Read the full stored bill text
SENATE BILL NO. 339
AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE
(Proposed by the House Committee on Labor and Commerce
on ________________)
(Patron Prior to Substitute--Senator Perry)
A BILL to direct the State Corporation Commission to conduct proceedings to review cost allocation among different customer classifications for certain electric utilities.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1.
§ 1.
The State Corporation Commission (the Commission) shall initiate
a
proceeding to determine if current
and proposed
allocation
s
of transmission costs among different customer classifications
of service for Phase I and Phase II Utilities,
or
the allocation
s
of transmission costs to
an electric utility or customers
of an electric utility
receiving
transmission service from a Phase I
Utility
or Phase II Utility
,
require customers that are not
high-load customers
to unreasonably subsidize the
transmission
cost
s attributable to serving customers that are
high-load customers
.
In conducting such proceeding, the Commission shall ensure to the maximum extent possible that the costs of any transmission projects that are designed, constructed, or operated solely or prim
arily to serve
high-load
customers are not recovered from any other customers of the Phase I
Utility
or Phase II Utility. For the purposes of such proceeding, a
project
to
s
erve
one or more
high-load
customers
that is classified as a supplemental transmission project by the regional transmission entity
shall be presumed to be designed, constructed, or operated solely or primarily to serve
high-load
customers, unless otherwise demonstrated by clear and convincing evidence
. The Commission shall complete such proceedings by January 1, 2027.
The Commission may comply with the requirements of this section
by incorporating the provisions of this section in an ongoing proceeding for a Phase I
Utility
or Phase II Utility.
§ 2. The Commission shall initiate a proceeding to determine if the current allocation of generation and di
stribution costs among different customer classifications of service for a Phase II Utility
requires customers that are not
high-load customers
to unreasonably subsidize the
generation and distribution
costs attributable to serving
high-load
customer
s
.
In conducting such proceeding, the Commission shall direct the Phase II Utility to propose at least three alternative cost allocations for the Commission's consideration, provided in executable formats that can be fully replicated, and at least one such alternative cost allocation shall represent the prob
ability of dispatch methodology as described in the electric utility cost allocation manual published by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. The Commission may order any changes to the Phase II Utility's cost allocation structure that the Commission determines to be appropriate to a
llocate costs appropriately among
high-load
customers and other customers of the Phase II Utility. The Commission shall complete such proceedings by January 1, 2028. The Commission may comply with the requirements of this section by incorporating the provisions of this section in an ongoing proceeding for a Phase II Utility or by incorporating such provisions
in the Phase II Utility's biennial rate review proceeding conducted pursuant to §
56-585.1
of the Code of Virginia.
§ 3. The Commi
ssion
may adopt any regulations or guidelines necessary to comply with the provisions of this act.
§ 4. For the purposes of this act:
"High-load customer" means a
retail electric service
customer of a Phase I
Utility
or Phase II Utility that
(i)
takes service under such utility's commercial or industrial rate schedule
; (ii)
contracts for an electric demand of 25 megawatts or greater
and an anticipated or measured average annual electric load factor of 75 percent or greater; and (iii) as of January 1, 2026, did
not maintain a full-time equivalent employment workforce
of at least 200 individuals
engaged in manufacturing or industrial activities at a facility located within the service territory of a Phase I
Utility,
a
Phase II Utility
,
or an electric cooperative organized under Article 1 (§ 56
-
231.15 et seq
.) of Chapter 9.1 of Title 56
of the Code of Virginia
.
"Phase I Utility" and "Phase II Utility" have the same meaning as provided in subdivision A 1 of §
56-585.1
of the Code of Virginia.
"Transmission costs" includes the downstream costs associated with upgrades or modifications to interconnection or distribution infrastructure
necessitated
to implement a transmission project.