Friday, July 18, 2008
The General Assembly is not in session.
Tracking Virginia’s General Assembly
since 2007.
HB106: Utility Transfers Act; acquisition or disposal of assets or of control of telephone companies.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 56-88.1 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 56-88.1. Acquisition or disposition of control of a public utility.
No person, whether acting alone or in concert with others,
shall, directly or indirectly, acquire or dispose of control of (i)
a public utility within the meaning of this chapter or (ii) a telephone
company, or all of the assets thereof, without the prior approval
of the Commission. Any person proposing an acquisition or disposition for which
Commission approval is required by this section shall seek such approval
pursuant to the procedure of § 56-90. The Commission shall, after the filing of
a completed application, approve or disapprove the requested acquisition or
disposition within sixty 60
days. The sixty 60-day
period may be extended by Commission order for a period not to exceed an
additional 120 days. The application shall be deemed approved if the Commission
fails to act within sixty 60 days
or any extended period ordered by the Commission.
Any such acquisition or disposition of control without prior approval shall be voidable by the Commission. In addition, the Commission is authorized to revoke any certificate of public convenience and necessity it has issued, order compliance with this chapter, or take such other action as may be appropriate within the authority of the Commission.
For purposes of this section, "control" means (i)
the acquisition of twenty-five 25
percent or more of the voting stock or (ii) the actual exercise of any
substantial influence over the policies and actions of any public utility or
telephone company.
This section shall not apply to any company engaged in the
business of generating electricity whose rates and services are not regulated
by the State Corporation Commission.
2. That the provisions of this act shall have no effect on an acquisition or disposition for which an application seeking approval is filed with the State Corporation Commission prior to July 1, 2008.
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.