Bill > HB472

This bill establishes a two-year pilot program to create up to three "resilience hubs" per year in vulnerable communities, which are defined as areas with a high concentration of low-income individuals, disabled persons, the elderly, or others who would face difficulties evacuating during an emergency. A resilience hub is essentially a combination of solar panels and batteries designed to provide continuous power to a publicly accessible building during electrical outages caused by events like severe weather. The program will be managed by the Department of Energy in collaboration with the Department of Emergency Management and a "Phase II Utility," which is a specific type of electric utility as defined by state law. These utilities will own the battery storage for the resilience hubs and can seek to recover associated costs through the State Corporation Commission, while also being allowed to use the battery storage for other purposes like managing peak electricity demand when not in use for an emergency. The program is limited to planning districts, which are regional planning areas defined by state law, that are within the service territory of an eligible Phase II Utility, with no more than one hub per planning district.

Budget and Finance, Justice, Military Affairs and Security

https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB472