HB 120 Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Public Utility Ombudsman, Office of the; established, delayed effective date.

Summary

Office of the Public Utility Ombudsman; established. Requires the State Corporation Commission to establish the Office of the Public Utility Ombudsman to protect the interests of residential customers of public utilities. The Office of the Public Utility Ombudsman shall serve (i) residential customers of public utilities that are jurisdictional or of limited jurisdiction and (ii) residential customers who cannot be assisted by other Commission staff due to a potential conflict of interest. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 2, 2026 Last action Feb 18, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Labor and Commerce Substitute → Subcommittee #3 Subcommittee Substitute · 3 edits

MINOR

The document underwent significant formatting and layout changes rather than substantive policy modifications. The bill text itself remains unchanged in terms of its legal content, with the Consumer Services Section continuing to serve as a public utility ombudsman. The changes appear to be related to document formatting, page numbering, and layout adjustments during the legislative process.

TECHNICAL

Document formatting and layout were substantially altered, including changes in header placement, page numbering format, and spacing throughout the document.

The bill title and amendment description were reformatted with different indentation and line breaks, though the actual legal text content remained the same.

Additional page headers and document identifiers (such as 'HOUSE SUBSTITUTE' and bill tracking numbers) were added to the document.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 18, 2026

Lower · Passed

Left in Committee Appropriations

lower

Jan 30, 2026

Lower · Passed

Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (6-Y 0-N)

lower

Jan 27, 2026

Committee

Assigned HAPP sub: General Government and Capital Outlay

lower

Jan 27, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported from Labor and Commerce with substitute and referred to Appropriations (18-Y 0-N 4-A)

lower

Jan 22, 2026

Lower · Passed

House subcommittee offered

lower

Jan 15, 2026

Committee

Assigned HCL sub: Subcommittee #3

lower

Jan 2, 2026

Committee

Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors