58.1-2900 - Imposition of tax.
§ 58.1-2900. Imposition of tax.
A. Effective January 1, 2001, there is hereby imposed, in addition to thelocal consumer utility tax of Article 4 (§ 58.1-3812 et seq.) of Chapter 38and subject to the adjustments authorized by subdivision A 5 and by §58.1-2902, a tax on the consumers of electricity in the Commonwealth based onkilowatt hours delivered by the incumbent distribution utility and used permonth as follows:
1. Each consumer of electricity in the Commonwealth shall pay electricutility consumption tax on all electricity consumed per month not in excessof 2,500 kWh at the rate of $0.00155 per kWh, as follows:
State Special Local
consumption regulatory consumption
tax rate tax rate tax rate
$0.00102/kWh $0.00015/kWh $0.00038/kWh
2. Each consumer of electricity in the Commonwealth shall pay electricutility consumption tax on all electricity consumed per month in excess of2,500 kWh but not in excess of 50,000 kWh at the rate of $0.00099 per kWh, asfollows:
State Special Local
consumption regulatory consumption
tax rate tax rate tax rate
$0.00065/kWh $0.00010/kWh $0.00024/kWh
3. Each consumer of electricity in the Commonwealth shall pay electricutility consumption tax on all electricity consumed per month in excess of50,000 kWh at the rate of $0.00075 per kWh, as follows:
State Special Local
consumption regulatory consumption
tax rate tax rate tax rate
$0.00050/kWh $0.00007/kWh $0.00018/kWh
4. The tax rates set forth in subdivisions 1, 2, and 3 are in lieu of andreplace the state gross receipts tax (§ 58.1-2626), the special regulatoryrevenue tax (§ 58.1-2660), and the local license tax (§ 58.1-3731) levied oncorporations furnishing heat, light or power by means of electricity.
5. The tax on consumers under this section shall not be imposed on consumersserved by an electric utility owned or operated by a municipality if suchmunicipal electric utility elects to have an amount equivalent to the taxadded on the bill such utility (or an association or agency of which it is amember) pays for bundled or unbundled transmission service as a separateitem. Such amount, equivalent to the tax, shall be calculated under the taxrate schedule as if the municipal electric utility were selling andcollecting the tax from its consumers, adjusted to exclude the amount whichrepresents the local consumption tax if the locality in which a consumer islocated does not impose a license fee rate pursuant to § 58.1-3731, and shallbe remitted to the Commission pursuant to § 58.1-2901. Municipal electricutilities may bundle the tax in the rates charged to their retail customers.Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary, the electionpermitted under this subdivision shall not be exercised by any municipalelectric utility if the entity to whom the municipal electric utility (or anassociation or agency of which it is a member) pays for transmission serviceis not subject to the taxing jurisdiction of the Commonwealth, unless suchentity agrees to remit to the Commonwealth all amounts equivalent to the taxpursuant to § 58.1-2901.
6. The tax on consumers set forth in subdivisions 1, 2, and 3 shall only beimposed in accordance with this subdivision on consumers of electricitypurchased from a utility consumer services cooperative to the extent thatsuch cooperative purchases, for the purpose of resale within theCommonwealth, electricity from a federal entity that made payments inaccordance with federal law (i) in lieu of taxes during such taxable periodto the Commonwealth and (ii) on the basis of such federal entity's grossproceeds resulting from the sale of such electricity. Such tax shall insteadbe calculated by deducting from each of the respective tax amounts calculatedin accordance with subdivisions 1, 2, and 3 an amount equal to the calculatedtax amount multiplied by the ratio of the total cost of power supplied by thefederal entity, including facilities rental, during the taxable period to theutility consumer services cooperative's total operating revenue within theCommonwealth during the taxable period. The State Corporation Commission mayaudit the records and books of any utility consumer services cooperative thatdetermines the tax on consumers in accordance with this subdivision to verifythat the tax imposed has been correctly determined and properly remitted.
B. The tax authorized by this chapter shall not apply to municipalities' ownuse or to use by divisions or agencies of federal, state and localgovernments.
C. For purposes of this section, "kilowatt hours delivered" shall mean inthe case of eligible customer-generators, as defined in § 56-594, thosekilowatt hours supplied from the electric grid to such customer-generators,minus the kilowatt hours generated and fed back to the electric grid by suchcustomer-generators.
(1999, c. 971; 2000, cc. 427, 614.)