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2016 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor

Chairman: Frank W. Wagner

Clerk: John Garrett
Staff: Frank Munyan
Date of Meeting: February 15, 2016
Time and Place: 15 minutes after Adjournment Senate Room B
Updated to add HB 304

H.B. 304 Home service contract providers; SCC authorized to deny an initial application based on its review.

Patron: Kilgore

Home service contract providers. Authorizes the State Corporation Commission (SCC) to deny an initial license application for a home service contract provider based on its review of the financial statements and any reports, certificates, or other documents filed with the SCC. The measure also changes the license renewal cycle for home service contract providers from a biennial process to an annual process beginning July 1, 2017, and revises the application fee from $1,000 biennially to $500 annually. Other provisions (i) clarify that the Virginia reserve requirement for such companies is determined by taking the gross consideration received for all home service contracts, less the claims paid, and then multiplying the remainder by 40 percent; (ii) clarify that the deposit requirement to become licensed as a home service contract provider is to be based on service contracts issued and in force in the Commonwealth; and (iii) replace a reference to "premiums" with "provider fees" because home service contracts are not insurance.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 38.2-2619 and 38.2-2622 of the Code of Virginia, relating to home service contract providers.

16105224D

S.B. 148 Renewable energy; SCC to establish third-party power purchase agreements.

Patron: Edwards

Renewable energy; third-party power purchase agreements. Replaces the pilot program enacted in 2013 that authorized certain third-party power purchase agreements providing financing of certain renewable generation facilities. The measure requires the State Corporation Commission to establish third-party power purchase agreement programs for each electric utility. The existing pilot program applies only to Dominion Virginia Power and sets the maximum size of a renewable generation facility at one megawatt; the programs authorized by this measure apply to all electric utilities and do not set limits on the size of facilities. The measure also exempts sellers under third-party power purchase agreements from being defined as a public utility, public service corporation, public service company, or electric utility solely because of the sale of electricity or ownership or operation of a renewable generation facility.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 56-1.2 of the Code of Virginia; to amend the Code of Virginia by adding sections numbered 56-1.2:2, 56-232.2:2, and 56-594.2; and to repeal Chapters 358 and 382 of the Acts of Assembly of 2013, relating to the regulation of retail sales of electricity under third-party sales agreements.

16101875D

S.B. 395 Investor-owned electric utilities; energy efficiency performance incentive.

Patron: Alexander

Investor-owned electric utilities; energy efficiency performance incentive. Authorizes investor-owned electric utilities to recover, as part of the cost recovery permitted for energy efficiency programs, a performance incentive. The amount of the performance incentive for a program varies based on the levelized cost of saved energy achieved by the utility. If the levelized cost of saved energy for the program is six cents per kilowatt hour or less, the performance incentive is an additional one percent of the actual costs for the utility to design, implement, and operate the program, excluding the margin that is recovered on operating expenses. The amount of the performance incentive increases as the levelized cost of saved energy for the program decreases, with the maximum incentive being an additional four percent of the actual costs for the program if the utility achieves a levelized cost of saved energy at or below three cents per kilowatt hour. The levelized cost of saved energy is calculated through a formula in which the product obtained by multiplying total program costs by a capital recovery factor is divided by the annual kilowatt hours saved in year three of the program. This performance incentive replaces a provision that authorized the State Corporation Commission (SCC) to allow an electric utility to recover revenue reductions related to energy efficiency programs to the extent that the SCC determines such revenue has not been recovered through margins from incremental off-system sales that are directly attributable to energy efficiency programs. The measure directs the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, in collaboration with the State Corporation Commission and utilizing a stakeholder process, to develop a standardized, independent protocol determined to measure, verify, and validate energy savings.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 56-576 and 56-585.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to investor-owned electric utilities; performance incentive for energy efficiency programs; determination of protocol.

16103759D

S.B. 483 Occupational safety and health; employer's liability for violation by contractor.

Patron: DeSteph

Occupational safety and health; employer's liability for violation by contractor. Prohibits the Commissioner of Labor and Industry from issuing a citation or assessing a civil penalty against an employer for a violation of occupational safety and health law if the violation is imputed to the employer vicariously as the result of the failure of the employer's contractor or subcontractor to obtain a contractor's license or maintain a copy of the contractor's license on site. The exemption from liability applies only if the employer did not have actual knowledge of the failure.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 40.1-49.4 of the Code of Virginia, relating to occupational safety and health; imputed violations; contractor's license.

16101189D

S.B. 582 Credit unions; voluntary merger.

Patron: Stanley

Credit unions; voluntary merger. Provides that a credit union's ability to merge with another credit union is not affected by whether the credit unions serve a field of membership based on common bonds or on well-defined geographic areas.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 6.2-1344 of the Code of Virginia, relating to voluntary mergers of credit unions.

16101266D

S.B. 583 Credit unions; added as a qualified public depository for state funds.

Patron: Stanley

Credit unions. Adds credit unions as a qualified public depository for state funds. The bill also authorizes moneys to be paid into the state treasury to be deposited in credit unions.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 2.2-1803, 2.2-1813, 2.2-1814, and 2.2-4401 of the Code of Virginia, relating to credit unions.

16101260D

S.B. 607 Public employees; safety and health program.

Patron: Dance

Safety and health program for public employees. Directs the Commissioner of Labor and Industry or the Safety and Health Codes Board to adopt regulations for enforcing the occupational and health program applicable to employees of the Commonwealth, its agencies, institutions, political subdivisions, or any public body. The measure provides that these regulations and procedures for enforcing the program shall include provisions for the issuance of proposed penalties, the payment of such penalties or a negotiated sum in lieu of such penalties, and the deposit of such payments into the general fund of the state treasury.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 40.1-2.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the occupational safety and health program applicable to employees of agencies of the Commonwealth, political subdivisions, and other public bodies.

16103404D

S.B. 627 Direct primary care agreements.

Patron: Stanley

Direct primary care agreements. Provides that the Commonwealth's insurance laws do not apply to direct primary care agreements. The measure further provides that (i) a direct primary care practice is not be subject to the jurisdiction of the State Corporation Commission (SCC) and is not required to obtain a certificate of authority or license to market, sell, or offer to sell a direct primary care agreement; (ii) entering into a direct primary care agreement shall not be considered to be engaging in the business of insurance; and (iii) a direct primary care agreement is not a contract of insurance and is not subject to regulation by the SCC. The bill defines a direct primary care agreement as an agreement entered into between a health care provider and an individual patient under which the provider charges a predetermined fee as consideration for providing primary care to the patient, subject to certain conditions.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Title 38.2 a chapter numbered 64, consisting of sections numbered 38.2-6400 through 38.2-6404, relating to direct primary care agreements.

16104036D

S.B. 640 Insurance policies and annuity contracts; exemption from creditors' claims.

Patron: Stanley

Insurance policies and annuity contracts; exemption from creditors' claims. Provides that the cash surrender value or proceeds of any life insurance policy; the withdrawal value of an optional settlement, annuity contract, or deposit with a life insurance company; or any other benefit from such a policy, contract, or deposit shall not be liable to execution, attachment, garnishment, or other legal process in favor of any creditor of (i) the person whose life is insured by the related policy or contract; (ii) the person who is protected by that contract, deposit, indemnity, policy, or settlement, provided that such person is the insured or owner of the contract, deposit, indemnity, policy, or settlement or the spouse or intended spouse of, a dependent child of, or any other person dependent on the insured or owner of the contract, deposit, indemnity, policy, or settlement; (iii) the person who can, may, or will receive the benefit of such an item, if the person is the insured or owner of the contract, deposit, indemnity, policy, or settlement or the spouse or intended spouse of, a dependent child of, or any other person dependent on the insured or owner of the contract, deposit, indemnity, policy, or settlement; (iv) the person who owns the related contract, deposit, or policy; or (v) the person who effected the related contract, deposit, or policy. These exemptions from creditors' claims apply regardless of whether the right to change the beneficiary thereof is reserved or permitted or the insured person, the annuitant, the owner of the policy or contract, or the person effecting the policy or contract, or any of their estates, is a contingent beneficiary of the policy, contract, or deposit. These provisions do not apply (a) to any claim by a creditor with respect to a life insurance policy, annuity contract, or deposit with an insurance company that was taken out, made, or assigned in writing for the benefit of the creditor; (b) if the policy, contract, or deposit was paid with the intent to defraud creditors; or (c) to a policy, contract, or deposit issued or effected during the six months preceding the date that the person claiming the exemption files a voluntary petition in bankruptcy or is provided similar relief.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 38.2-3122 of the Code of Virginia, relating to proceeds and avails of annuity contracts and life insurance policies; claims of creditors.

16103796D

S.B. 696 Medicare; supplement policies for individuals under age 65.

Patron: Deeds

Medicare supplement policies for individuals under age 65. Requires insurers issuing Medicare supplement policies in the Commonwealth to offer the opportunity of enrolling in a Medicare supplement policy to any individual who resides in the Commonwealth, is enrolled in Medicare Part B, and is eligible for Medicare by reason of disability.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Chapter 36 of Title 38.2 a section numbered 38.2-3610, relating to Medicare supplement policies for individuals under age 65.

16103671D

S.B. 745 Notice to customers of renewable electric power options.

Patron: Wagner

Notice to customers of renewable electric power options. Expands the requirement that investor-owned utilities provide customers with information on purchasing renewable energy by requiring the notice to provide information on electric energy provided by 100 percent renewable sources. The measure also requires the notice to include information on each type and approximate percentage of renewable resource used to fulfill each option's electricity generation and the location of each generating source.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 56-245.1:2 of the Code of Virginia, relating to electric utilities; notice of renewable power options.

16104249D

S.B. 748 Economic Development Infrastructure Act of 2016; State Corporation Commission to establish.

Patron: Wagner

Economic Development Infrastructure Act of 2016. Directs the State Corporation Commission (SCC) to establish a program under which any a public utility providing electric, natural gas, water, or sewer services to retail customers in the Commonwealth is authorized to offer special rates and services to customers under a supplemental rate schedule in order to encourage the location of significant economic development projects in the Commonwealth and allow the utility to fully recover from the customer over the duration of the contract its capital investment, fees, expenses, costs, and other charges. The terms of the financing of any project are required to be set out in a contract that will be effective only if approved by the SCC. Under the program, a utility's total capital investment in facilities is limited to $10 million in the aggregate and to $1 million for any specific contract. The purpose of the program is to authorize a utility to use its own funds to finance the extension of transmission lines, distribution lines, or service laterals and related facilities to economic development sites in the Commonwealth at no upfront cost to the customer and to provide for the utility's recovery of its costs of such a project through a separate charge.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 56-235.11, relating to the Economic Development Infrastructure Act of 2016; voluntary program authorizing public utilities to offer special rates and services to support economic development in the Commonwealth.

16104276D

S.B. 779 Electric utility regulation; net energy metering.

Patron: Stuart

Electric utility regulation; net energy metering. Authorizes any eligible customer-generator or eligible agricultural customer-generator to enter into a contract to sell any net metering eligible energy exceeding the eligible customer-generator's or eligible agricultural customer-generator's own energy demand for any monthly period to any other retail customer within the same service territory of the incumbent utility. The measure increases the maximum size of the aggregate generating facility that qualifies for (i) the agricultural net energy metering program from 500 kilowatts to two megawatts, (ii) the net metering program for residential eligible customer-generators from 20 kilowatts to 50 kilowatts, and (iii) the net metering program for nonresidential eligible customer-generators from one megawatt to two megawatts. The measure replaces the existing provision that allows an eligible agricultural customer-generator to be served by multiple meters that are located at separate but contiguous sites with a provision that allows such a customer-generator to be served by multiple meters that are located on one parcel or on multiple adjacent parcels. The measure repeals the provision that caps the size of a generation facility of an eligible customer-generator at his expected annual energy consumption. The measure also (a) replaces the existing provision that provides that an eligible customer-generator or eligible agricultural customer-generator will be paid for excess electricity at the rate that is provided for such purchases in a net metering standard contract or tariff approved by the State Corporation Commission with a requirement that they will be paid at a rate equal to the customer-generator's approved customer rate schedule plus all applicable riders and (b) repeals the provision that limits the net energy metering programs to one percent of each electric distribution company's adjusted Virginia peak-load forecast for the previous year.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 56-594 of the Code of Virginia, relating to electric utility regulation; net energy metering.

16104820D