HB 2528 Virginia House of Delegates · 2025 Regular Session

Electric utilities; customer energy choice, customer return to service, subscription cap and queue.

Summary
Electric utilities; customer energy choice; customer return to service; subscription cap and queue. Removes certain restrictions on the ability of individual retail customers of electric energy within the Commonwealth, regardless of customer class, to purchase electric energy matched 100 percent by renewable energy certificates from any supplier of electric energy licensed to sell retail electric energy within the Commonwealth. The bill requires a licensed supplier to match a percentage of each retail electric customer's annual load with renewable energy certificates from within the PJM transmission region. The bill decreases from five years to six months the required written notice period for certain electric energy customers to return to service by an incumbent electric utility after purchasing electric energy from other suppliers. The bill also directs the Commission, by October 1, 2026, to establish a subscription cap allowance for certain utility customers seeking to participate in purchasing electric energy from a licensed supplier. The Commission is required to review the subscription cap allowance every two years starting on January 1, 2028, and electric utilities are required to file their subscription queues with the Commission by January 15, 2027, and annually thereafter. The bill contains an exception to the subscription cap allowance for customers seeking to expand usage at an existing or new facility. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026, unless the rules and regulations of the Commission promulgated pursuant to the bill specify a commencement date.
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Jan 8, 2025 Last action Jan 30, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Labor and Commerce Substitute · 4 edits
MODERATE
The bill was amended from its original introduction to a substitute version by the House Committee on Labor and Commerce. The primary substantive changes involve clarifying eligibility thresholds for retail energy customers, adjusting subscription cap timelines and procedures, and reorganizing the structure of the section for better readability. These changes aim to improve clarity on which customers qualify for retail energy options and how the subscription cap system operates.
Scope change
The bill's scope remains focused on retail energy competition rules, but eligibility criteria were refined to distinguish between cooperative and non-cooperative electric utilities, and the subscription cap timeline was adjusted from 2026 to 2025 for initial cap publication.
ELIGIBILITY

Added distinction between cooperative and non-cooperative electric utilities for customer demand thresholds, allowing cooperative customers to qualify with higher demand (5 MW) compared to non-cooperative customers (1 MW).

TIMELINE

Changed the initial subscription cap publication deadline from October 1, 2026 to October 1, 2025, accelerating the implementation timeline by one year.

REQUIREMENT

Reorganized the subscription queue and cap review provisions to clarify the process for managing customer demand and expanding capacity limits based on market conditions.

TECHNICAL

Reformatted the bill text with improved spacing, line numbering, and section organization for legislative clarity and readability.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
6
Key actions
1
Committee
3
Jan 28, 2025
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting (6-Y 0-N)
lower
Jan 21, 2025
Committee
Assigned L & C sub: Subcommittee #3
lower
Jan 8, 2025
Committee
Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Alfonso Lopez
Alfonso Lopez
DDemocratic
VA
3