Requires Dominion Virginia Power and Appalachian Power to conduct a community solar pilot program for retail customers. A pilot program will authorize the participating utility to sell electric power to subscribing customers under a voluntary companion rate schedule, and the utility will generate or purchase the electric power from eligible generation facilities selected for inclusion in the pilot program. An eligible generation facility is an electrical generation facility that (i) exclusively uses energy derived from sunlight; (ii) is placed in service on or after July 1, 2017; (iii) is not constructed by an investor-owned utility but is acquired by an investor-owned utility through an asset purchase agreement or is subject to a power purchase agreement under which the utility purchases the facility's output from a third party; and (iv) has a generating capacity not exceeding two megawatts, subject to an exception. Pilot programs will have a three-year duration unless renewed or made permanent by appropriate legislation. The measure requires an investor-owned utility to select eligible generating facilities for dedication to its pilot program through a request for proposal (RFP) process. The minimum generating capacity of the eligible generating facilities in Appalachian Power's pilot program is 0.5 MW and in Dominion's pilot program is 10 MW. The maximum generating capacity of the eligible generating facilities in Appalachian Power's pilot program is 10 MW and in Dominion's pilot program is 40 MW. The measure establishes a procedure through which an investor-owned utility may increase the generating capacity of facilities in its pilot program above the amount most recently approved by the State Corporation Commission. The measure provides that an investor-owned utility may recover pilot program costs that are not recovered through the voluntary companion rate schedule through variable-output contracts with participating third parties. A subscribing customer's usage above the amount subscribed for the voluntary companion rate schedule shall be billed under the customer's applicable standard rate. The measure authorizes a utility consumer services cooperative to conduct a pilot program and gives the cooperative flexibility in designing its program and voluntary companion rate schedule. The measure declares that the participation of retail customers in a pilot program is in the public interest and that the voluntary companion rate schedules approved are necessary in order to acquire information that is in furtherance of the public interest. The measure requires the Commission to approve the recovery of pilot program costs that it deems to be reasonable and prudent, the pilot program design, the voluntary companion rate schedule, and the portfolio of participating generating facilities. Commission review or approval is not required for individual participating generating facilities, agreements, sites, or RFPs. The measure provides that an approved voluntary companion rate schedule shall not be considered a tariff for electric energy provided 100 percent from renewable energy. An enactment clause directs investor-owned utilities, prior to submitting a proposal for a pilot program, to examine, in cooperation with representatives of relevant governmental, nonprofit, and for-profit entities, options to facilitate the subscribing by low-income customers to the utility's pilot program. Another enactment clause requires participating utilities to disclose to subscribing customers the cost difference between the voluntary companion rate schedule and rate the customer would pay if it was not a subscriber.
Sponsored bills
Authorizes the Virginia Beach Wetlands Board to adopt a General Permit for Sand Management and Placement Profiles for properties in the Sandbridge Beach Subdivision of Virginia Beach and authorizes the Norfolk Wetlands Board to adopt such a permit for properties in the City of Norfolk. The bill requires the General Permit and Placement Profiles to include the permissible cost-effective sand management practices that property owners shall implement to protect and enhance the value of their property and to protect coastal primary sand dunes and public beaches. Any sand that is to be removed by the owner from his property must be judged to be "clean beach" sand prior to being transferred and placed in a spreading zone location.
Exempts legal tender coins whose total transaction sales price exceeds $1,000 from sales and use tax and extends from January 1, 2019, to June 30, 2022, the same exemption for gold, silver, or platinum bullion. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2018. The provisions of the bill expire on June 30, 2022. This bill is identical to
Provides that certain small renewable energy projects proposed, developed, constructed, or purchased by (i) a public utility if the project's costs are not recovered from Virginia jurisdictional customers under base rates, a fuel factor charge, or a rate adjustment clause or (ii) a utility aggregation cooperative, are eligible for a permit by rule and are exempt from environmental review and permitting by the State Corporation Commission. The measure specifies that a small renewable energy project shall be eligible for permit by rule if it is proposed, developed, constructed, or purchased by a person that is not a regulated utility. The measure exempts a small renewable energy project for which the Department of Environmental Quality has issued a permit by rule from the requirement that it obtain a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the construction or operation of the project. Finally, the measure increases the maximum rated capacity of solar and wind facilities that qualify as small renewable energy projects from 100 megawatts to 150 megawatts.
Requires the Veterans Services Foundation to provide an annual report on its funding levels and services to the General Assembly. The bill also (i) authorizes the board of trustees of the Foundation to appoint an Executive Director and exercise personnel authority over the position, (ii) clarifies that the Foundation may make direct request for appropriations from the General Assembly, (iii) clarifies that only the unrestricted portion of the Veterans Services Fund may be used for Foundation expenses, (iv) requires the Department of Veterans Services to provide qualified finance and development personnel to perform the duties of the treasurer and secretary of the Foundation, and (iv) provides that expenditures and disbursements from the Fund shall be made upon written authorization of the Executive Director with the approval of the board of trustees. The bill requires that allocations and expenditures of donated restricted funds be in accordance with cited provisions of the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act relating to the standard of conduct in managing and investing institutional funds.
Prohibits any person that issues tickets for admission to a professional concert, professional sporting event, or professional theatrical production, open to the public for which tickets are ordinarily sold, from issuing the ticket solely through a delivery method that substantially prevents the ticket purchaser from lawfully reselling the ticket on the Internet ticketing platform of the ticket purchaser's choice. The measure also prohibits a person from being discriminated against or denied admission to an event solely on the basis that the person resold a ticket, or purchased a resold ticket, on a specific Internet ticketing platform. A person violating these prohibitions is subject to a civil penalty of not less than $1,000 nor more than $5,000. This bill is identical to