Del. Rip Sullivan

Study; joint committee of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health to study fair school funding reform; report. Establishes a joint committee consisting of five members of the House Committee on Education and three members of the Senate Committee on Education and Health to study fair school funding reform by, among other things, utilizing the recommendations from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission in its July 2023 report, "Virginia's K-12 Funding Formula," and any stakeholder input and feedback received by the joint committee to produce and submit to the Division of Legislative Automated Services by the first day of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly an executive summary of its findings and recommendations.

Electric utilities; regional transmission entities; annual report. Requires each incumbent electric utility that is a member of or has established a regional transmission entity for purposes of management and control of its transmission system as required under current law to submit an annual report by February 1 of each year. Such report shall include all recorded votes cast by the utility during the immediately preceding calendar year, all votes cast by an affiliate of the utility, and a brief description explaining how each vote cast by the utility or its affiliate is in the public interest.

Financial institutions; reporting financial exploitation of elderly or vulnerable adults. Permits a financial institution, as defined in the bill, to allow an elderly or vulnerable adult, as defined in the bill, to submit and periodically update a list of trusted persons whom such financial institution or financial institution staff, as defined in the bill, may contact in the case of suspected financial exploitation of such adult. In such a case, the bill also allows a financial institution or financial institution staff to convey such suspicion to one or more certain individuals, provided that the recipient of such conveyance is not the suspected perpetrator of financial exploitation. The bill provides that a financial institution or financial institution staff shall be immune from any criminal, civil, or administrative liability for any act taken or omission made in accordance with the bill's provisions.

Siting of energy facilities; approval by State Corporation Commission. Establishes a procedure under which an electric utility or independent power provider (applicant) is able to obtain approval for a certificate from the State Corporation Commission for the siting of an energy facility rather than from the governing body of a locality. Under the bill, applicants are authorized to submit an application to the Commission if (i) the locality fails to timely approve or deny an application; (ii) the application complies with certain requirements for Commission approval, but a host locality denies the application; or (iii) the locality amends its zoning ordinance after it has notified the applicant that its requirements are compatible with the requirements for Commission approval, and the amendment imposes additional requirements that are more restrictive. The bill provides that an applicant who is issued a certificate by the Commission for an energy facility is exempt from obtaining approvals or permits, including any land use approvals or permits under the regulations and ordinances of the locality. The bill applies to any solar energy facility with a capacity of 50 megawatts or more, any wind energy facility with a capacity of 100 megawatts or more, and any energy storage facility with a nameplate capacity of 50 megawatts or more and an energy discharge capability of 200 megawatt hours or more.

Sales and use tax exemption; data centers. Requires data center operators to meet certain energy efficiency standards in order to be eligible for the sales and use tax exemption for data center purchases. Under the bill, a data center operator shall be eligible for the exemption only if such operator demonstrates that (i) its facilities either (a) have a power usage effectiveness score of no greater than 1.2 or (b) for data centers co-located in buildings with other commercial uses, achieve an energy efficiency level of no less than the most efficient 15 percent of similar buildings constructed in the previous five years and (ii) it will procure carbon-free renewable energy and associated renewable energy certificates from facilities equal to 90 percent of its electricity requirements or that its electricity will be otherwise derived from non-carbon-emitting, renewable sources.

Maddy summaryThis House resolution formally commends the McLean High School baseball team for winning the 2024 Virginia High School League Class 6 state championship. The document highlights the team's resilience in overcoming a mid-season losing streak and their dominant performance in the final game, which they won 15-5 against South Lakes High School. As a ceremonial measure, the resolution directs the Clerk of the House to prepare a copy of the text to present to head coach John Dowling as an expression of appreciation for the team's achievement.

Maddy summaryThis House Resolution commends the English Empowerment Center for its 62-year history of providing English language instruction to adults in Northern Virginia. The document highlights the organization's recent achievements, including a 25 percent increase in course registrations, service by over 500 volunteers, and recognition of its staff and programs. The resolution formally expresses appreciation for the center's contributions to the workforce and directs the Clerk to present a copy of the document to the executive director.

Shared solar programs; Dominion Energy Virginia; minimum bill; capacity. Amends existing shared solar program provisions for Dominion Energy Virginia (Phase II Utility). The bill provides that a customer's net bill for participation in the shared solar program means the resulting amount a customer must pay the utility after the bill credit, defined in relevant law, is deducted from the customer's monthly gross utility bill. The bill requires the State Corporation Commission to establish a minimum bill, below which a subscriber's net bill cannot go, that is calculated based on the amount of kilowatt-hours billed by the utility. The bill also changes the shared solar program capacity to at least 10 percent of each utility's adjusted Virginia peak load and requires the Commission's regulations to allow for program participation by all jurisdictional and nonjurisdictional customer classes. Under the bill, co-location of two or more shared solar facilities is permitted for shared solar program participation if the facilities are located on a single parcel of land or on adjacent parcels of land for facilities up to five megawatts. The bill requires the Commission to (i) establish regulations that prohibit early termination fees and credit reporting for low-income customers, (ii) require net financial savings for subscribers relative to the subscription fee, (iii) require a customer's affirmative consent before providing customer billing and usage data to a subscriber organization, and (iv) establish customer engagement rules. Under the bill, any net crediting fee imposed by the shared solar program shall not exceed one percent of the bill credit value and shall be charged to the subscriber organization. The bill also provides that a utility is permitted to seek recovery of bill credit costs in its triennial base review only if such costs would result in the utility being unable to meet its revenue requirement after accounting for all avoided costs that can be realized by ratepayers. The bill specifies that the Commission shall update its shared solar program consistent with the requirements of the bill by January 1, 2025, and shall require each utility to file any associated tariffs, agreements, or forms necessary for implementing the program by July 1, 2025. Additionally, the bill requires the Department of Energy to convene a stakeholder work group to determine the amounts and forms of project incentives for (a) projects located on rooftops, brownfields, or landfills; (b) projects that are dual-use agricultural facilities; or (c) projects that satisfy another category as established by the Department and to submit a written report to the Chairs of the House Committee on Commerce and Energy and the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor no later than November 30, 2024.

Shared solar programs; American Electric Power; minimum bill; capacity. Requires the State Corporation Commission to establish by regulation a shared solar program, defined in the bill, that allows customers of American Electric Power (Phase I Utility) the opportunity to purchase electric power through a subscription in a shared solar facility, defined in the bill. The bill provides that a customer's net bill for participation in the shared solar program means the resulting amount a customer must pay the utility after the bill credit, defined in the bill, is deducted from the customer's monthly gross utility bill. The bill also requires the Commission to establish a minimum bill, below which a subscriber's net bill cannot go, that is calculated based on the amount of kilowatt-hours billed by the utility and specifies that low-income customers are exempt from such minimum bill. The bill prescribes a shared solar program capacity of at least 10 percent of each utility's adjusted Virginia peak load and requires the Commission's regulations to allow for program participation by all jurisdictional and nonjurisdictional customer classes. Under the bill, co-location of two or more shared solar facilities is permitted for shared solar program participation if the facilities are located on a single parcel of land or on adjacent parcels of land for facilities up to five megawatts. The bill requires the Commission to (i) establish regulations that prohibit early termination fees and credit reporting for low-income customers, (ii) require net financial savings for subscribers relative to the subscription fee, (iii) require a customer's affirmative consent before providing customer billing and usage data to a subscriber organization, and (iv) establish customer engagement rules. Under the bill, any net crediting fee imposed by the shared solar program shall not exceed one percent of the bill credit value and shall be charged to the subscriber organization. The bill also provides that a utility is permitted to seek recovery of bill credit costs in its triennial base review only if such costs would result in the utility being unable to meet its revenue requirement after accounting for all avoided costs that can be realized by ratepayers. The bill specifies that the Commission shall update its shared solar program consistent with the requirements of the bill by January 1, 2025, and shall require each utility to file any associated tariffs, agreements, or forms necessary for implementing the program by July 1, 2025. Additionally, the bill requires the Department of Energy to convene a stakeholder work group to determine the amounts and forms of project incentives for (a) projects located on rooftops, brownfields, or landfills; (b) projects that are dual-use agricultural facilities; or (c) projects that satisfy another category as established by the Department and to submit a written report to the Chairs of the House Committee on Commerce and Energy and the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor no later than November 30, 2024.

Substantial risk orders; training program.Directs the Department of Criminal Justice Services to establisha Substantial Risk Order Training Program for the purposes of traininglaw-enforcement agencies, judiciary staff, and other public institutionsthroughout the Commonwealth to use and implement the substantialrisk order law. The bill states that the programming shall providetraining regarding proper procedures to follow, the circumstancesunder which the law can be used, the benefits to public safety fromproper use of the law, and the harm that may ensue from the law notbeing used when lawfully available. The Program shall also includeefforts to educate the public on and increase awareness of the substantialrisk order law. Under the bill, $2 million of funds allocated tothe Commonwealth pursuant to the federal Byrne State Crisis InterventionProgram shall be used for Program purposes.