Virginia General Assembly Passes Affordable Energy Act

The Virginia General Assembly advanced two bills Tuesday lawmakers say could help lower electric costs for commonwealth residents and restore the ability of the state’s utility regulation agency to adjust rates when utilities bring in revenues above their authorized profit.

Two identical measures dubbed the “Affordable Energy Act” – Senate Bill 1321 and House Bill 1604 – gives the State Corporation Commission the ability to order reductions of base rates when it determines utilities are earning above their authorized rate of return. The bill also specifies the SCC can increase base rates if they produce revenues below the utility’s authorized rate of return, ensuring the resulting base rates are “just and responsible,” and give the utility the ability to recover costs and earn a “fair rate of return.”

Both SB 1321 and HB 1604 passed in unanimous floor votes Tuesday, which advances the bills to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s desk for consideration.

Lawmakers and advocates touted the bills as protective measures to ensure ratepayers are not overcharged on their electricity bills. The measures followed studies by the SCC that determined Dominion Energy, the state’s largest electric utility, overcharged customers by $1.9 billion since 2009.

“We have seen that people are more and more worried about being able to pay their [electric] bill,” Sen. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, said after Tuesday’s vote. “This bill will ensure that they [utilities] will not overcharge customers when utilities are earning more than our regulators say they should.”… (Excerpt from The Virginia Star)