republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2017/sb-1473.md

type, title, description, jurisdiction, legislature, session, identifier, citation, classification, subjects, status, primary_sponsors, version_count, action_count, vote_count, first_action, last_action, source, source_identifier, source_url, source_hash, vintage, source_snapshot, retrieved_at, confidence, tags

type	title	description	jurisdiction	legislature	session	identifier	citation	classification	subjects	status	primary_sponsors	version_count	action_count	vote_count	first_action	last_action	source	source_identifier	source_url	source_hash	vintage	source_snapshot	retrieved_at	confidence	tags
Bill	Electric utilities; recovery of costs of undergrounding distribution lines.	Declares that the replacement of any subset of an investor-owned electric utility's existing overhead distribution tap lines that have, in the aggregate, an average of nine or more total unplanned outage events-per-mile over a preceding 10-year period with new underground facilities in order to improve electric service reliability is in the public interest. The measure also provides that there shall be a rebuttable presumption that (i) the conversion of such facilities will provide local and system-wide benefits, (ii) the new underground facilities are cost beneficial, and (iii) the costs associated with the new underground facilities are reasonably and prudently incurred. An enactment clause provides that the measure shall apply to any applications pending with the Commission regarding new underground facilities on or after January 1, 2017. Another enactment clause directs an investor-owned incumbent electric utility to provide written notice to any cable operator of a cable television system that has attached its facilities to its poles that will be replaced in a project to underground existing overhead distribution tap lines not less than 90 days prior to relocating the utility's overhead distribution lines. The clause also establishes a procedure for negotiating a common shared underground easement.	us/states/va	Virginia General Assembly	2017	SB 1473	Virginia SB 1473 (2017)	bill	Public Service Companies	enacted	Richard L. Saslaw	4	19	6	2017-01-17	2017-03-16	openstates	ocd-bill/03ab464d-abf6-412b-b6bf-d3becb95ecac	http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+sum+SB1473	e82403994fa2ad3c82c62d4d8d6940d8f1965dd489aab13de68f8f5cf55e2662	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-va

Virginia SB 1473 (2017) — Electric utilities; recovery of costs of undergrounding distribution lines.

Declares that the replacement of any subset of an investor-owned electric utility's existing overhead distribution tap lines that have, in the aggregate, an average of nine or more total unplanned outage events-per-mile over a preceding 10-year period with new underground facilities in order to improve electric service reliability is in the public interest. The measure also provides that there shall be a rebuttable presumption that (i) the conversion of such facilities will provide local and system-wide benefits, (ii) the new underground facilities are cost beneficial, and (iii) the costs associated with the new underground facilities are reasonably and prudently incurred. An enactment clause provides that the measure shall apply to any applications pending with the Commission regarding new underground facilities on or after January 1, 2017. Another enactment clause directs an investor-owned incumbent electric utility to provide written notice to any cable operator of a cable television system that has attached its facilities to its poles that will be replaced in a project to underground existing overhead distribution tap lines not less than 90 days prior to relocating the utility's overhead distribution lines. The clause also establishes a procedure for negotiating a common shared underground easement.

Version chain

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

1. Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0583) (committee substitute) — source
2. Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB1473ER) (committee substitute) — source
3. Senate: Presented and ordered printed 17103391D (committee substitute) — source
4. Senate: Printed as engrossed 17103391D-E (committee substitute) — source

Votes

• Constitutional reading dispensed — 40–0 (pass) · legislature
• Passed Senate — 37–3 (pass) · legislature
• Reported from Commerce and Labor — 21–0 (pass) · legislature
• Passed House — 92–4 (pass) · legislature
• Reported from Commerce and Labor with amendments — 14–0 (pass) · legislature
• Constitutional reading dispensed — 40–0 (pass) · legislature

Sponsors

• Richard L. Saslaw — primary (person)

Timeline

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

• 2017-01-17 Presented and ordered printed 17103391D introduction
• 2017-01-17 Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor referral-committee
• 2017-02-02 Read second time reading-2
• 2017-02-02 Reading of amendments waived
• 2017-02-02 Committee amendments agreed to
• 2017-02-02 Engrossed by Senate as amended SB1473E
• 2017-02-02 Printed as engrossed 17103391D-E
• 2017-02-06 Placed on Calendar
• 2017-02-06 Read first time reading-1
• 2017-02-06 Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor referral-committee
• 2017-02-16 Read second time reading-2
• 2017-02-17 Read third time reading-3
• 2017-02-17 Passed House (92-Y 4-N 2-A) passage
• 2017-02-22 Enrolled
• 2017-02-22 Signed by President
• 2017-02-22 Signed by Speaker
• 2017-02-23 Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on 2/23/17
• 2017-02-23 Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, March 27, 2017
• 2017-03-16 Approved by Governor-Chapter 583 (effective 1/1/17) executive-signature

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/03ab464d-abf6-412b-b6bf-d3becb95ecac. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).