HB894:

Electricity and energy development; generation in the Commonwealth.

Bill Summary:

Generation of electricity and energy development in the Commonwealth. Requires the Department of Energy, in cooperation with the Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium Authority, to convene a stakeholder work group to identify strategies and any needed public policies, including statutory or regulatory changes, for promoting the development of advanced small modular reactors in localities in the Commonwealth. The bill requires the Department of Energy to consider the economic development of rural Virginia while minimizing the impact on prime farmland a key priority in updating its Virginia Energy Plan.

The bill requires the Virginia Cooperative Extension to develop and maintain a map or repository of prime farmland in the Commonwealth, in consultation with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the Department of Forestry, the Department of Conservation and Recreation, and the Department of Energy. An initial report of such map or repository shall be submitted the Governor and the General Assembly by December 1, 2022.

Finally, the bill requires the State Corporation Commission to develop a program to encourage and expedite infrastructure investments by Dominion Energy Virginia or American Electric Power, in industrial sites determined to be relevant and in high demand by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. The bill requires such program to be implemented by December 1, 2022, and the Commission is required to submit a report including recommendations for such program by December 15, 2022, to the Governor and General Assembly.