                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

DEFINITIONS (§ 56-265.1)

In this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

a. &#8220;Company&#8221; means a corporation, a limited liability company, an
individual, a partnership, an association, a joint-stock company, a business
trust, a cooperative, or an organized group of persons, whether incorporated or
not; or any receiver, trustee or other liquidating agent of any of the foregoing
in his capacity as such; but not a municipal corporation or a county, unless
such municipal corporation or county has obtained a certificate pursuant to
&#xA7; 56-265.4:4.

b. &#8220;Public utility&#8221; means any company that owns or operates
facilities within the Commonwealth of Virginia for the generation, transmission,
or distribution of electric energy for sale, for the production, storage,
transmission, or distribution, otherwise than in enclosed portable containers,
of natural gas, or, if produced, stored, transmitted, or distributed by a
natural gas utility as defined in § 56-265.4:6, supplemental or substitute
forms of gas sources as defined in § 56-248.1, or geothermal resources for sale
for heat, light or power, or for the furnishing of telephone service, sewerage
facilities or water. A &#8220;public utility&#8221; may own a facility for the
storage of electric energy for sale that includes one or more pumped
hydroelectricity generation and storage facilities located in the coalfield
region of Virginia as described in § 15.2-6002. However, the term &#8220;public
utility&#8221; does not include any of the following:

   1. Except as otherwise provided in &#xA7; 56-265.3:1, any company furnishing
   sewerage facilities, geothermal resources or water to less than 50 customers.
   Any company furnishing water or sewer services to 10 or more customers and
   excluded by this subdivision from the definition of &#8220;public
   utility&#8221; for purposes of this chapter nevertheless shall not abandon the
   water or sewer services unless and until approval is granted by the Commission
   or all the customers receiving such services agree to accept ownership of the
   company.

   2. Any company generating and distributing electric energy exclusively for its
   own consumption.

   3. Any company (A) which furnishes electric service together with heating and
   cooling services, generated at a central plant installed on the premises to be
   served, to the tenants of a building or buildings located on a single tract of
   land undivided by any publicly maintained highway, street or road at the time
   of installation of the central plant, and (B) which does not charge separately
   or by meter for electric energy used by any tenant except as part of a rental
   charge. Any company excluded by this subdivision from the definition of
   &#8220;public utility&#8221; for the purposes of this chapter nevertheless
   shall, within 30 days following the issuance of a building permit, notify the
   State Corporation Commission in writing of the ownership, capacity and
   location of such central plant, and it shall be subject, with regard to the
   quality of electric service furnished, to the provisions of Chapters 10
   (&#xA7; 56-232 et seq.) and 17 (&#xA7; 56-509 et seq.) and regulations
   thereunder and be deemed a public utility for such purposes, if such company
   furnishes such service to 100 or more lessees.

   4. Any company, or affiliate thereof, making a first or direct sale, or
   ancillary transmission or delivery service, of natural gas to fewer than 35
   commercial or industrial customers, which are not themselves &#8220;public
   utilities&#8221; as defined in this chapter, or to certain public schools as
   indicated in this subdivision, for use solely by such purchasing customers at
   facilities which are not located in a territory for which a certificate to
   provide gas service has been issued by the Commission under this chapter and
   which, at the time of the Commission&#8217;s receipt of the notice provided
   under &#xA7; 56-265.4:5, are not located within any area, territory, or
   jurisdiction served by a municipal corporation that provided gas distribution
   service as of January 1, 1992, provided that such company shall comply with
   the provisions of &#xA7; 56-265.4:5. Direct sales or ancillary transmission or
   delivery services of natural gas to public schools in the following localities
   may be made without regard to the number of schools involved and shall not
   count against the &#8220;fewer than 35&#8243; requirement in this subdivision:
   the Counties of Dickenson, Wise, Russell, and Buchanan, and the City of
   Norton.

   5. Any company which is not a public service corporation and which provides
   compressed natural gas service at retail for the public.

   6. Any company selling landfill gas from a solid waste management facility
   permitted by the Department of Environmental Quality to a public utility
   certificated by the Commission to provide gas distribution service to the
   public in the area in which the solid waste management facility is located. If
   such company submits to the public utility a written offer for sale of such
   gas and the public utility does not agree within 60 days to purchase such gas
   on mutually satisfactory terms, then the company may sell such gas to (i) any
   facility owned and operated by the Commonwealth which is located within three
   miles of the solid waste management facility or (ii) any purchaser after such
   landfill gas has been liquefied. The provisions of this subdivision shall not
   apply to the City of Lynchburg or Fairfax County.

   7. Any authority created pursuant to the Virginia Water and Waste Authorities
   Act (&#xA7; 15.2-5100 et seq.) making a sale or ancillary transmission or
   delivery service of landfill gas to a commercial or industrial customer from a
   solid waste management facility permitted by the Department of Environmental
   Quality and operated by that same authority, if such an authority limits
   off-premises sale, transmission or delivery service of landfill gas to no more
   than one purchaser. The authority may contract with other persons for the
   construction and operation of facilities necessary or convenient to the sale,
   transmission or delivery of landfill gas, and no such person shall be deemed a
   public utility solely by reason of its construction or operation of such
   facilities. If the purchaser of the landfill gas is located within the
   certificated service territory of a natural gas public utility, the public
   utility may file for Commission approval a proposed tariff to reflect any
   anticipated or known changes in service to the purchaser as a result of the
   use of landfill gas. No such tariff shall impose on the purchaser of the
   landfill gas terms less favorable than similarly situated customers with
   alternative fuel capabilities; provided, however, that such tariff may impose
   such requirements as are reasonably calculated to recover the cost of such
   service and to protect and ensure the safety and integrity of the public
   utility&#8217;s facilities.

   8. A company selling or delivering only landfill gas, electricity generated
   from only landfill gas, or both, that is derived from a solid waste management
   facility permitted by the Department of Environmental Quality and sold or
   delivered from any such facility to not more than three commercial or
   industrial purchasers or to a natural gas or electric public utility,
   municipal corporation or county as authorized by this section. If a purchaser
   of the landfill gas is located within the certificated service territory of a
   natural gas public utility or within an area in which a municipal corporation
   provides gas distribution service and the landfill gas is to be used in
   facilities constructed after January 1, 2000, such company shall submit to
   such public utility or municipal corporation a written offer for sale of that
   gas prior to offering the gas for sale or delivery to a commercial or
   industrial purchaser. If the public utility or municipal corporation does not
   agree within 60 days following the date of the offer to purchase such landfill
   gas on mutually satisfactory terms, then the company shall be authorized to
   sell such landfill gas, electricity, or both, to the commercial or industrial
   purchaser, utility, municipal corporation, or county. Such public utility may
   file for Commission approval a proposed tariff to reflect any anticipated or
   known changes in service to the purchaser as a result of the purchaser&#8217;s
   use of the landfill gas. No such tariff shall impose on such purchaser of the
   landfill gas terms less favorable than those imposed on similarly situated
   customers with alternative fuel capabilities; provided, however, that such
   tariff may impose such requirements as are reasonably calculated to recover
   any cost of such service and to protect and ensure the safety and integrity of
   the public utility&#8217;s facilities.

   9. A company that is not organized as a public service company pursuant to
   subsection D of &#xA7; 13.1-620 and that sells and delivers propane air only
   to one or more public utilities. Any company excluded by this subdivision from
   the definition of &#8220;public utility&#8221; for the purposes of this
   chapter nevertheless shall be subject to the Commission&#8217;s jurisdiction
   relating to gas pipeline safety and enforcement.

   10. A farm or aggregation of farms that owns and operates facilities within
   the Commonwealth for the generation of electric energy from waste-to-energy
   technology. As used in this subdivision, (i) &#8220;farm&#8221; means any
   person that obtains at least 51 percent of its annual gross income from
   agricultural operations and produces the agricultural waste used as feedstock
   for the waste-to-energy technology, (ii) &#8220;agricultural waste&#8221;
   means biomass waste materials capable of decomposition that are produced from
   the raising of plants and animals during agricultural operations, including
   animal manures, bedding, plant stalks, hulls, and vegetable matter, and (iii)
   &#8220;waste-to-energy technology&#8221; means any technology, including a
   methane digester, that converts agricultural waste into gas, steam, or heat
   that is used to generate electricity on-site.

   11. A company, other than an entity organized as a public service company,
   that provides non-utility gas service as provided in &#xA7; 56-265.4:6.

   12. A company, other than an entity organized as a public service company,
   that provides storage of electric energy that is not for sale to the public.

c. &#8220;Commission&#8221; means the State Corporation Commission.

d. &#8220;Geothermal resources&#8221; means those resources as defined in &#xA7;
45.2-2000.

HISTORY: 1950, p. 599; 1954, c. 354; 1970, c. 265; 1981, c. 506; 1988, c. 440;
1990, c. 488; 1991, c. 263; 1992, c. 476; 1994, cc. 652, 852; 1995, c. 643;
1997, cc. 105, 148; 1999, c. 768; 2000, cc. 528, 543; 2002, cc. 479, 489; 2004,
cc. 748, 1028; 2005, c. 22; 2006, c. 411; 2007, c. 813; 2009, cc. 746, 794;
2018, c. 296; 2020, c. 1190; 2022, cc. 728, 759.