Sunday, September 7, 2008
The General Assembly is not in session.
Tracking Virginia’s General Assembly
since 2007.
HB2401: Electric Utility Conservation Programs; created, report.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding in Title 56 a chapter numbered 24, consisting of sections numbered 56-597 through 56-602, as follows:
§ 56-597. Definition.
As used in this chapter, "electric utility" means any investor-owned utility and any cooperative utility formed under or subject to Chapter 9.1 (§ 56-231.15 et seq.) of this title that distributes electric energy for use by retail customers in the Commonwealth.
§ 56-598. Electric energy conservation goals.
A. The Commission shall conduct a proceeding, consistent with its rules of practice and procedure, pursuant to which it shall adopt electric energy conservation goals that provide for (i) increasing efficiency of electric energy usage and (ii) reducing the rate of growth the consumption of electric energy in the Commonwealth. The goals shall address the consumption of electric energy by the Commonwealth, by electric utilities, and by customers of electric utilities. The electric energy conservation goals shall include numerical goals for reducing electric energy consumption within the service territory of each electric utility, which goals shall be set at such levels that the Commission finds may be achieved without imposing unreasonable net costs on an electric utility or its customers.
B. The Commission may change the goals for reasonable cause. The time period to review the goals, however, shall not exceed five years. After the programs and plans to meet those goals are completed, the Commission shall determine what further goals, programs, or plans are warranted and, if so, shall adopt them.
§ 56-599. Utilities to develop and implement plans and programs.
A. Following adoption of goals pursuant to § 56-598, the Commission shall require each utility to develop plans for programs to meet the overall goals within its service area. Each utility shall submit its plan, which shall describe programs to be implemented by the utility in furtherance of its plan, to the Commission within six months following the Commission's adoption of goals pursuant to § 56-598. The Commission shall review all plans submitted under this section and shall approve any plan that it finds, after notice and opportunity for a hearing, will accomplish the goals in a prudent and cost-effective manner.
B. No utility shall be required to lend its funds for the purpose of purchasing or otherwise acquiring conservation measures or devices, but nothing herein shall prohibit or impair the administration or implementation of a utility plan as submitted by a utility and approved by the Commission under this section.
C. If the Commission disapproves a plan, it shall specify the reasons for disapproval, and the utility whose plan is disapproved shall resubmit its modified plan within 30 days.
D. Prior approval by the Commission shall be required to modify or discontinue a plan, or part thereof, which has been approved.
E. Following approval by the Commission, each utility shall implement its plan by instituting the conservation and efficiency programs described in the plan. Programs may include variations in rate design, load control, cogeneration, distributed generation, consumer education programs, energy conservation technology subsidies, or any other measure that the Commission finds likely to be effective.
F. If any utility has not implemented its programs and is not substantially in compliance with the provisions of its approved plan at any time, the Commission shall adopt programs required for the utility to achieve the goals.
§ 56-600. Reports.
The Commission shall require periodic reports from
each utility and shall provide the General Assembly and
the Governor with an annual report, by March 1 of each year following the
adoption of the goals pursuant
to § 56-598, of the goals and the progress of the utilities toward
meeting those goals, including the status of
plans and programs.
§ 56-601. Energy audits.
A. The Commission shall require each utility to offer, or to contract to offer, energy audits to its residential customers. This requirement need not be uniform, but may be based on such factors as level of usage, geographic location, or any other reasonable criterion, so long as all eligible customers are notified. The Commission may extend this requirement to some or all commercial and residential customers. The Commission shall set the charge for audits by rule, not to exceed the actual cost, and may describe by rule the general form and content of an audit. In the event one utility contracts with another utility to perform audits for it, the utility for which the audits are performed shall pay the contracting utility the reasonable cost of performing the audits.
B. The Commission shall establish all minimum requirements for energy auditors used by each utility. The Commission is authorized to contract with any public agency or other person to provide any training, testing, evaluation, or other step necessary to fulfill the provisions of this section.
§ 56-602. Cost recovery.
A. The Commission shall consider the performance of each utility in developing and implementing plans and programs under this chapter when establishing rates for distribution service for the utilities.
B. Each utility shall estimate its costs and revenues for audits and implementation of its plan and programs, for the immediately following six-month period. Reasonable and prudent unreimbursed costs projected to be incurred, or any portion of such costs, may be added to the rates which would otherwise be charged by a utility for distribution services upon approval by the Commission, provided that the Commission shall not allow the recovery of the cost of any company image-enhancing advertising or of any advertising not directly related to an approved program.
C. Following each six-month period, each utility shall report the actual results for that period to the Commission, and the difference, if any, between actual and projected results shall be taken into account in succeeding periods.
Additional Data
Explanation
This is the actual text of the bill — the legislation itself. Generally this is amending existing law, proposing the addition or removal of words from laws that are already on the books.
Words that are highlighted in yellow are
proposed additions, and words that are crossed out in
red are proposed removals.
The numbers with the § symbol before them are references to existing laws, and if you click on them they’ll take you to that part of the law on the state's website.