Source: https://www.richmondsunlight.com/bill/2019/hb2477/fulltext/
Timestamp: 2019-08-17 14:55:03
Document Index: 225502094

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 56', '§ 56', '§ 56', '§ 56', '§ 56', '§ 56', '§ 56', '§ 56']

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VIRGINIA ACTS OF ASSEMBLY -- CHAPTER An Act to amend and reenact §§ 56-577 and 56-587 of the Code of Virginia, relating to electric utility regulation; competitive suppliers. [H 2477] Approved
1. That §§ 56-577 and 56-587 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
6. To the extent that an incumbent electric utility has elected as of February 1, 2019 the Fixed Resource Requirement alternative as a Load Serving Entity in the PJM Region and continues to make such election and is therefore required to obtain capacity for all load and expected load growth in its service area, any customer of a utility subject to that requirement that purchases energy pursuant to subdivision 3 or 4 from a supplier licensed to sell retail electric energy within the Commonwealth shall continue to pay its incumbent electric utility for the non-fuel generation capacity and transmission related costs incurred by the incumbent electric utility in order to meet the customer's capacity obligations, pursuant to the incumbent electric utility's standard tariff that has been approved by and is on file with the Commission. In the case of such customer, the advance written notice period established in subdivisions 3 c and d shall be three years. The terms of any agreement between a customer and a licensed supplier entered before February 1, 2019, shall not be affected by this subdivision, nor shall this subdivision apply to the customers of licensed suppliers that had aggregation petitions pending before the Commission prior to January 1, 2019.
HOUSE BILL NO. 2477 AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE (Proposed by the House Committee on Commerce and Labor) (Patron Prior to Substitute--Delegate Kilgore) House Amendments in [ ] -- February 4, 2019 A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 56-577 and 56-587 of the Code of Virginia, relating to electric utility regulation; competitive suppliers.
6. To the extent that an incumbent electric utility has elected [ as of February 1, 2019 ] the Fixed Resource Requirement alternative as a Load Serving Entity in the PJM Region [ and continues to make such election ] and is [ therefore ] required to obtain capacity for all load and expected load growth in its service area, any customer of a utility subject to that requirement that purchases energy pursuant to subdivision 3 or 4 from a supplier licensed to sell retail electric energy within the Commonwealth shall continue to pay its incumbent electric utility for the non-fuel generation capacity and transmission related costs incurred by the incumbent electric utility in order to meet the customer's capacity obligations, pursuant to the incumbent electric utility's standard tariff that has been approved by and is on file with the Commission. In the case of such customer, the advance written notice period established in subdivisions 3 c and d shall be three years. The terms of any agreement between a customer and a licensed supplier entered before February 1, 2019, shall not be affected by this subdivision [ , nor shall this subdivision apply to the customers of licensed suppliers that had aggregation petitions pending before the Commission prior to January 1, 2019 ] .
HOUSE BILL NO. 2477 AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE (Proposed by the House Committee on Commerce and Labor on January 31, 2019) (Patron Prior to Substitute--Delegate Kilgore) A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 56-577 and 56-587 of the Code of Virginia, relating to electric utility regulation; competitive suppliers.
6. To the extent that an incumbent electric utility has elected the Fixed Resource Requirement alternative as a Load Serving Entity in the PJM Region and is required to obtain capacity for all load and expected load growth in its service area, any customer of a utility subject to that requirement that purchases energy pursuant to subdivision 3 or 4 from a supplier licensed to sell retail electric energy within the Commonwealth shall continue to pay its incumbent electric utility for the non-fuel generation capacity and transmission related costs incurred by the incumbent electric utility in order to meet the customer's capacity obligations, pursuant to the incumbent electric utility's standard tariff that has been approved by and is on file with the Commission. In the case of such customer, the advance written notice period established in subdivisions 3 c and d shall be three years. The terms of any agreement between a customer and a licensed supplier entered before February 1, 2019, shall not be affected by this subdivision.
HOUSE BILL NO. 2477 Offered January 9, 2019 Prefiled January 9, 2019 A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 56-577 and 56-587 of the Code of Virginia, relating to electric utility regulation; competitive suppliers.
3. From January 1, 2004, until the expiration or termination of capped rates, all retail customers of electric energy within the Commonwealth, regardless of customer class, shall be permitted to purchase electric energy from any supplier of electric energy licensed to sell retail electric energy within the Commonwealth. After the expiration or termination of capped rates, and subject Subject to the provisions of subdivisions 4 and 5, only individual retail customers of electric energy within the Commonwealth, regardless of customer class, whose demand during the most recent calendar year exceeded five megawatts but did not exceed one percent of the customer's incumbent electric utility's peak load during the most recent calendar year unless such customer had noncoincident peak demand in excess of 90 megawatts in calendar year 2006 or any year thereafter, shall be permitted to purchase electric energy from any supplier of electric energy licensed to sell retail electric energy within the Commonwealth, except for any incumbent electric utility other than the incumbent electric utility serving the exclusive service territory in which such a customer is located, may petition the Commission for permission to purchase electric energy from any supplier of electric energy licensed to sell retail electric energy within the Commonwealth, except for any incumbent electric utility other than the incumbent electric utility serving the exclusive service territory in which such a customer is located. The Commission may, after notice and opportunity for hearing, approve such petition if it finds that:
a. Neither such customer's incumbent electric utility nor retail customers of such utility that do not choose to obtain electric energy from alternate suppliers will be adversely affected in a manner contrary to the public interest by granting such petition. In making such determination, the Commission shall take into consideration, without limitation, the impact and effect of any and all other previously approved petitions of like type with respect to such incumbent electric utility; and
b. Approval of such petition is consistent with the public interest. Approval of such a petition shall also be subject to the following conditions:
a. (1) If such customer does not purchase electric energy from licensed suppliers after that date, such customer shall purchase electric energy from its incumbent electric utility.
b. (2) Except as provided in subdivision 4, the demands of individual retail customers may not be aggregated or combined for the purpose of meeting the demand limitations of this provision, any other provision of this chapter to the contrary notwithstanding. For the purposes of this section, each noncontiguous site will nevertheless constitute an individual retail customer even though one or more such sites may be under common ownership of a single person.
c. (3) If such customer does purchase electric energy from licensed suppliers after the expiration or termination of capped rates, it shall not thereafter be entitled to purchase electric energy from the incumbent electric utility without giving five years' advance written notice of such intention to such utility, except where such customer demonstrates to the Commission, after notice and opportunity for hearing, through clear and convincing evidence that its supplier has failed to perform, or has anticipatorily breached its duty to perform, or otherwise is about to fail to perform, through no fault of the customer, and that such customer is unable to obtain service at reasonable rates from an alternative supplier. If, as a result of such proceeding, the Commission finds it in the public interest to grant an exemption from the five-year notice requirement, such customer may thereafter purchase electric energy at the costs of such utility, as determined by the Commission pursuant to subdivision 3 d hereof b (4), for the remainder of the five-year notice period, after which point the customer may purchase electric energy from the utility under rates, terms and conditions determined pursuant to § 56-585.1. However, such customer shall be allowed to individually purchase electric energy from the utility under rates, terms, and conditions determined pursuant to § 56-585.1 if, upon application by such customer, the Commission finds that neither such customer's incumbent electric utility nor retail customers of such utility that do not choose to obtain electric energy from alternate suppliers will be adversely affected in a manner contrary to the public interest by granting such petition. In making such determination, the Commission shall take into consideration, without limitation, the impact and effect of any and all other previously approved petitions of like type with respect to such incumbent electric utility. Any customer that returns to purchase electric energy from its incumbent electric utility, before or after expiration of the five-year notice period, shall be subject to minimum stay periods equal to those prescribed by the Commission pursuant to subdivision C 1.
d. (4) The costs of serving a customer that has received an exemption from the five-year notice requirement under subdivision 3 c hereof b (3) shall be the market-based costs of the utility, including (i) the actual expenses of procuring such electric energy from the market, (ii) additional administrative and transaction costs associated with procuring such energy, including, but not limited to, costs of transmission, transmission line losses, and ancillary services, and (iii) a reasonable margin as determined pursuant to the provisions of subdivision A 2 of § 56-585.1. The methodology established by the Commission for determining such costs shall ensure that neither utilities nor other retail customers are adversely affected in a manner contrary to the public interest.
6. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, retail customers may not purchase energy from licensed suppliers pursuant to subdivision 3 or 4 if the capacity load growth in the electric utility's service territory averaged less than two percent annually for the previous five years. Customers that are currently purchasing energy from a licensed supplier pursuant to subdivision 3 or 4 may continue to do so for the duration of their existing agreements with the licensed supplier.
7. Any customer that purchases energy pursuant to subdivision 3 or 4 from a supplier licensed to sell retail electric energy within the Commonwealth shall continue to pay its incumbent electric utility for the non-fuel generation and transmission capacity related costs incurred by the incumbent electric utility in order to meet the customer's capacity obligations, pursuant to the incumbent electric utility's standard tariff that has been approved by and is on file with the Commission.
6. 8. A tariff for one or more classes of residential customers filed with the Commission for approval by a cooperative on or after July 1, 2010, shall be deemed to offer a tariff for electric energy provided 100 percent from renewable energy if it provides undifferentiated electric energy and the cooperative retires a quantity of renewable energy certificates equal to 100 percent of the electric energy provided pursuant to such tariff. A tariff for one or more classes of nonresidential customers filed with the Commission for approval by a cooperative on or after July 1, 2012, shall be deemed to offer a tariff for electric energy provided 100 percent from renewable energy if it provides undifferentiated electric energy and the cooperative retires a quantity of renewable energy certificates equal to 100 percent of the electric energy provided pursuant to such tariff. For purposes of this section, "renewable energy certificate" means, with respect to cooperatives, a tradable commodity or instrument issued by a regional transmission entity or affiliate or successor thereof in the United States that validates the generation of electricity from renewable energy sources or that is certified under a generally recognized renewable energy certificate standard. One renewable energy certificate equals 1,000 kWh or one MWh of electricity generated from renewable energy. A cooperative offering electric energy provided 100 percent from renewable energy pursuant to this subdivision that involves the retirement of renewable energy certificates shall disclose to its retail customers who express an interest in purchasing energy pursuant to such tariff (i) that the renewable energy is comprised of the retirement of renewable energy certificates, (ii) the identity of the entity providing the renewable energy certificates, and (iii) the sources of renewable energy being offered.
D. Each licensed supplier shall file a report, verified by the president or the equivalent executive of such supplier, with the Commission by March 31 of each year that contains (i) copies of all marketing materials and other information conveyed to each potential customer regarding the services offered by the supplier and (ii) prices that the supplier charges each of its customers. Failure to provide the report shall be grounds for suspension or revocation of the supplier's license to sell retail electric energy within the Commonwealth.
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