Virginia Law

The following terms when used in this chapter shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Administrative cost" means the reasonable incremental cost to the investor-owned utility to process subscriber bills for the program.

"Affordable housing provider" means any multi-family residential housing project that is one or more of the following:

1. A federal, state, or local financing program requiring that the real estate remains subject to land use restriction and rental housing affordability covenants that limit allowable rents charged to individuals or families;

2. A federal low-income housing tax credit project, as defined in § 42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;

3. A project funded with federal grants made to states for low-income housing tax credits under § 1602 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009;

4. A rental assistance demonstration public housing conversion under the federal Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2020; or

5. Affordable housing meeting the applicable requirements of another federal, state, or local program.

"Applicable bill credit rate" means the dollar-per-kilowatt-hour rate used to calculate the subscriber's bill credit.

"Bill credit" means the monetary value of the electricity, in kilowatt-hours, generated by the shared solar facility allocated to a subscriber to offset that subscriber's electricity bill.

"Commission" means the State Corporation Commission.

"Dual-use agricultural facility" means agricultural production and electricity production from solar photovoltaic panels occurring simultaneously on the same property.

"Gross bill" means the amount that a customer would pay to the utility based on the customer's monthly energy consumption before any bill credits are applied.

"Incremental cost" means any cost directly caused by the implementation of the shared solar program that would not have occurred absent the implementation of the shared solar program.

"Low-income customer" means any person or household whose income is no more than 80% of the median income of the locality in which the customer resides. The median income of the locality is determined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

"Low-income service organization" means a nonresidential customer of an investor-owned utility whose primary purpose is to serve low-income individuals and households.

"Low-income shared solar facility" means a shared solar facility at least 30% of the capacity of which is subscribed by low-income customers or low-income service organizations.

"Low-income subscription plan" means a plan submitted to the commission by an applicant providing a commitment for low-income subscription and demonstrating the ability to subscribe low-income customers.

"Minimum bill" means a dollar per month amount determined by the commission that a subscriber is required to pay, at a minimum, on the subscriber's utility bill each month after accounting for any bill credits.

"Net bill" means the resulting amount a customer must pay the utility after deducting the bill credit from the customer's monthly gross bill.

"Non-ministerial permits" means all necessary governmental permits and approvals to construct the project (other than ministerial permits, such as electrical and building permits), notwithstanding any pending legal challenges to one or more permits or approvals.

"Person" means any individual, corporation, partnership, association, company, business, trust, joint venture, or other private legal entity, and the Commonwealth or any municipality.

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

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

"REC" means a Renewable Energy Certificate originating from a renewable energy portfolio standard eligible source as defined in subdivision C of § 56-585.5 of the Code of Virginia.

"Shared solar facility" means a facility that:

1. Generates electricity by means of a solar photovoltaic device with a nameplate capacity rating that does not exceed 5,000 kilowatts of alternating current;

2. Is interconnected with the distribution system of a Phase I Utility or Phase II Utility in the Commonwealth;

3. Has at least three subscribers;

4. Has at least 40% of its capacity subscribed by customers with subscriptions of 25 kilowatts or less; and

5. Is located on a single parcel of land.

"Shared solar program" or "program" means the program created through this chapter to allow for the development of shared solar facilities.

"Subscriber" means a retail customer of a utility that (i) owns one or more subscriptions of a shared solar facility that is interconnected with the utility and (ii) receives service in the service territory of the same utility in whose service territory the shared solar facility is interconnected.

"Subscriber organization" means any for-profit or nonprofit entity that owns or operates one or more shared solar facilities. A subscriber organization shall not be considered a utility solely as a result of its ownership or operation of a shared solar facility. A subscriber organization licensed with the commission, unless otherwise exempt or granted a waiver from the commission, shall be eligible to own or operate shared solar facilities in more than one investor-owned utility service territory. A Phase I Utility or Phase II Utility shall not be a subscriber organization.

"Subscribed" means, in relation to a subscription, that a subscriber has made initial payments or provided a deposit to the owner of a shared solar facility for such subscription.

"Subscription" means a contract or other agreement between a subscriber and the owner of a shared solar facility. A subscription shall be sized such that the estimated bill credits do not exceed the subscriber's average annual bill for the customer account to which the subscription is attributed.

"Substantial completion" means all requirements for interconnection with the electric transmission or distribution system have been met by the shared solar facility and is signified by a letter or comparable written document from the utility signifying that the shared solar facility has been constructed consistent with applicable standards for interconnection. The utility must provide this letter to the shared solar facility as soon as reasonably practical, but no later than 30 days after the commissioning test, as set forth in 20VAC5-314-90, or comparable project milestone.

"Utility" means the respective Phase I Utility or Phase II Utility.