CHAPTER 244
An Act to amend and reenact §§ 3 and 6 of the first enactment of Chapter 799 of the Acts of Assembly of 2008, relating to a pilot program to place certain electric transmission lines underground.
Approved March 18, 2011
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 3 and 6 of the first enactment of Chapter 799 of the Acts of Assembly of 2008 are amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 3. In reviewing applications submitted by public utilities
for certificates of public convenience and necessity for the construction of
electrical transmission lines of 230 kilovolts or less filed between the
effective date of this act April 2, 2008, and July 1, 2012
2014, the State Corporation Commission shall approve three applications for
qualifying projects to be constructed in whole or in part underground, as a
part of the pilot program. The three qualifying projects shall be in addition
to the qualifying project described in subsection A of § 2. If a public utility
submits an application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity
for an electrical transmission line that completes the network for a qualifying
project as set forth in subsection B of § 2, the approval of such application
shall constitute one of the three additional projects to be approved pursuant
to this section.
§ 6. The State Corporation Commission shall report annually to
the Commission on Electric Utility Restructuring, the Joint Commission on
Technology and Science, and the Governor on the progress of the pilot program
by no later than December 1 of each year that this act is in effect. The State
Corporation Commission shall submit a final report to the Commission on
Electric Utility Restructuring, the Joint Commission on Technology and Science,
and the Governor no later than December 1, 2012 2014, analyzing
the entire program and making recommendations about the continued placement of
transmission lines underground in the Commonwealth.