An Act to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 56-585.1:17, relating to electric utilities; pilot program for electric energy conservation, generation, and storage.
HB1062 creates a new pilot program for Virginia’s investor-owned electric utilities to support electric energy conservation, solar generation, and energy storage for low-income, elderly, and disabled customers in each utility’s service territory. The bill requires each Phase I and Phase II utility to petition the State Corporation Commission by December 31, 2026, for approval to design, implement, and operate the program through July 1, 2034, unless the section is amended or repealed sooner.
The bill sets minimum first-year funding levels for the pilot: $23 million for each Phase II utility and $5 million for each Phase I utility, with annual increases tied to inflation or the utility’s long-term growth rate, whichever is greater. It also requires the utilities to provide incentives directly to customers, and it allows those incentives and related costs to count toward certain energy-savings and low-income program obligations. In addition, the bill directs the Commission to hold a technical conference on creating a Pay As You Save-style financing program and, if feasible and in the public interest, to require utilities to seek approval for such a program by May 1, 2027.
The bill adds § 56-585.1:17 to the Code of Virginia and creates a new utility mandate affecting Phase I and Phase II electric utilities, the State Corporation Commission, and customers eligible for low-income energy assistance and efficiency programs. It authorizes recovery of pilot-program costs, including energy storage costs, under existing utility cost-recovery provisions, and it links the new pilot to existing statutory goals for low-income, elderly, and disabled customer programs. The enactment is temporary, expiring July 1, 2034, unless extended or repealed earlier.
Based on the bill text and the absence of recorded committee debate or vote data in the provided materials, the measure appears to have been framed as a targeted consumer-assistance and clean-energy initiative rather than a broadly controversial utility overhaul. Its structure suggests support for expanding energy affordability, resilience, and access to solar and storage for vulnerable households, while also preserving Commission oversight and utility petition requirements. The final enactment as chaptered law indicates the bill ultimately advanced successfully.
The main points of potential contention are likely the mandatory funding levels, the requirement that utilities fund the pilot program, and the ability to recover costs from ratepayers under existing cost-recovery rules. Utilities or consumer advocates could differ over whether the program is appropriately sized, whether the costs are justified, and how directly the benefits will reach low-income, elderly, disabled, and moderate-income customers. Another possible issue is the Commission-directed exploration of a Pay As You Save model, which could raise questions about program feasibility, consumer protections, and the extent of regulatory authority.