Tracking Virginia’s General Assembly
since 2007.
SB666: Utility Transfers Act; person shall not acquire or dispose of control of public utility, etc.
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 all of the assets
thereof or (ii) a telephone company, or all of the assets
thereof in whole or in part, 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 days. The sixty-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 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 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.
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.
