Monday, October 13, 2008
The General Assembly is not in session.
Tracking Virginia’s General Assembly
since 2007.
SB145: Natural gas utilities; recovery of funds for capital projects.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 56-235.9 as follows:
§ 56-235.9. Recovery of funds used for capital projects prior to a rate case for strategic natural gas facilities.
A. As used in this section:
"Capitalized carrying cost" includes the return on the investment, depreciation, and tax.
"Natural gas utility" means any investor-owned public service company engaged in the business of furnishing natural gas service to the public.
"Strategic natural gas facility" includes, without limitation, a natural gas distribution or transmission pipeline, storage facility, compressor station, liquefied natural gas facility, peaking facility or other appurtenant facility, used to furnish natural gas service in the Commonwealth, that adds deliverability of at least 10,000 dekaTherms per day individually or 75,000 dekaTherms per day in the aggregate.
B. Any natural gas utility that places a strategic natural gas facility into service on or after July 1, 2008, to serve its customers shall have the right to recover through its rates charged to those customers the entire prudently incurred costs of the facility including: planning, development and construction costs; life-cycle costs; costs of infrastructure associated therewith; an allowance for funds used during construction; and the capitalized carrying cost from the time construction is completed and the asset is placed into service until the time that the Commission establishes new rates that include recovery of all costs as defined herein. Such costs shall be recorded in the utility's plant accounts and shall be included in rate base for purposes of cost recovery subject to Commission determination that such costs were prudently incurred. The allowance for funds used during construction and the capitalized carrying cost shall be calculated utilizing the weighted average cost of capital, including the cost of debt and cost of equity in effect at the time the natural gas facility is constructed.
C. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the Commission from granting similar treatment to other natural gas facilities when the Commission deems such treatment to be in the public interest.
2. That nothing in this act shall either authorize or deny the recovery of any costs submitted to the Commission prior to January 1, 2008, where such costs were the subject of a final order of the Commission entered by that date that expressly determined whether such costs were prudently incurred, and such order expressly provided for the final accounting and ratemaking treatment of such costs.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 56-235.9 as follows:
§ 56-235.9. Recovery of funds used during construction of natural gas facilities.
A. As used in this section:
"Capital costs" include, without limitation, an allowance for funds used during construction of a natural gas facility that is calculated utilizing the weighted average cost of capital, including the cost of debt and cost of equity in effect at the time the natural gas facility is placed into service.
"Natural gas facility" includes, without limitation, a natural gas pipeline, storage facility, compressor station, or other appurtenant facility used to furnish natural gas service in the Commonwealth, that adds deliverability of at least 10,000 dekaTherms per day individually or 75,000 dekaTherms per day in the aggregate.
"Utility" means a public utility authorized to furnish natural gas service in the Commonwealth.
B. A utility's reasonably incurred capital costs of acquiring, constructing, or enlarging a natural gas facility that is placed into service on or after July 1, 2008, and that serves the projected load of the utility or of other utilities, shall be included in the utility's rate base for its next general rate case conducted pursuant to § 56-235.2 or any performance-based regulation plan authorized by § 56-235.6.
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.