Electric utilities; municipal net energy metering.
Summary
Directs the State Corporation Commission to establish a pilot program that affords the opportunity for any locality to participate in net energy metering if it is a retail customer of a certain type of investor-owned electric utility. In order to qualify for the program, the locality is required to own and operate a renewable generating facility with a generating capacity of not more than two megawatts that is located on the municipality's premises and is intended primarily to offset all or part of the locality's own electricity requirements. Under the pilot program, a municipal customer-generator that generates electricity in amounts that exceed the amount of electricity consumed by the municipal customer-generator, determined annually, to credit one or more of the municipality's target metered accounts in order that the generation energy charges on the electric bills of the target's metered accounts are reduced by the amount of excess generation kilowatt hours apportioned to the metered account multiplied by the applicable generation energy rate of the target's accounts. In Appalachian Power's service territory, metered accounts of the public school division of a locality may be target accounts. The amount of generating capacity of all generating facilities that are the subject of a pilot program are limited to (i) five megawatts if Appalachian Power is the pilot program utility, though the utility may increase the amount to up to 10 megawatts or (ii) 25 megawatts if Dominion Power is the pilot program utility. Such aggregated capacities of the generation facilities that are the subject of a pilot program constitute a portion of the existing limit of the utility's adjusted Virginia peak-load forecast of the previous year that is available to municipal customer-generators, eligible customer-generators, eligible agricultural customer-generators, and small agricultural generators in the utility's service area. The duration of the pilot program is six years.
Bill status
in committee
3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2019
Committee Review
Feb 2019
Senate Passage
Feb 2019
House of Delegates Passage
Governor
Introduced Jan 18, 2019
Last action Feb 6, 2019
Floor votes · Senate Feb 1, 2019
How they voted
40–0
Passed
Total votes 40
Feb 1, 2019
D
Democratic19
100% Yea
R
Republican21
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
10
Key actions
3
Committee
4
Feb 6, 2019
Committee
Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor
lower
Feb 1, 2019
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (40-0)
senate
Jan 31, 2019
Upper · Passed
Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB1779S1
upper
Jan 31, 2019
Upper · Passed
Committee substitute agreed to 19105883D-S1
upper
Jan 18, 2019
Committee
Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor
upper
Jan 18, 2019
Introduced
Presented and ordered printed 19104691D
upper
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Adam Ebbin
DDemocratic
Ask Maddy
·
AI policy assistant
Ask Maddy about SB 1779
Scope: VA
Hi! I can help you understand SB 1779. What would you like to know?
Try one of these
i
Maddy answers using official bill text and legislative records. Always verify before sharing.
Sources cited inline