HB 74

This bill modifies Virginia law regarding how electric utilities can recover costs for developing small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) from their customers. The key change requires utilities to refund all SMR project development costs recovered from customers if they fail to either place the reactor into commercial operation or sell the permitted site by a Commission-imposed deadline, replacing the current provision that only requires returning proceeds from a site sale. The amendment strengthens consumer protection by ensuring ratepayers are made whole if SMR projects fail to materialize, while maintaining existing provisions that limit rate increases to $1.40 per month for typical residential customers and require utilities to seek federal funding opportunities before recovering costs through customer rates.