                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

DISCONTINUING NATURAL GAS SERVICE; MUNICIPAL CORPORATION (§ 56-265.4:7)

A. No municipal corporation that provides natural gas service shall discontinue
such service to any residential, commercial, or industrial customer prior to
satisfying the following requirements:

   1. Provide at least three years&#8217; notice, both by bill insert and by
   publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the area in which the
   municipal corporation provides service, of the municipal corporation&#8217;s
   intention to discontinue service;

   2. For two years following the publication of notice required by subdivision
   1, attempt to negotiate the sale of its system facilities and associated
   rights such that service to its customers remains uninterrupted; and

   3. If such sale as described in subdivision 2 is not accomplished within two
   years following the publication of notice required by subdivision 1, the
   municipal corporation may offer its system facilities and associated rights by
   auction to the highest bidder.

B. A municipal corporation that is seeking to discontinue natural gas service
shall advise its customers by bill insert of its progress in effecting a sale of
its system facilities and associated rights at least once annually following the
publication of the notice required by subdivision A 1. Copies of the initial
publication of such notice and of all subsequent bill inserts relating to
discontinuing service and sale of system facilities by a municipal corporation
shall be provided to the Commission at the time they are made.

C. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the rights of a municipal
corporation that provides natural gas service from discontinuing service to a
particular customer as the result of nonpayment of fees for services provided or
any cause otherwise permitted by law or regulation.

HISTORY: 2022, Sp. Sess. I, c. 17.