Bill Text: VA HB1928 | 2019 | Regular Session | Prefiled
Bill Title: Renewable energy power purchase agreements; pilot programs.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-02-05 - Left in Commerce and Labor [HB1928 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2019-HB1928-Prefiled.html
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §1, as amended by the first enactment of Chapter 803 of the Acts of Assembly of 2017, and §§2 through 5 of the first enactment of Chapters 358 and 382 of the Acts of Assembly of 2013 are amended and reenacted as follows:
§1. That the State Corporation Commission (Commission) shall conduct pilot programs under which a person that owns or operates a solar-powered or wind-powered electricity generation facility located on premises owned or leased by an eligible customer-generator, as defined in § 56-594 of the Code of Virginia, shall be permitted to sell the electricity generated from such facility exclusively to such eligible customer-generator under a power purchase agreement used to provide third party financing of the costs of such a renewable generation facility (third party power purchase agreement), subject to the following terms, conditions, and restrictions:
a. A pilot program shall be conducted
within the certificated service territory of each investor-owned electric utility other than a utility described in subsection G of §56-580 of
the Code of Virginia ("Pilot
Utility"), provided that within the
certificated service territory of an investor-owned utility that was not bound
by a rate case settlement adopted by the Commission that extended in its
application beyond January 1, 2002, nonprofit,
private institutions any public or private elementary
or secondary school or any public or private institution of higher education as defined in §23.1-100 of the Code of
Virginia that are not being served by
generation provided under subdivision A 5 of §56-577 of the Code of Virginia shall be deemed to be
customer-generators a customer-generator eligible to participate in the pilot program;
b. The aggregated capacity of all generation
facilities that are subject to such third party power purchase agreements at
any time during the pilot program shall not exceed 50 150 megawatts for an investor-owned
utility that was bound by a rate case settlement adopted by the Commission that
extended in its application beyond January 1, 2002, or seven 21 megawatts for an investor-owned utility that was not bound by a
rate case settlement adopted by the Commission that extended in its application
beyond January 1, 2002. Such limitation on the
aggregated capacity of such facilities shall constitute a portion of the
existing limit of one percent of each Pilot Utility's adjusted Virginia
peak-load forecast for the previous year that is available to eligible
customer-generators pursuant to subsection E of §56-594 of the Code of
Virginia. Notwithstanding any provision of this act that incorporates
provisions of §56-594, the seller and the customer shall elect either to (i)
enter into their third party power purchase agreement
subject to the conditions and provisions of the Pilot Utility's net energy
metering program under §56-594 or (ii) provide that electricity generated from
the generation facilities subject to the third party
power purchase agreement will not be net metered under §56-594, provided that
an election not to net meter under §56-594 shall not exempt the third party power purchase agreement and the parties
thereto from the requirements of this act that incorporate provisions of §
56-594;
c. A solar-powered or wind-powered generation facility with a
capacity of no less than 50 kilowatts and no more
than one megawatt three megawatts
shall be eligible for a third party power purchase
agreement under the a
pilot program; however, if the customer under such agreement
is an entity with tax-exempt status in accordance with §501(c) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1954, as amended, then such facility is eligible for the pilot
program even if it does not meet the 50 kilowatts minimum size requirement. The
maximum generation capacity of one megawatt three megawatts shall not affect the limits on the capacity of electrical
generating capacities of 20 kilowatts for residential customers and 500 kilowatts for nonresidential
customers set forth in subsection B of §56-594 of the Code of Virginia, which
limitations shall continue to apply to net energy metering generation
facilities regardless of whether they are the subject of a third party power
purchase agreement under the a pilot
program;
d. A generation facility that is the subject of a third party power purchase agreement under the a
pilot program shall serve only one customer, and a third
party power purchase agreement shall not serve multiple customers;
e. The customer under a third party
power purchase agreement under the a pilot program shall be
subject to the interconnection and other requirements imposed on eligible
customer-generators pursuant to subsection C of §56-594 of the Code of
Virginia, including the requirement that the customer bear the reasonable
costs, as determined by the Commission, of the items described in clauses (i),
(ii), and (iii) of such subsection;
f. A third party power purchase
agreement under the a
pilot program shall not be valid unless it conforms in all respects to the
requirements of the a
pilot program conducted under the provisions of this act and unless the
Commission and the Pilot Utility are provided written notice of the parties'
intent to enter into a third party power purchase
agreement not less than 30 days prior to the agreement's proposed effective
date; and
g. An affiliate of the a Pilot Utility shall be
permitted to offer and enter into third party power
purchase arrangements agreements on the same basis
as may any other person that satisfies the requirements of being a seller under
a third party power purchase agreement under the a
pilot program.
§2. The Commission shall review the pilot program programs established pursuant
to §1 of this act in 2015 and every two years
thereafter during the pilot program. In its review, the Commission shall determine whether the
limitations in subdivisions b and c of §1 should be expanded, reduced, or
continued.
§3. Any third party power purchase
agreement that is not entered into pursuant to the a pilot program established pursuant to §1 of this act is prohibited in the Pilot Utility's service territory, unless such third party power purchase agreement is entered into
between a licensed supplier and a retail customer pursuant to §56-577 of the
Code of Virginia where such supplier is responsible for serving 100 percent of
the load requirements for each retail customer account it serves.
§4. If the Commission approves a tariff
proposed for electric power provided 100 percent from renewable energy that
serves 100 percent of the load requirements for each retail customer account it
serves under such tariff, hereafter referred to as a "green tariff,"
such a green tariff shall not be available to any party to a third party power
purchase agreement for the account being served by such power purchase
agreement, and such an. The third party power purchase agreement shall remain in effect notwithstanding the approval of
the green tariff.
§5. Nothing in this act shall be
construed as (i) rendering any person, by virtue of its selling electric power
to an eligible customer-generator under a third party power purchase agreement entered into pursuant to the a
pilot program established under this act, a public utility or a competitive service
provider, (ii) imposing a requirement that such a person meet 100 percent of
the load requirements for each retail customer account it serves, or (iii) affecting third party power purchase agreements in effect prior to
the effective date of this act, or (iv) affecting any third
party power purchase agreements in effect as of July 1, 2019, that are
based upon predecessor versions of this act.
2. That the third enactment of Chapter 358 and the third enactment of Chapter 382 of the Acts of Assembly of 2013 are amended and reenacted as follows:
3. That the State Corporation Commission shall, by December
1, 2013, establish, and by December 1, 2019,
shall update, guidelines concerning (i) information to be
provided in notices required under subdivision f of §1 of the first enactment
of this act and (ii) procedures for aggregating and posting to the Commission's
web site information derived from the aforesaid notices, including total
capacity utilized by pilot projects programs for
which notice has been received and capacity remaining available for future
pilot
projects programs. In addition, the Commission
may adopt such rules or establish such guidelines as may be necessary for its
general administration of the pilot program established under this act.
3. That the second enactment of Chapter 803 of the Acts of Assembly of 2017 is repealed.