Electric utilities; integrated resource plans. Makes various changes related to the content and process for an integrated resource plan (IRP) developed by an electric utility that provides a forecast of its load obligations and a plan to meet those obligations. The bill (i) extends the planning timeframe from 15 to 20 years; (ii) requires Appalachian Power to file an IRP by removing an exception from the definition of "electric utility"; (iii) changes the frequency a utility is required to file an IRP from biennially to triennially; and (iv) requires utilities to consider the use of grid-enhancing technologies as alternatives to new transmission infrastructure, and when new transmission lines are envisioned, to provide the reasons grid-enhancing technologies are not sufficient to defer or eliminate the need for new transmission infrastructure.The bill requires that the current stakeholder review process for integrated resource plans be facilitated by a third-party facilitator selected by the State Corporation Commission and compensated by the utility. The bill requires, as part of the stakeholder review process, the utility to provide stakeholders with reasonable access to the same modeling software, modeling assumptions, modeling inputs, and data used by the utility to evaluate supply and demand resources in its integrated resource plan to enable stakeholders to create modeling scenarios for the utility's consideration during the development of its integrated resource plan.The bill requires the Commission to (a) establish guidelines that ensure that utilities develop comprehensive integrated resource plans and provide meaningful public engagement and maximum transparency during the planning process; (b) conduct a proceeding by July 1, 2026, and at least once every five years thereafter, to identify and review each of its existing orders relevant to integrated resource plans to determine if such orders remain necessary and effective and are not overly burdensome; and (c) to convene a work group to make recommendations on the required guidelines.Finally, the bill requires any petition to permit the construction and operation of electrical generating facilities filed by an electric utility that is required to file an integrated resource plan to (1) incorporate the intent to construct and operate such generating facilities or (2) if the utility's intent to construct and operate such generating facilities was not identified in the utility's most recently approved integrated resource plan, provide a detailed explanation of why the utility did not anticipate the need for such generating facilities.As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Commission on Electric Utility Regulation. This bill is identical to SB 1021.
Del. Nadarius Clark
Sponsored bills
State correctional facilities; cell conditions; temperature monitoring; report. Requires the Department of Corrections to require that heat and air conditioning be provided in all state correctional facilities that are capable of controlling the interior temperature of such facilities so that a temperature of not less than 65 degrees Fahrenheit or more than 80 degrees Fahrenheit is maintained in each such facility. The bill also directs the Department of Corrections to evaluate the implementation of remote temperature monitoring and to report its findings to the General Assembly by October 1, 2025.
Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources; protection of existing tidal and nontidal wetlands; wetland restoration and creation; policy task force; report. Directs the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources to establish a policy task force to develop (i) strategies to protect existing tidal and nontidal wetlands and restore, create, and plan for the persistence of such wetlands in the Commonwealth and (ii) mechanisms to incorporate such strategies into appropriate plans, including the Virginia Flood Protection Master Plan and the Virginia Coastal Resilience Master Plan, to address losses and adverse impacts from human activities and climate change. The bill requires the task force to include certain relevant stakeholders, to meet at least two times annually, to report its initial findings and recommendations to the Chairs of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources and House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources by December 1, 2025, and to update its report at least every two years.
Prevailing wage rate; apprenticeship requirements; RPS-eligible source work; penalties. Requires each public service company, including its contractors and subcontractors, or third-party developer to ensure payment at the prevailing wage rate set by the Department of Labor and Industry for any mechanic, laborer, or worker employed, retained, or otherwise hired to perform construction, maintenance, or repair work for certain electricity generating sources. The bill requires each public service company to (i) ensure that 15 percent of the total labor hours of such work is performed by qualified apprentices and (ii) employ at least one qualified apprentice if four or more individuals are employed to perform such work. Under the bill, a public service company that fails to meet the requirements of its provisions is required to make penalty payments to the Commissioner of Labor and Industry. This bill is identical to SB 853.
Purchase of firearms; waiting period; penalty. Provides that no person shall sell a firearm unless at least five days have elapsed from the time the prospective purchaser completes the written consent form to have a licensed dealer obtain criminal history record information, with exceptions enumerated in relevant law. The amendments to the Code of Virginia in the bill are identical to the amendments to the Code of Virginia in SB 891.
Electric Vehicle Rural Infrastructure Program and Fund created. Creates the Electric Vehicle Rural Infrastructure Program and Fund to assist private developers with non-utility costs associated with the installation of electric vehicle charging stations (i) in certain localities; (ii) on eligible public land, as defined in the bill; or (iii) within one mile of the boundary of eligible public land. The bill provides that a private developer may apply for a grant in an amount equal to 70 percent of the private developer's non-utility costs for the installation of such public electric vehicle charging stations. The awarding of a grant under the Program would be conditional upon an agreement with the applicant that any cost of a project not funded by a grant awarded by the Program be funded by non-federal funds. The Department of Energy shall establish guidelines for the administration of the Program, including guidelines related to the application for and award of grants. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2030.
Department of Education; culturally responsive and language-appropriate mental health support and services; guidance and policies. Requires, no later than October 1, 2026, the Department of Education to develop, adopt, and provide to each local school board guidance on the adoption of policies governing the provision of culturally responsive and language-appropriate mental health support and services for students in the local school division and permits any school board to develop and adopt policies in the local school division that are consistent with the guidelines adopted and provided by the Department of Education.
Issuance of writ of vacatur for victims of human trafficking. Amends the procedure that allows victims of human trafficking, defined in the bill, to file a petition of vacatur in circuit court to have certain convictions vacated and the police and court records expunged for such convictions. This bill incorporates HB 2227 and is identical to SB 1460.
Public institutions of higher education; governing boards; nonvoting, advisory representatives. Requires the State Board for Community Colleges, the board of visitors of each baccalaureate public institution of higher education, and each local community college board to appoint a nonvoting, advisory faculty representative to its respective board. Under current law, such an appointment is permissive. The bill also requires the board of visitors of each baccalaureate public institution of higher education and each local community college board to appoint a nonvoting, advisory staff representative to its respective board. The bill requires such advisory faculty and staff representatives to be elected by the faculty and staff of the institution, respectively, in the manner that such faculty and staff members deem appropriate. Current law requires the advisory faculty representative to be chosen from individuals elected by the faculty or the institution's faculty senate or its equivalent. The bill also clarifies that any vacancy of such an advisory representative shall be filled in the same manner as the original selection, whether the vacancy occurs by expiration of a term or otherwise.
Weapons; possession prohibited in a hospital that provides mental health services or developmental services; penalty. Makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person to knowingly and intentionally possess in the building of any hospital that provides mental health services or developmental services in the Commonwealth, including an emergency department or other facility rendering emergency medical care, a (i) firearm, (ii) knife with a blade over three and one-half inches, or (iii) other dangerous weapon, including explosives and stun weapons. The bill also provides that notice of such prohibitions shall be posted conspicuously at each public entrance of any hospital and no person shall be convicted of the offense if such notice is not posted, unless such person had actual notice of the prohibitions. The bill provides that any such firearm, knife, explosive, or weapon shall be subject to seizure by a law-enforcement officer and forfeited to the Commonwealth and specifies exceptions to the prohibition. This bill is identical to SB 1110.