AMENDMENT(S) REJECTED BY THE HOUSE

DEL. WYATT [Withdrawn]

1. After line 94, Substitute

insert

"Pre-existing contractual agreement" means a power purchase agreement or similar commercial arrangement, including options contracts, entered into in connection with a power generation facility subject to the RGGI that was entered into on or before May 16, 2017, and continuing in force and effect until July 1, 2020. "Pre-existing contractual arrangement" does not include any life-of-the-unit contractual relationship.

DEL. WYATT [Withdrawn]

2. After line 134, Substitute

insert

E. The Director shall establish and administer a pre-existing contractual arrangement reserve account (Reserve Account). At least once per year, an entity may obtain allowances at a cost not exceeding 25 percent of the previous auction price from the Reserve Account to satisfy the total allowance obligation attributable to the pre-existing contractual arrangement. Allowances placed into the Reserve Account shall not exceed (i) 2,000,000 allowances per year in 2021 and 2022; (ii) 1,250,000 allowances per year in to 2023 and 2024, (iii) 600,000 allowances in 2025, and (iv) zero allowances per year from 2026 and every subsequent year. If the number of available allowances does not satisfy the requirements of every eligible entity, the Director shall make allowances available from the Reserve Account to the eligible entries pro rata according to the allowances attributable to their pre-existing contractual arrangements that they have not yet obtain from the Reserve Account.

F. An entity with a pre-existing contractual arrangement may purchase allowances from the Reserve Account if:

1. A pre-existing contractual arrangement exist and the entity is unable to pass-through or recover its RGGI costs from the counter party or other mechanism;

2. The number of allowances purchased from the Reserve Account by the entity does not exceed the equivalent tons of carbon dioxide that the entity emitted in the prior calendar year;

3. Such entity exercises any option that exists in the pre-existing contractual arrangement to re-negotiate the contract to include the cost of purchasing carbon dioxide allowances when the first opportunity to exercise any such option occurs; and

4. Each calendar year, the carbon dioxide authorized account representative for the compliance account makes all requests for purchases of allowances from the Reserve Account to the Department, and the requests include (i) copy of the contractual arrangement if it has not been provided to the Department previously, or if it has, an arrangement if it has not been provided to the Department previously, or if it has, a letter certifying that the contract has not changed and (ii) a letter certifying that the entity is unable to recover the cost of allowances through electricity pricing or another mechanism.

G. Any allowance purchased from the Reserve Account in a year that are in excess of the entity's equivalent of carbon dioxide emissions in that year shall be forfeited by the entity and returned to the Department.

H. The Director shall require that an entity purchasing allowances from the Reserve Account certify at least once a year that it has made purchases of equipment or services in Virginia during the year or has a plan to age purchases of equipment or services in Virginia, including by any affiliated entities, equal to the value of the discount in price of allowances purchased from the Reserve Account as determined by the most recent auction price.