General Assembly

The 2012 Session of the Virginia General Assembly is well underway, and legislators have introduced several energy-related bills, ranging from renewable portfolio standards and tax credits to coal severance taxes and conservation and efficiency measures. Follow the links below to track the status of all energy-related legislation.

HB 69 Renewable energy portfolio standard | Requires each investor-owned electric utility and distribution cooperative to meet a renewable energy portfolio standard of 3% beginning in and increasing to 20% in 2020. The percentage is based on the total electric energy sold in the base year of 2007.

HB 70 Energy conservation & efficiency goal | Establishes a statewide goal of reducing the consumption of electric within the Commonwealth, through energy conservation and efficiency actions taken by government, electric utilities, and retail customers, by 2025 to a level that is 19 percent less than the quantity of electricity that would reasonably be projected to be consumed in the Commonwealth in 2025 in the absence of such actions.

HB 232 Expanding definition of renewable energy to include landfill gas | Expands the definition of renewable energy to include landfill gas. The measure also provides that the RPS Goals under the renewable energy portfolio standard program may be composed of renewable thermal energy equivalents.

HB 446 Coal tax credits | Repeals the Virginia coal employment and production incentive tax credit and the coalfield employment enhancement tax credit.

HB 660 Highway solar power projects | Allows VDOT to lease space within highway rights-of-way for solar photovoltaic power production projects.

HB 710 Coal mining; use of mine voids | Provides that any coal remaining and any void left by the removal of coal remain the property of the owner or lessee of the mineral estate.

HB 712 Coal severance tax | Codifies the manner in which the coal severance tax is calculated and is declarative of existing local practice.

HB 883 Income tax credit for solar energy equipment systems | Provides a 10% personal and corporate income tax credit beginning January 1, 2012, for the purchase and installation of equipment that (i) generates electricity from solar energy or (ii) uses solar energy to heat or cool a structure or provide hot water.

SB 143 Mining permits | Requires an application for a mining permit to identify the owner of the underground space to be used.

SB 144 Virginia Oil and Gas Act amendements | Requires a surveyor or engineer to certify that the acreages shown on a map or plat produced under the Virginia Oil and Gas Act since January 1, 1990, match the acreages listed in the county records.

SB 145 Coalbed methane drilling; pooling orders | Requires a well operator to obtain any required pooling order before applying for a well permit. Where an operator begins ground disturbing activity for a well without a required pooling order, any unleased mineral owners in the unit will be deemed fully paid participants in the unit.

SB 150 Mineral rights; presumption of ownereship | Adds the rights to transport coal, gas, and oil to those rights presumed to be held by the owner of the shell. Current law provides only the right to transport minerals.

SB 153 Record keeping and sharing for gas or oil well operators | Requires gas and oil well operators to maintain certain records and to provide them to participating and nonparticipating operators of gas or oil wells.