Virginia House Bill 1853 (Prior Session Legislation)

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Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 13-0)
Status: Introduced on January 10 2023 - 25% progression, died in committee
Action: 2023-02-07 - Left in Commerce and Energy
Pending: House Commerce and Energy Committee
Text: Latest bill text (Prefiled) [HTML]

Public utilities; shared solar; minimum bill. Provides that the minimum bill a subscriber to a shared solar program is required to pay, which under current law the State Corporation Commission is required to establish, may include the basic customer charge, non-bypassable charges, and administrative costs of the shared solar program. The bill prohibits the minimum bill from exceeding two times the basic customer charge. The bill removes the requirement that the minimum bill include the costs of all utility infrastructure and services used to provide service and the requirement that the Commission, in establishing the minimum bill, consider further costs the Commission deems relevant to ensure that subscribing customers pay a fair share of the costs of providing electric services and minimize the costs shifted to customers not in a shared solar program. The bill requires the Commission to approve a shared solar facility program of at least 10 percent of the peak load for customers of each utility with a minimum requirement of 30 percent low-income customers. Under current law, the Commission is required to approve a program of 150 megawatts with a requirement for an additional 50 megawatts if a certain condition is met. Additionally, the bill requires the Commission's regulations for the shared solar program to allow all jurisdictional and non-jurisdictional customer classes to participate in the program. Public utilities; shared solar; minimum bill. Provides that the minimum bill a subscriber to a shared solar program is required to pay, which under current law the State Corporation Commission is required to establish, may include the basic customer charge, non-bypassable charges, and administrative costs of the shared solar program. The bill prohibits the minimum bill from exceeding two times the basic customer charge. The bill removes the requirement that the minimum bill include the costs of all utility infrastructure and services used to provide service and the requirement that the Commission, in establishing the minimum bill, consider further costs the Commission deems relevant to ensure that subscribing customers pay a fair share of the costs of providing electric services and minimize the costs shifted to customers not in a shared solar program. The bill requires the Commission to approve a shared solar facility program of at least 10 percent of the peak load for customers of each utility with a minimum requirement of 30 percent low-income customers. Under current law, the Commission is required to approve a program of 150 megawatts with a requirement for an additional 50 megawatts if a certain condition is met. Additionally, the bill requires the Commission's regulations for the shared solar program to allow all jurisdictional and non-jurisdictional customer classes to participate in the program. The bill requires the Commission to establish by regulation a shared solar program that allows customers of a Phase I Utility to purchase electric power through a subscription in a shared solar facility. Subscribers of such program are required to pay a minimum bill, established by the Commission, when the bill credit reduces the subscriber's bill below the minimum bill threshold, and low-income customers are exempt from the minimum bill. The bill provides that the Commission shall approve a shared solar program of 10 percent of the peak load for customers of a Phase I Utility, and a program facility shall allocate at least 30 percent of its capacity, or savings equivalent, to low-income customers or low-income service organizations.

Public utilities; shared solar, minimum bill.

Sen. Suhas Subramanyam [D]	Del. Dawn Adams [D]	Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker [D]	Del. Nadarius Clark [D]
Del. Wendy Gooditis [D]	Del. Elizabeth Guzman [D]	Del. Clinton Jenkins [D]	Del. Kaye Kory [D]
Del. Michelle Maldonado [D]	Del. Kenneth Plum [D]	Del. Sam Rasoul [D]	Del. Irene Shin [D]
Del. Marcus Simon [D]

2023-01-24 - House - House: Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (4-Y 3-N) (Y: 4 N: 3 NV: 0 Abs: 1) [PASS]

Date	Chamber	Action
2023-02-07	House	Left in Commerce and Energy
2023-01-24	House	Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (4-Y 3-N)
2023-01-20	House	Assigned sub: Subcommittee #4
2023-01-10	House	Referred to Committee on Commerce and Energy
2023-01-10	House	Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/23 23102973D

Type	Source
Summary	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+sum+HB1853
Text	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+HB1853+hil
Supplement	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+oth+HB1853F171+PDF
Roll Call	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+vot+H2304V0002+HB1853