                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

VIRGINIA POWER INNOVATION FUND AND PROGRAM (§ 45.2-1734)

A. There is hereby created in the state treasury a special nonreverting fund to
be known as the Virginia Power Innovation Fund, referred to in this section as
&#8220;the Fund,&#8221; that shall be administered by the Department. The Fund
shall be established on the books of the Comptroller. All amounts appropriated
and such other funds as may be made available to the fund from any other source,
public or private, shall be paid into the state treasury and credited to the
Fund. Interest earned on moneys in the Fund shall remain in the Fund and be
credited to it. Any moneys remaining in the Fund, including interest thereon, at
the end of each fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund but shall
remain in the Fund. Moneys in the Fund shall be used solely for the purposes of
research and development of innovative energy technologies, including nuclear,
hydrogen, carbon capture and utilization, and energy storage. Expenditures and
disbursements from the Fund shall be made by the State Treasurer on warrants
issued by the Comptroller upon written request signed by the Director.

B. The Virginia Power Innovation Program (the Program) is hereby established for
the purpose of (i) establishing a Virginia nuclear innovation hub from such
funds as may be available from the Fund and (ii) awarding grants on a
competitive basis from such funds as may be available from the Fund to support
energy innovation. The Program shall be administered by the Department. In
administering the Program, the Department shall, in collaboration with the
Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium, establish and publish guidelines and
criteria for disbursement of funds pursuant to clause (i), including providing
grants to support higher education research on advanced nuclear technologies and
advanced reactor technologies, to fund nuclear energy workforce development
programming, and to assist with site selection for future small modular reactor
projects in Virginia. In administering the Program, the Department shall, in
collaboration with the Secretary of Commerce and Trade, establish and publish
guidelines and criteria for disbursement of funds pursuant to clause (ii). The
Department shall oversee each grant awarded through the Program and ensure
thorough reporting on each such grant.

HISTORY: 2023, cc. 504, 505.