A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Chapter 23 of Title 56 a section numbered 56-596.7, relating to electric utilities; interconnection service standards; high-demand customers.
HB1379 would add a new section to the Virginia Code directing the State Corporation Commission to establish interconnection service standards for “high-demand customers,” defined as electric service customers needing 60 megawatts or more of peak demand. The stated purpose is to support economic growth while preserving grid reliability and limiting stranded infrastructure costs. The bill also specifies that an electric utility would not be deemed to have failed its duty to provide adequate service merely because it requires a high-demand customer to meet these new interconnection standards.
The bill requires, as a condition of new interconnection, that a high-demand customer install on-site backup generation capable of serving at least 50 percent of its peak demand. For customers already receiving interconnection service before the standards are adopted, the bill requires development of backup generation capable of serving at least 20 percent of peak demand by January 1, 2032. It also directs the Commission to set a load threshold for curtailment or deployment of backup generation during emergency alerts, create an exemption process for technically infeasible installations, and establish a procedure for Commission access to utility-collected compliance information. Any information collected under the section would be confidential and exempt from the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.
If enacted, the bill would add a new regulatory framework in Title 56 governing how electric utilities interconnect very large load customers in Virginia. It would expand the Commission’s authority to set technical standards and compliance procedures for these customers, while also imposing new backup generation obligations on both future and existing high-demand customers. The bill would affect utilities, the State Corporation Commission, and large industrial or data-center-type customers seeking grid interconnection, and it would create a confidentiality exemption for related compliance data.
The available context suggests the bill was not advanced out of committee and was continued to the next session by voice vote, indicating limited immediate legislative momentum. Because there are no recorded votes or committee transcripts provided, there is no detailed record of floor debate or formal opposition/support statements. The bill’s structure suggests a policy goal of balancing economic development with grid reliability, which may have broad appeal in principle, but the lack of advancement indicates unresolved concerns or insufficient consensus.
The main points of contention likely center on the mandatory backup generation requirements, especially the 50 percent on-site backup obligation for new interconnections and the 20 percent retrofit requirement for existing customers. Large customers may view these mandates as costly, technically difficult, or restrictive, while utilities and grid planners may support them as necessary to protect reliability and avoid stranded infrastructure costs. Another likely issue is the bill’s confidentiality provision, which limits public access to compliance information, and the exemption process for technical infeasibility, which may raise questions about how strictly the standards would be applied.