---
type: "Bill"
title: "Utilities, certain; notice procedures for nonpayment."
description: "Electric, natural gas, and water or wastewater utilities; disconnection procedures for nonpayment. Requires certain utilities, for the purposes of required notices related to disconnections for nonpayment, to provide such notices in an additional language for customers residing in a locality that is required to provide voting or election materials in such additional language. The bill prohibits certain utilities from disconnecting a residential customer without making reasonable efforts to offer bill payment assistance, arrange a payment plan, or provide information to the customer for other bill payment assistance or energy savings programs. The bill directs the Department of Elections to post on its website a list of the localities designated as a covered locality for the purposes of providing voting or election materials in an additional minority language by September 1, 2026, and to update such list as necessary."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 1002"
citation: "Virginia HB 1002 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Kathy K.L. Tran"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 34
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2026-01-14"
last_action: "2026-04-06"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/a3e60d6e-8e27-40ee-8865-ea1c903ece92"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB1002"
source_hash: "3ba4954eee60b3bc8fb49ef1e73236e5bfe91da12b11ec4fbda991d34018a30d"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia HB 1002 (2026) — Utilities, certain; notice procedures for nonpayment.

Electric, natural gas, and water or wastewater utilities; disconnection procedures for nonpayment. Requires certain utilities, for the purposes of required notices related to disconnections for nonpayment, to provide such notices in an additional language for customers residing in a locality that is required to provide voting or election materials in such additional language. The bill prohibits certain utilities from disconnecting a residential customer without making reasonable efforts to offer bill payment assistance, arrange a payment plan, or provide information to the customer for other bill payment assistance or energy savings programs. The bill directs the Department of Elections to post on its website a list of the localities designated as a covered locality for the purposes of providing voting or election materials in an additional minority language by September 1, 2026, and to update such list as necessary.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1086845.PDF)
2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1217290.PDF)
3. **Labor and Commerce Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1132098.PDF)
4. **Subcommittee #3 Subcommittee Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1116058.PDF)
5. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1201448.PDF)

## Votes

- Reported from Labor and Commerce with substitute — **15–7** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Commerce and Labor — **8–6** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute — **7–2** (pass) · lower
- Passage R — **21–18** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting — **7–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Appropriations — **17–5** (pass) · lower
- H VOTE: — **61–35** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Kathy K.L. Tran — primary (person)
- Atoosa R. Reaser — cosponsor (person)
- Irene Shin — cosponsor (person)
- Kannan Srinivasan — cosponsor (person)
- Kelly K. Convirs-Fowler — cosponsor (person)
- Rae Cousins — cosponsor (person)
- Saddam Azlan Salim — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2026-01-14** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26102430D `filing, introduction`
- **2026-01-14** Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-22** Assigned HCL sub: Subcommittee #3 `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-03** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1002)
- **2026-02-03** House subcommittee offered
- **2026-02-03** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute and referring to Appropriations (7-Y 2-N) `substitution`
- **2026-02-05** Reported from Labor and Commerce with substitute and referred to Appropriations (15-Y 7-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-06** Committee substitute printed 26107044D-H1 `substitution`
- **2026-02-06** Assigned HAPP sub: Health & Human Resources `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-11** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1002)
- **2026-02-13** Subcommittee recommends reporting (7-Y 0-N)
- **2026-02-13** Reported from Appropriations (17-Y 5-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-15** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-16** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-16** committee substitute agreed to `substitution`
- **2026-02-16** Engrossed by House - committee substitute `substitution`
- **2026-02-17** Read third time and passed House (62-Y 35-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-18** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
- **2026-02-18** Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-02** Reported from Commerce and Labor (8-Y 6-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-04** Rules suspended
- **2026-03-04** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) (39-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-03-04** Passed by for the day (Voice Vote)
- **2026-03-05** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-03-05** Passed Senate (21-Y 18-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-03-12** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-03-12** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1002ER) `passage`
- **2026-03-12** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-03-12** Signed by President `passage`
- **2026-03-12** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1002)
- **2026-03-14** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 14, 2026 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-14** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 `executive-receipt`
- **2026-04-06** Approved by Governor-Chapter 250 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`
- **2026-04-06** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0250)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/a3e60d6e-8e27-40ee-8865-ea1c903ece92`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).