Virginia HB 565: Electric utilities; renewable portfolio standard program, zero-carbon electricity, etc.

Bill Text

2026 SESSION

INTRODUCED

26102713D

HOUSE BILL NO. 565

Offered January 14, 2026

Prefiled January 13, 2026

A BILL to amend and reenact § 56-585.5 of the Code of Virginia, relating to electric utilities; renewable portfolio standard program; zero-carbon electricity; accelerated renewable energy buyers.

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Patron—Reid

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Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce

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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 56-585.5 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 56-585.5. Generation of electricity from renewable and zero carbon sources.

A. As used in this section:

"Accelerated renewable energy buyer" means a commercial or industrial customer of a Phase I or Phase II Utility, irrespective of generation supplier, with an aggregate load over 25 megawatts in the prior calendar year, that enters into arrangements pursuant to subsection G, as certified by the Commission.

"Aggregate load" means the combined electrical load associated with selected accounts of an accelerated renewable energy buyer with the same legal entity name as, or in the names of affiliated entities that control, are controlled by, or are under common control of, such legal entity or are the names of affiliated entities under a common parent.

"Control" has the same meaning as provided in § 56-585.1:11.

"Elementary or secondary" has the same meaning as provided in § 22.1-1.

"Falling water" means hydroelectric resources, including run-of-river generation from a combined pumped-storage and run-of-river facility. "Falling water" does not include electricity generated from pumped-storage facilities.

"Low-income qualifying projects" means a project that provides a minimum of 50 percent of the respective electric output to low-income utility customers as that term is defined in § 56-576.

"Phase I Utility" has the same meaning as provided in subdivision A 1 of § 56-585.1.

"Phase II Utility" has the same meaning as provided in subdivision A 1 of § 56-585.1.

"Previously developed project site" means any property, including related buffer areas, if any, that has been previously disturbed or developed for non-single-family residential, nonagricultural, or nonsilvicultural use, regardless of whether such property currently is being used for any purpose. "Previously developed project site" includes a brownfield as defined in § 10.1-1230 or any parcel that has been previously used (i) for a retail, commercial, or industrial purpose; (ii) as a parking lot; (iii) as the site of a parking lot canopy or structure; (iv) for mining, which is any lands affected by coal mining that took place before August 3, 1977, or any lands upon which extraction activities have been permitted by the Department of Energy under Title 45.2; (v) for quarrying; or (vi) as a landfill.

"Total electric energy" means total electric energy sold to retail customers in the Commonwealth service territory of a Phase I or Phase II Utility, other than accelerated renewable energy buyers, by the incumbent electric utility or other retail supplier of electric energy in the previous calendar year, excluding an amount equivalent to the annual percentages of the electric energy that was supplied to such customer from nuclear generating plants located within the Commonwealth in the previous calendar year, provided such nuclear units were operating by July 1, 2020, or from any zero-carbon electric generating facilities not otherwise RPS eligible sources and placed into service in the Commonwealth after July 1, 2030.

"Zero-carbon electricity" means electricity generated by any generating unit that does not emit carbon dioxide as a by-product of combusting fuel to generate electricity.

B. 1. By December 31, 2024, except for any coal-fired electric generating units (i) jointly owned with a cooperative utility or (ii) owned and operated by a Phase II Utility located in the coalfield region of the Commonwealth that co-fires with biomass, any Phase I and Phase II Utility shall retire all generating units principally fueled by oil with a rated capacity in excess of 500 megawatts and all coal-fired electric generating units operating in the Commonwealth.

2. By December 31, 2045, except for biomass-fired electric generating units that do not co-fire with coal, each Phase I and II Utility shall retire all other electric generating units located in the Commonwealth that emit carbon as a by-product of combusting fuel to generate electricity.

3. A Phase I or Phase II Utility may petition the Commission for relief from the requirements of this subsection on the basis that the requirement would threaten the reliability or security of electric service to customers. The Commission shall consider in-state and regional transmission entity resources and shall evaluate the reliability of each proposed retirement on a case-by-case basis in ruling upon any such petition.

C. Each Phase I and Phase II Utility shall participate in a renewable energy portfoli