Virginia Administrative Code › Title 20 - PUBLIC UTILITIES AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS › Agency 5 - STATE CORPORATION COMMISSION › Chapter 340 - RULES GOVERNING SHARED SOLAR PROGRAM › Section 20VAC5-340-20 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
The following terms when used in this chapter shall have the
				  following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Affordable housing provider" means any multi-family
				  residential housing project that is one or more of the following:
1. A federal, state, or local financing program requiring
				  that the real estate remains subject to land use restriction and rental housing
				  affordability covenants that limit allowable rents charged to individuals or
				  families;
2. A federal low-income housing tax credit project, as
				  defined in § 42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
3. A project funded with federal grants made to states for
				  low-income housing tax credits under § 1602 of the American Recovery and
				  Reinvestment Act of 2009;
4. A rental assistance demonstration public housing
				  conversion under the federal Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations
				  Act of 2020; or 5. Affordable housing meeting the applicable requirements of
				  another federal, state, or local program.
"Applicable bill credit rate" means the
				  dollar-per-kilowatt-hour rate used to calculate the subscriber's bill credit.
"Bill credit" means the monetary value of the electricity, in
				  kilowatt-hours, generated by the shared solar facility allocated to a
				  subscriber to offset that subscriber's electricity bill.
"Low-income customer" means any person or household whose
				  income is no more than 80% of the median income of the locality in which the
				  customer resides. The median income of the locality is determined by the U.S.
				  Department of Housing and Urban Development.
"Low-income service organization" means a nonresidential
				  customer of an investor-owned utility whose primary purpose is to serve
				  low-income individuals and households.
"Low-income shared solar facility" means a shared solar
				  facility at least 30% of the capacity of which is subscribed by low-income
				  customers or low-income service organizations.
"Low-income subscription plan" means a plan submitted to the
				  commission by an applicant providing a commitment for low-income subscription
				  and demonstrating the ability to subscribe low-income customers.
"Minimum bill" means a dollar per month amount determined by
				  the commission under §
									56-594.3D
				  of the Code of Virginia that subscribers are required to pay, at a minimum, on
				  their utility bill each month after accounting for any bill credits.
"Non-ministerial permit" means all necessary governmental
				  permits and approvals to construct the project (other than ministerial permits,
				  such as electrical and building permits), notwithstanding any pending legal
				  challenges to one or more permits or approvals.
"Person" means any individual, corporation, partnership,
				  association, company, business, trust, joint venture, or other private legal
				  entity, and the Commonwealth or any municipality.
"Phase II Utility" has the same meaning as provided in
				  subdivision A 1 of §
									56-585.1
				  of the Code of Virginia. "Shared solar facility" means a facility that:
1. Generates electricity by means of a solar photovoltaic
				  device with a nameplate capacity rating that does not exceed 5,000 kilowatts of
				  alternating current;
2. Is located in the service territory of an investor-owned
				  electric utility;
3. Is connected to the electric distribution grid serving the
				  Commonwealth;
4. Has at least three subscribers;
5. Has at least 40% of its capacity subscribed by customers
				  with subscriptions of 25 kilowatts or less; and
6. Is located on a single parcel of land.
"Shared solar program" or "program" means the program created
				  through this chapter to allow for the development of shared solar facilities.
"Subscriber" means a retail customer of a utility that (i)
				  owns one or more subscriptions of a shared solar facility that is
				  interconnected with the utility and (ii) receives service in the service
				  territory of the same utility in whose service territory the shared solar
				  facility is located.
"Subscriber organization" means any for-profit or nonprofit
				  entity that owns or operates one or more shared solar facilities. A subscriber
				  organization shall not be considered a utility solely as a result of its
				  ownership or operation of a shared solar facility. A Phase II Utility shall not
				  be a subscriber organization.
"Subscription" means a contract or other agreement between a
				  subscriber and the owner of a shared solar facility. A subscription shall be
				  sized such that the estimated bill credits do not exceed the subscriber's
				  average annual bill for the customer account to which the subscription is
				  attributed.
"Utility" means a Phase II Utility.
Statutory Authority: §
											12.1-13
					 and
					 56-594.3 of
					 the Code of Virginia.