56-589 - Municipal and state aggregation.
§ 56-589. Municipal and state aggregation.
A. Subject to the provisions of subdivision A 3 of § 56-577, counties,cities, and towns (hereafter municipalities) and other political subdivisionsof the Commonwealth may, at their election and upon authorization by majorityvotes of their governing bodies, aggregate electrical energy and demandrequirements for the purpose of negotiating the purchase of electrical energyrequirements from any licensed supplier within this Commonwealth, as follows:
1. Any municipality or other political subdivision of the Commonwealth mayaggregate the electric energy load of residential, commercial, and industrialretail customers within its boundaries on an opt-in or opt-out basis.
2. Any municipality or other political subdivision of the Commonwealth mayaggregate the electric energy load of its governmental buildings, facilities,and any other governmental operations requiring the consumption of electricenergy. Aggregation pursuant to this subdivision shall not require licensurepursuant to § 56-588.
3. Two or more municipalities or other political subdivisions within theCommonwealth may aggregate the electric energy load of their governmentalbuildings, facilities, and any other governmental operations requiring theconsumption of electric energy. Aggregation pursuant to this subdivisionshall not require licensure pursuant to § 56-588 when such municipalities orother political subdivisions are acting jointly to negotiate or arrange forthemselves agreements for their energy needs directly with licensed suppliersor aggregators.
Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit the Commission's development andimplementation of pilot programs for opt-in, opt-out, or any other type ofmunicipal aggregation, as provided in § 56-577.
B. The Commonwealth, at its election, may aggregate the electric energy loadof its governmental buildings, facilities, and any other governmentoperations requiring the consumption of electric energy for the purpose ofnegotiating the purchase of electricity from any licensed supplier within theCommonwealth. Aggregation pursuant to this subsection shall not requirelicensure pursuant to § 56-588.
C. Nothing in this section shall preclude municipalities from aggregating theelectric energy load of their governmental buildings, facilities and anyother governmental operations requiring the consumption of electric energyfor the purpose of negotiating rates and terms, and conditions of servicefrom the electric utility certificated by the Commission to serve theterritory in which such buildings, facilities and operations are located,provided, however, that no such electric energy load shall be aggregated forthis purpose unless all such buildings, facilities and operations to beaggregated are served by the same electric utility.
(1999, c. 411; 2000, c. 991; 2003, c. 795; 2004, c. 827; 2007, cc. 888, 933.)