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2018 SESSION
18102361DBe it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That the first and third enactments of Chapters 358 and 382 of the Acts of Assembly of 2013, as amended by Chapter 803 of the Acts of Assembly of 2017, are amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 1. That the State Corporation Commission (Commission) shall
conduct pilot programs within the
certificated service territory of each electric utility ("Pilot
Utility") 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 or
eligible agricultural 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 or eligible agricultural customer-generator
under a power purchase agreement used to provide third party financing of the
costs of such a renewable generation facility (third party net metering 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 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 eligible to participate in Notwithstanding any other provision of § 56-594 of
the Code of Virginia, after July 1, 2018, only organizations that are exempt
from paying federal income taxes under § 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of
1954 as amended; elementary and secondary or
middle schools as defined in § 22.1-1 of the Code of Virginia; or public
and nonprofit private institutions of higher education as defined in § 23.1-100
of the Code of Virginia may enter into net metering power purchase agreements
with a third party for the duration of the pilot program programs;
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 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
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 participating in any pilot program
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 or
eligible agricultural 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 net metering
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 net metering 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 net metering
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 shall be eligible for a third
party net metering
power purchase agreement under the 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 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 pilot program programs;
d. A generation facility that is the subject of a third party net metering power purchase
agreement under the a pilot program
shall serve only one customer, and a third party net metering power purchase
agreement shall not serve multiple customers;
e. The customer under a third party net metering 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 net metering 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 net metering power purchase
agreement not less than 30 days prior to the agreement's proposed effective
date; and
g. An affiliate of the Pilot Utility shall be permitted to
offer and enter into third party net metering 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 net metering 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 2018 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 net metering power purchase
agreement that is not entered into pursuant to the during the
effective period of 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 conducted
pursuant to the pilot program. Nothing in this act shall affect the rights and
duties of any eligible customer-generator or any agricultural
customer-generator participating in a power purchase agreement entered into
prior to July 1, 2018.
§ 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 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 or eligible agricultural customer-generator
under a third party net metering 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 net metering power purchase
agreements in effect prior to the effective date of this act.
3. That the State Corporation Commission shall, by December
1, 2013 2018,
establish 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 for which notice has been received and capacity remaining available
for future pilot projects. 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.
2. That the provisions of this act shall expire on January 1, 2022. Such expiration shall not affect any net metering power purchase agreement entered into during the term of a pilot program conducted under this act.