmission pipeline.
B. The amount of the public rights-of-way use fee for a renewable generator shall be $1,500 per mile or any portion thereof over which the renewable generator has installed distribution facilities.
C. A renewable generator shall remit its required public rights-of-way use fee to the locality or the Department of Transportation, as applicable, prior to initiation of construction, as follows:
1. The renewable generator shall remit directly to the applicable locality all public rights-of-way use fees billed in (i) cities, (ii) towns whose public streets and roads are not maintained by the Department of Transportation, and (iii) any county that has withdrawn or elects to withdraw from the secondary system of state highways under the provisions of § 11 of Chapter 415 of the Acts of Assembly of 1932 and that has elected not to return.
2. The public rights-of-way use fees in all other counties shall be remitted by each renewable generator to the Department of Transportation, and shall first be used to offset the administrative costs of processing the permit with the remaining fee being added to the secondary system construction improvement program funds of the counties where the facilities are located.