republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2024/sb-255.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	Shared solar programs; SCC to establish by regulation, etc.	Shared solar programs; American Electric Power; minimum bill; capacity. Requires the State Corporation Commission to establish by regulation a shared solar program, defined in the bill, that allows customers of American Electric Power (Phase I Utility) the opportunity to purchase electric power through a subscription in a shared solar facility, defined in the bill. The bill provides that a customer's net bill for participation in the shared solar program means the resulting amount a customer must pay the utility after the bill credit, defined in the bill, is deducted from the customer's monthly gross utility bill. The bill also requires the Commission to establish a minimum bill, below which a subscriber's net bill cannot go, that is calculated based on the amount of kilowatt-hours billed by the utility and specifies that low-income customers are exempt from such minimum bill. Under the bill, co-location of two or more shared solar facilities is permitted for shared solar program participation if the facilities are located on a single parcel of land. The bill requires the Commission to (i) establish regulations that prohibit early termination fees and credit reporting for low-income customers, (ii) require net financial savings for subscribers relative to the subscription fee, (iii) require a customer's affirmative consent before providing customer billing and usage data to a subscriber organization, and (iv) establish customer engagement rules. Under the bill, any net crediting fee imposed by the shared solar program shall not exceed one percent of the bill credit value and shall be charged to the subscriber organization. The bill also provides that a utility is permitted to seek recovery of bill credit costs in its triennial base review only if such costs would result in the utility being unable to meet its revenue requirement after accounting for all avoided costs that can be realized by ratepayers. The bill specifies that the Commission shall update its shared solar program consistent with the requirements of the bill by January 1, 2025, and shall require each utility to file any associated tariffs, agreements, or forms necessary for implementing the program by July 1, 2025. Additionally, the bill requires the Department of Energy to convene a stakeholder work group to determine the amounts and forms of project incentives for (a) projects located on rooftops, brownfields, or landfills; (b) projects that are dual-use agricultural facilities; or (c) projects that satisfy another category as established by the Department and to submit a written report to the Chairs of the House Committee on Commerce and Energy and the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor no later than November 30, 2024.	us/states/va	Virginia General Assembly	2024	SB 255	Virginia SB 255 (2024)	bill		enacted	Scott A. Surovell	5	39	6	2024-01-09	2024-04-22	openstates	ocd-bill/642662d7-01f2-4b2c-8cb0-67bb469f4ac5	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+sum+SB255	dd0d57de0027bdcc42a163a8587aad61e371c83e561233503c0e610691efafe4	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-va

Virginia SB 255 (2024) — Shared solar programs; SCC to establish by regulation, etc.

Shared solar programs; American Electric Power; minimum bill; capacity. Requires the State Corporation Commission to establish by regulation a shared solar program, defined in the bill, that allows customers of American Electric Power (Phase I Utility) the opportunity to purchase electric power through a subscription in a shared solar facility, defined in the bill. The bill provides that a customer's net bill for participation in the shared solar program means the resulting amount a customer must pay the utility after the bill credit, defined in the bill, is deducted from the customer's monthly gross utility bill. The bill also requires the Commission to establish a minimum bill, below which a subscriber's net bill cannot go, that is calculated based on the amount of kilowatt-hours billed by the utility and specifies that low-income customers are exempt from such minimum bill. Under the bill, co-location of two or more shared solar facilities is permitted for shared solar program participation if the facilities are located on a single parcel of land. The bill requires the Commission to (i) establish regulations that prohibit early termination fees and credit reporting for low-income customers, (ii) require net financial savings for subscribers relative to the subscription fee, (iii) require a customer's affirmative consent before providing customer billing and usage data to a subscriber organization, and (iv) establish customer engagement rules. Under the bill, any net crediting fee imposed by the shared solar program shall not exceed one percent of the bill credit value and shall be charged to the subscriber organization. The bill also provides that a utility is permitted to seek recovery of bill credit costs in its triennial base review only if such costs would result in the utility being unable to meet its revenue requirement after accounting for all avoided costs that can be realized by ratepayers. The bill specifies that the Commission shall update its shared solar program consistent with the requirements of the bill by January 1, 2025, and shall require each utility to file any associated tariffs, agreements, or forms necessary for implementing the program by July 1, 2025. Additionally, the bill requires the Department of Energy to convene a stakeholder work group to determine the amounts and forms of project incentives for (a) projects located on rooftops, brownfields, or landfills; (b) projects that are dual-use agricultural facilities; or (c) projects that satisfy another category as established by the Department and to submit a written report to the Chairs of the House Committee on Commerce and Energy and the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor no later than November 30, 2024.  

Version chain

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

1. CHAP0765 (committee substitute) — source
2. Committee substitute printed 24107080D-S1 (committee substitute) — source
3. Committee substitute printed 24107951D-H1 (committee substitute) — source
4. Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24102100D (committee substitute) — source
5. SB255ER (committee substitute) — source

Votes

• VOTE: Passage (52-Y 46-N) — 51–46 (pass) · lower
• Reported from Commerce and Labor with substitute (10-Y 5-N) — 10–5 (pass) · upper
• Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — 39–0 (pass) · upper
• House substitute agreed to by Senate (21-Y 18-N) — 21–18 (pass) · upper
• Reported from Labor and Commerce with substitute (14-Y 8-N) — 14–8 (pass) · lower
• Read third time and passed Senate (21-Y 16-N) — 21–16 (pass) · upper

Sponsors

• Scott A. Surovell — primary (person)
• David R. Suetterlein — cosponsor (person)

Timeline

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

• 2024-01-09 Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24102100D filing, introduction
• 2024-01-09 Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor referral-committee
• 2024-02-01 Impact statement from SCC (SB255)
• 2024-02-09 Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
• 2024-02-09 Reported from Commerce and Labor with substitute (10-Y 5-N) committee-passage
• 2024-02-09 Committee substitute printed 24107080D-S1 substitution
• 2024-02-09 Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
• 2024-02-12 Read second time reading-2
• 2024-02-12 Reading of substitute waived
• 2024-02-12 Committee substitute agreed to 24107080D-S1 substitution
• 2024-02-12 Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB255S1 substitution
• 2024-02-13 Read third time and passed Senate (21-Y 16-N) passage, reading-3
• 2024-02-15 Placed on Calendar
• 2024-02-15 Read first time reading-1
• 2024-02-15 Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce referral-committee
• 2024-02-20 Reported from Labor and Commerce with substitute (14-Y 8-N) committee-passage
• 2024-02-20 Committee substitute printed 24107951D-H1 substitution
• 2024-02-22 Read second time reading-2
• 2024-02-23 House committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
• 2024-02-23 Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
• 2024-02-23 House committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
• 2024-02-23 Read third time reading-3
• 2024-02-23 Committee substitute agreed to 24107951D-H1 substitution
• 2024-02-23 Amendment by Delegate Sullivan agreed to amendment-passage
• 2024-02-23 Engrossed by House - committee substitute with amendment SB255H1 substitution
• 2024-02-23 Passed House with substitute with amendment (52-Y 46-N) passage
• 2024-02-23 VOTE: Passage (52-Y 46-N) passage
• 2024-02-26 Impact statement from SCC (SB255S1)
• 2024-02-27 House substitute agreed to by Senate (21-Y 18-N) substitution
• 2024-02-27 Title replaced 24107951D-H1
• 2024-03-04 Enrolled enrolled
• 2024-03-04 Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB255ER) passage
• 2024-03-04 Signed by Speaker passage
• 2024-03-07 Signed by President passage
• 2024-03-11 Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 11, 2024 enrolled
• 2024-03-11 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024 executive-receipt
• 2024-04-08 Approved by Governor-Chapter 765 (effective 7/1/24) executive-signature
• 2024-04-08 Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0765)
• 2024-04-22 Impact statement from SCC (SB255ER)

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/642662d7-01f2-4b2c-8cb0-67bb469f4ac5. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).