Title 56, Title 56. Public Service Companies

A. The Commission shall establish pilot programs under which each Phase I Utility and each Phase II Utility, as such terms are defined in subdivision A 1 of § 56-585.1, shall submit a proposal to deploy electric power storage batteries. A proposal shall provide for the deployment…

A. The Commission shall require a Phase II Utility as defined in subdivision A 1 of § 56-585.1 to submit a proposal to the Commission to conduct a pilot program, not to exceed 10 megawatts in the aggregate, in its certificated service territory to allow any school in a public sch…

A. As used in this section: "Host account" means the premises on which a municipal customer-generator's electrical generating facility is located. "Municipal customer-generator" means a municipality that owns or operates, or that contracts with other persons to own or operate, an…

A. Each Phase I Utility and each Phase II Utility, as such terms are defined in subdivision A 1 of § 56-585.1, may submit one or more petitions to provide or make available broadband capacity to Internet service providers in areas of the Commonwealth unserved by broadband. The pr…

A. After the expiration or termination of capped rates, the rates, terms and conditions of distribution electric cooperatives subject to Article 1 (§ 56-231.15 et seq.) of Chapter 9.1 shall be regulated in accordance with the provisions of Chapters 9.1 (§ 56-231.15 et seq.) and 1…

Distribution electric cooperatives subject to Article 1 (§ 56-231.15 et seq.) of Chapter 9.1 shall be regulated in accordance with the provisions of Chapters 9.1 (§ 56-231.15 et seq.) and 10 (§ 56-232 et seq.), as amended by relevant sections of this chapter and by the following …

A. As used in this section: "Accelerated clean energy buyer" means a commercial or industrial customer of a Phase I or Phase II Utility, irrespective of generation supplier, with an aggregate load over 25 megawatts in the prior calendar year, that enters into arrangements pursuan…

A. The Commission shall, after notice and opportunity for hearing, initiate a proceeding to establish the rates, terms, and conditions of a non-bypassable universal service fee to fund the Percentage of Income Payment Program (PIPP). Such universal service fee shall be allocated …

A. As used in this section: "Cooperative" means a utility consumer services cooperative. "Eligible customer" means a member-consumer receiving service from a cooperative that (i) has asked to participate in the cooperative's on-bill tariff program and (ii) has been determined by …

A. For the purposes of this section: "Phase I Utility" has the same meaning as provided in subdivision A 1 of § 56-585.1. "Utility" means a Phase I Utility. B. With the first review commencing on March 31, 2024, and on May 31 biennially thereafter, the Commission shall conduct ra…

On and after January 1, 2001, if any supplier fails to fulfill an obligation, resulting in the failure of retail electric energy to be delivered into the control area serving the supplier's retail customer, the entity fulfilling the control area function, or, if applicable, the r…

A. As used in this section, "electric energy emergency" means an unplanned interruption in the generation or transmission of electricity resulting from a hurricane, ice storm, windstorm, earthquake or similar natural phenomena, or from a criminal act affecting such generation or …

A. As a condition of doing business in the Commonwealth, each person except a default service provider seeking to sell, offering to sell, or selling electric energy to any retail customer in the Commonwealth, on and after January 1, 2002, shall obtain a license from the Commissio…

A. As a condition of doing business in the Commonwealth, each person seeking to act as an aggregator within this Commonwealth on and after January 1, 2002, shall obtain a license from the Commission to do so. The license shall authorize that person to act as an aggregator until t…

A. Subject to the provisions of subdivision A 3 of § 56-577, counties, cities, and towns (hereafter municipalities) and other political subdivisions of the Commonwealth may, at their election and upon authorization by majority votes of their governing bodies, aggregate electrical…

A. A school board of a school division located in a locality that is a non-jurisdictional customer of a utility pursuant to § 56-234 and that owns or operates a public school building or facility that has been modernized consistent with Article 3 (§ 22.1-141.1 et seq.) of Chapter…

A. The Commission shall not require any incumbent electric utility to divest itself of any generation, transmission or distribution assets pursuant to any provision of this chapter. B. 1. The Commission shall, however, direct the functional separation of generation, retail transm…

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to exempt or immunize from punishment or prosecution, conduct violative of federal antitrust laws, or the antitrust laws of this Commonwealth.

A. The Commission shall develop an electric energy consumer education program designed to provide the following information to retail customers: 1. Information regarding energy conservation, energy efficiency, demand-side management, demand response, and renewable energy; 2. Info…

A. The Commission shall establish and implement the consumer education program developed pursuant to subsection A of § 56-592. In establishing such a program, the Commission shall take into account the findings and recommendations of the subgroup on Information/Consumer Education…

A. No entity subject to this chapter shall use any deception, fraud, false pretense, misrepresentation, or any deceptive or unfair practices in providing, distributing or marketing electric service. B. 1. Any person who suffers loss (i) as the result of marketing practices, inclu…

A. The Commission shall establish by regulation a program that affords eligible customer-generators the opportunity to participate in net energy metering, and a program, to begin no later than July 1, 2014, for customers of investor-owned utilities and to begin no later than July…

A. The Commission shall establish by regulation a program that affords eligible customer-generators the opportunity to participate in net energy metering in the service territory of each electric cooperative, which program shall commence on the later of July 1, 2019, or the effec…

A. For the purpose of this section: "Electric cooperative" or "cooperative" means a utility formed under or subject to Chapter 9.1 (§ 56-231.15 et seq.) and subject to regulation as to rates and service by the Commission. "Customer" means a customer interconnected to facilities o…

A. As used in this section: "Electric cooperative" or "cooperative" means a utility consumer services cooperative organized under Article 1 of Chapter 9.1. "Member" has the same meaning as provided in § 56-231.15. B. An electric cooperative may enter into an agreement to construc…

A. The Commission shall conduct pilot programs under which a person that owns or operates a solar-powered or wind-powered electricity generation facility located on premises owned or leased by an eligible customer-generator, as defined in § 56-594, shall be permitted to sell the …

A. As used in this section, "eligible farm" means an entity that owns or operates facilities within the Commonwealth for the generation of electric energy, which entity is described in subdivision (b)(10) of § 56-265.1. B. Eligible farms shall be permitted to connect to the elect…

A. As used in this section: "Small agricultural generating facility" means an electrical generating facility that: 1. Has a capacity: a. Of not more than 1.5 megawatts; and b. That does not exceed 150 percent of the customer's expected annual energy consumption based on the previ…

A. As used in this section: "Administrative cost" means the reasonable incremental cost to the investor-owned utility to process subscribers' bills for the program. "Applicable bill credit rate" means the dollar-per-kilowatt-hour rate used to calculate the subscriber's bill credi…

A. As used in this section: "Administrative cost" means the reasonable incremental cost to the investor-owned utility to process subscribers' bills for the program. "Applicable bill credit rate" means the dollar-per-kilowatt-hour rate used to calculate the subscriber's bill credi…

A. In all relevant proceedings pursuant to this Act, the Commission shall take into consideration, among other things, the goal of economic development in the Commonwealth. B. By September 1 of each year, the Commission shall report to the Energy Commission of Virginia and the Go…

It is the objective of the General Assembly that the construction and development of new utility-owned and utility-operated generating facilities utilizing energy derived from sunlight and from wind with an aggregate capacity of 5,000 megawatts, including rooftop solar installati…

A. Notwithstanding subsection G of § 56-580, or any other provision of law, each incumbent investor-owned electric utility shall develop proposed energy efficiency programs. Any program shall provide for the submission of a petition or petitions for approval to design, implement,…

A. Each Phase I and Phase II Utility, as such terms are defined in subdivision A 1 of § 56-585.1, shall submit a petition for approval to design, implement, and operate a three-year program of energy conservation measures providing incentives to low-income, elderly, and disabled …

A. The Commission shall establish for Phase II Utilities annual energy efficiency savings targets for customers who are low-income, elderly, disabled, or veterans of military service to be achieved through utility energy efficiency programs (low-income energy efficiency savings p…

A. As used in this section: "Installer" means any entity that directly provides energy efficiency or weatherization upgrades to low-income residents in the Commonwealth and that receives federal, state, or utility funding from a Phase I or Phase II Utility, in whole or in part, t…

The Commission shall submit a report and make recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly annually on or before December 1 of each year assessing (i) the reliability of electrical transmission or distribution systems; (ii) the integration of utility or customer owned…

A. For the purposes of this section, "Phase II Utility" has the same meaning as provided in subdivision A 1 of § 56-585.1. B. Upon request of a locality located within the service territory of a Phase II Utility, a Phase II Utility shall provide local reliability data within 30 d…

A. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the rates for electric generation and distribution services by a Phase I Utility, as defined in subdivision A 1 of § 56-585.1, shall not be increased during the months of November through February. B. Notwithstanding any other provis…

A. As used in this section: "Hosting capacity" means the amount of aggregate generation that can be accommodated on the electric distribution system without any infrastructure upgrades. "Program" means the distribution cost sharing program established pursuant to this section. "Q…

A. As used in this section: "Capacity reduction credit" means a measured and verified standard unit of demand flexibility as approved by the Commission pursuant to this section. "Cooperative" means a utility consumer services cooperative organized under Article 1 (§ 56.231.15 et …

A. As used in this section, "small portable solar generation device" means a moveable photovoltaic generation device that (i) has a maximum power output of not more than 1,200 watts per customer or, in the case of multi-family housing, per residential building unit; (ii) is desig…

As used in this chapter: "Advanced conductors" means high-temperature low-sag hardware technology that can conduct electricity across transmission lines and that demonstrates enhanced performance over traditional conductor products. "Advanced conductors" includes aluminum conduct…

An integrated resource plan shall: 1. Integrate, over the planning period, the electric utility's forecast of demand for electric generation supply with recommended plans to meet that forecasted demand and assure adequate and sufficient reliability of service, including: a. Gener…

A. Beginning in 2027 for a Phase II Utility and in 2028 for a Phase I Utility, and triennially thereafter, each electric utility shall file an updated integrated resource plan by October 15. For any year in which a Phase I or Phase II Utility files such updated integrated resourc…

As used in this chapter: "Allowed distribution revenue" means the average annual, weather-normalized, nongas commodity revenue per customer associated with the rates in effect as adopted in the applicable utility's last Commission-approved rate case or performance-based regulatio…