---
title: "Qualifying facility question list under PURPA"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/precedents/energy-resources-and-mining/us-qualifying-facility-questions"
type: "precedent"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "a13-us-qualifying-facility-questions"
area_id: "A13"
kind: "checklist"
ai_level: "yellow"
version: 1
task_ids: ["A13-T1-R7", "A13-S20261018-16"]
law_stated_as_at: "2026-10-22"
---

# Qualifying facility question list under PURPA

> Questions drawn from the parts of 16 U.S.C. § 824a-3 that were read, including the incremental-cost limit. The list does not decide qualifying-facility status or a purchase obligation.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/precedents/energy-resources-and-mining/us-qualifying-facility-questions  
Law stated as at: 2026-10-22

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

## Key facts

- Kind: Checklist. Steps or checks to work through and tick off.
- Practice area: [Energy, Resources & Mining](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/energy-resources-and-mining.md)
- Jurisdictions: United States
- AI level: Yellow. You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on.
- Law stated as at: 2026-10-22
- Status: Maintained. Checked on 2026-10-22 against the 2 authorities it cites, for United States.

## When to use it

Use when a seller claims qualifying-facility status in a power sale. Do not use it for an ordinary bilateral contract where nobody makes that claim.

## Used for these tasks

- [Draft or review a royalty, streaming or offtake agreement](https://ailawframework.com/practice/energy-resources-and-mining/draft-or-review-a-royalty-streaming-or-offtake-agreement.md)
- [Draft the certificate terms in a renewable electricity or low-emissions product offtake](https://ailawframework.com/practice/energy-resources-and-mining/draft-the-certificate-terms-in-a-renewable-electricity-or-low-emissions.md)

## How AI may be used

Yellow: the lawyer applies section 824a-3 to the facility and decides whether any purchase obligation exists.

**AI may:**

- Record the statutory direction that the Commission's rules require utilities to offer to sell to and purchase from qualifying facilities.
- Record the incremental-cost ceiling and its definition.
- Record the exemption capacity figures that were read, and label them as exemption figures.

**AI must not:**

- Do not decide that a facility is a qualifying facility.
- Do not state that a utility must buy from this seller.
- Do not restate the rest of section 824a-3 past the subsections that were read.
- Do not open section 3(17)(E) from memory. It was not opened.

**The lawyer checks:**

- Read the Commission's current qualifying-facility rules before relying on this statute. Those rules were not opened.
- Apply the incremental-cost definition only to a rate set under a rule prescribed under subsection (a).
- Keep this list out of a contract that does not claim qualifying-facility status.

## Authorities

- [16 U.S.C. § 824a-3](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/16/824a-3)
- [16 U.S.C. § 824](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/16/824)

## Full text and drafting notes

The full text and the drafting notes are not part of this public page. Signed-in firm accounts can read them at https://ailawframework.com/precedents/energy-resources-and-mining/us-qualifying-facility-questions and through the signed-in MCP connector https://ailawframework.com/mcp/firm.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*