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2004 SESSION
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 56-265.1 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 56-265.1. Definitions.
In this chapter the following terms shall have the following meanings:
(a) "Company" means a corporation, an individual, a partnership, an association, a joint-stock company, a business trust, a cooperative, or an organized group of persons, whether incorporated or not; or any receiver, trustee or other liquidating agent of any of the foregoing in his capacity as such; but not a municipal corporation or a county, unless such municipal corporation or county has obtained a certificate pursuant to § 56-265.4:4.
(b) "Public utility" means any company which owns or operates facilities within the Commonwealth of Virginia for the generation, transmission or distribution of electric energy for sale, for the production, storage, transmission, or distribution, otherwise than in enclosed portable containers, of natural or manufactured gas or geothermal resources for sale for heat, light or power, or for the furnishing of telephone service, sewerage facilities or water; however, the term "public utility" shall not include any of the following:
(1) Except as otherwise provided in § 56-265.3:1, any company furnishing
sewerage facilities, geothermal resources or water to less than fifty 50
customers. Any company furnishing water or sewer services to ten or more customers and excluded by
this subdivision from the definition of "public utility" for purposes of this
chapter nevertheless shall not abandon the water or sewer services unless and
until approval is granted by the Commission or all the customers receiving such
services agree to accept ownership of the company.
(2) Any company generating and distributing electric energy exclusively for its own consumption.
(3) Any company (A) which furnishes electric service together with heating and
cooling services, generated at a central plant installed on the premises to be
served, to the tenants of a building or buildings located on a single tract of
land undivided by any publicly maintained highway, street or road at the time
of installation of the central plant, and (B) which does not charge separately
or by meter for electric energy used by any tenant except as part of a rental
charge. Any company excluded by this subdivision from the definition of "public
utility" for the purposes of this chapter nevertheless shall, within thirty 30
days following the issuance of a building permit, notify the State Corporation
Commission in writing of the ownership, capacity and location of such central
plant, and it shall be subject, with regard to the quality of electric service
furnished, to the provisions of Chapters 10 (§ 56-232 et seq.) and 17 (§ 56-509
et seq.) of this title and regulations thereunder and be deemed a public utility for such
purposes, if such company furnishes such service to 100 or more lessees.
(4) Any company, or affiliate thereof, making a first or direct sale, or
ancillary transmission or delivery service, of natural or manufactured gas to
fewer than thirty-five 35 commercial or industrial customers, which are not
themselves "public utilities" as defined in this chapter, or to certain public
schools as indicated in this subdivision, for use solely by such purchasing
customers at facilities which are not located in a territory for which a certificate
to provide gas service has been issued by the Commission under this chapter and
which, at the time of the Commission's receipt of the notice provided under §
56-265.4:5, are not located within any area, territory, or jurisdiction served by a
municipal corporation that provided gas distribution service as of January 1, 1992,
provided that such company shall comply with the provisions of § 56-265.4:5.
Direct sales or ancillary transmission or delivery services of natural gas to public
schools in the following localities may be made without regard to the number of schools
involved and shall not count against the "fewer than 35" requirement in this
subdivision: the Counties of Dickinson, Wise, Russell, and Buchanan, and the
City of Norton.
(5) Any company which is not a public service corporation and which provides compressed natural gas service at retail for the public.
(6) Any company selling landfill gas from a solid waste management facility
permitted by the Department of Environmental Quality to a public utility
certificated by the Commission to provide gas distribution service to the
public in the area in which the solid waste management facility is located. If
such company submits to the public utility a written offer for sale of such gas
and the public utility does not agree within sixty 60 days to purchase such gas
on mutually satisfactory terms, then the company may sell such gas to (i) any
facility owned and operated by the Commonwealth which is located within three
miles of the solid waste management facility or (ii) any purchaser after such
landfill gas has been liquefied. The provisions of this subdivision shall not
apply to any city with a population of at least 64,000 but no more than 69,000
or any county with a population of at least 500,000.
(7) Any authority created pursuant to the Virginia Water and Waste Authorities Act (§ 15.2-5100 et seq.) making a sale or ancillary transmission or delivery service of landfill gas to a commercial or industrial customer from a solid waste management facility permitted by the Department of Environmental Quality and operated by that same authority, if such an authority limits off-premises sale, transmission or delivery service of landfill gas to no more than one purchaser. The authority may contract with other persons for the construction and operation of facilities necessary or convenient to the sale, transmission or delivery of landfill gas, and no such person shall be deemed a public utility solely by reason of its construction or operation of such facilities. If the purchaser of the landfill gas is located within the certificated service territory of a natural gas public utility, the public utility may file for Commission approval a proposed tariff to reflect any anticipated or known changes in service to the purchaser as a result of the use of landfill gas. No such tariff shall impose on the purchaser of the landfill gas terms less favorable than similarly situated customers with alternative fuel capabilities; provided, however, that such tariff may impose such requirements as are reasonably calculated to recover the cost of such service and to protect and ensure the safety and integrity of the public utility's facilities.
(8) A company selling or delivering only landfill gas, electricity generated
from only landfill gas, or both, that is derived from a solid waste management
facility permitted by the Department of Environmental Quality and sold or
delivered from any such facility to not more than one commercial or industrial
purchaser or to a natural gas or electric public utility, municipal corporation
or county as authorized by this section. If the purchaser of the landfill gas
is located within the certificated service territory of a natural gas public
utility or within an area in which a municipal corporation provides gas
distribution service and the landfill gas is to be used in facilities
constructed after January 1, 2000, such company shall submit to such public
utility or municipal corporation a written offer for sale of that gas prior to
offering the gas for sale or delivery to a commercial or industrial purchaser.
If the public utility or municipal corporation does not agree within sixty 60
days following the date of the offer to purchase such landfill gas on mutually satisfactory terms,
then the company shall be authorized to sell such landfill gas, electricity, or both, to a commercial
or industrial purchaser, utility, municipal corporation, or county. Such public
utility may file for Commission approval a proposed tariff to reflect any
anticipated or known changes in service to the purchaser as a result of the
purchaser's use of the landfill gas. No such tariff shall impose on such
purchaser of the landfill gas terms less favorable than those imposed on
similarly situated customers with alternative fuel capabilities; provided,
however, that such tariff may impose such requirements as are reasonably
calculated to recover any cost of such service and to protect and ensure the
safety and integrity of the public utility's facilities.
(c) "Commission" means the State Corporation Commission.
(d) "Geothermal resources" means those resources as defined in § 45.1-179.2.