republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2021/hb-2304.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Phase I or Phase II electric utilities; provision of broadband capacity."
description: "Provision of broadband capacity by Phase I or Phase II electric utilities. Makes permanent the pilot program under which a Phase I or Phase II electric utility is permitted to petition the State Corporation Commission to provide broadband capacity to unserved areas of the Commonwealth. The bill expands the program to allow for the participation of municipalities and government-owned broadband authorities. The bill provides that investor-owned electric utilities may recover costs of and revenue generated from providing broadband capacity that serves as an electric grid transformation project in areas unserved by broadband, as defined in the bill. The bill also consolidates the State Corporation Commission petition approval process into one hearing."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 2304"
citation: "Virginia HB 2304 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Roslyn C. Tyler"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 35
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2021-01-19"
last_action: "2021-03-25"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/7fa0c129-e644-4300-9f77-c81a2a5d7cd0"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+sum+HB2304"
source_hash: "4054c5d123aa5abc003c4dcd13e6d00fde8422db1bc2f7c1ce45b239e243b085"
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 2304 (2021) — Phase I or Phase II electric utilities; provision of broadband capacity.

Provision of broadband capacity by Phase I or Phase II electric utilities. Makes permanent the pilot program under which a Phase I or Phase II electric utility is permitted to petition the State Corporation Commission to provide broadband capacity to unserved areas of the Commonwealth. The bill expands the program to allow for the participation of municipalities and government-owned broadband authorities. The bill provides that investor-owned electric utilities may recover costs of and revenue generated from providing broadband capacity that serves as an electric grid transformation project in areas unserved by broadband, as defined in the bill. The bill also consolidates the State Corporation Commission petition approval process into one hearing.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0369** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+CHAP0369)
2. **Committee substitute printed 21104404D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB2304S1)
3. **HB2304ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB2304ER)
4. **Presented and ordered printed 21102868D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB2304)
5. **Printed as engrossed 21102868D-E** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB2304E)

## Votes

- Reported from Commerce and Labor with substitute (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Continued to 2021 Sp. Sess. 1 in Commerce and Labor (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Labor and Commerce with amendment(s) (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Adoption (99-Y 0-N) — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate with substitute (38-Y 1-N) — **38–1** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N) — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (10-Y 0-N) — **10–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Roslyn C. Tyler — primary (person)
- Dan I. Helmer — cosponsor (person)
- Elizabeth R. Guzman — cosponsor (person)
- Jennifer L. McClellan — cosponsor (person)
- Shelly A. Simonds — cosponsor (person)
- Terry G. Kilgore — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-01-19** Presented and ordered printed 21102868D `introduction`
- **2021-01-19** Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-22** Assigned L & C sub: Subcommittee #3 `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-25** Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (10-Y 0-N)
- **2021-01-26** Reported from Labor and Commerce with amendment(s) (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-27** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2021-01-28** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2021-01-28** Committee amendments agreed to
- **2021-01-28** Engrossed by House as amended HB2304E
- **2021-01-28** Printed as engrossed 21102868D-E
- **2021-01-29** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (99-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-01-29** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-01** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2021-02-01** Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-04** Impact statement from SCC (HB2304E)
- **2021-02-05** Continued to 2021 Sp. Sess. 1 in Commerce and Labor (15-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-15** Reported from Commerce and Labor with substitute (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-15** Committee substitute printed 21104404D-S1 `substitution`
- **2021-02-17** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-18** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2021-02-18** Reading of substitute waived
- **2021-02-18** Committee substitute agreed to 21104404D-S1
- **2021-02-18** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute HB2304S1
- **2021-02-18** Passed Senate with substitute (38-Y 1-N) `passage`
- **2021-02-22** Placed on Calendar
- **2021-02-22** Senate substitute agreed to by House 21104404D-S1(99-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-22** VOTE: Adoption (99-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-22** Impact statement from SCC (HB2304S1)
- **2021-02-25** Enrolled
- **2021-02-25** Signed by President
- **2021-02-26** Impact statement from SCC (HB2304ER)
- **2021-02-26** Signed by Speaker
- **2021-03-01** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 1, 2021
- **2021-03-01** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 31, 2021
- **2021-03-25** Approved by Governor-Chapter 369 (effective 7/1/21) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/7fa0c129-e644-4300-9f77-c81a2a5d7cd0`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).