Summary: Workers' compensation; notice of right to disputeclaim. Requires that when an employee's workers' compensationclaim is denied, an employer or insurer shall include in its letterdenying benefits a notice that the employee has a right to disputethe claim denial through the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission.

Summary: Virginia Consumer Protection Act; prohibited practices; mandatory fees disclosure. Prohibits a supplier in connection with a consumer transaction from advertising, displaying, or offering any pricing information for goods or services without prominently displaying the total price, which shall include all mandatory fees or charges other than taxes imposed. The bill defines "mandatory fees or charges" as any fee or surcharge that must be paid in order to purchase the advertised good or service, that is not reasonably avoidable, and that a reasonable consumer would expect to be included. The bill clarifies that such term does not include shipping fees or taxes or fees imposed by a government or government-approved entity.

Summary: Overtime for certain employees; live-in domesticworkers. Adds individuals who are employed in domestic servicein a household and reside in such household to provisions relatedto overtime pay.

Summary: RPS eligible sources; falling water generation facilities. Provides that, notwithstanding contrary provisions of law, any falling water generation facility, as defined in the bill, located in the Commonwealth and commencing commercial operations prior to July 1, 2024, shall be considered a renewable energy portfolio standard eligible source.

Summary: Renewable energy portfolio standard; geothermal heating and cooling systems; report. Provides that geothermal heating and cooling systems, as defined in the bill, located in the Commonwealth are eligible for compliance with renewable energy portfolio standard requirements. The bill also requires the State Corporation Commission (the Commission) to convene a stakeholder work group to examine the feasibility of establishing renewable energy portfolio standard program (RPS program) requirements that require each Phase I and Phase II Utility to procure and retire renewable energy certificates (RECs) from geothermal heating and cooling systems placed in service after August 16, 2022, as a percentage of the number of RECs used for RPS program compliance. The work group shall include representatives from the geothermal industry, Phase I and Phase II Utilities, the Department of Energy, environmental advocacy organizations, environmental justice organizations, consumer advocates, and other interested stakeholders. The Commission is required to report the findings and recommendations of the work group to the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor, the House Committee on Labor and Commerce, and the Commission on Electric Utility Regulation no later than December 1, 2024. Portions of the bill have a delayed effective date of January 1, 2025.

Summary: State Corporation Commission; powers and duties. Provides that in proceedings before the State Corporation Commission relating to the regulation and oversight of utilities, the Commission shall consider public health and safety, the economy of the Commonwealth, the promotion of workforce development for residents of the Commonwealth, and the maintenance of fair labor standards for workers employed by public service companies and their contractors, if applicable to the proceeding.

Summary: Electric utilities; energy efficiency programs. Provides that, for the purposes of the Virginia Electric Utility Regulation Act, energy efficiency programs include electrification, including measures that electrify space heating, water heating, cooling, drying, cooking, industrial processes, and other building and industrial end uses that would otherwise be served by onsite, nonelectric fuels, provided that the electrification measures reduce site energy consumption and that, to the maximum extent practical, seek to combine with federally authorized customer rebates for heat pump technology. The bill provides that electricity consumption increases that result from State Corporation Commission-approved electrification measures shall not be considered as a reduction in energy savings under the energy savings requirements and that utilities may apply verified total site energy reductions that are attributable to Commission-approved electrification measures to the energy savings requirements. The bill specifies that energy efficiency programs and energy efficiency measures do not include electrification of any process or activity primarily fueled by natural gas.

Summary: Consumer Data Protection Act; protections for children. Prohibits, subject to a parental consent requirement, a data controller from processing personal data of a known child (i) for the purposes of targeted advertising, the sale of such personal data, or profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects concerning a consumer; (ii) unless such processing is reasonably necessary to provide the online service, product, or feature; (iii) for any processing purpose other than the processing purpose that the controller disclosed at the time such controller collected such personal data or that is reasonably necessary for and compatible with such disclosed purpose; or (iv) for longer than is reasonably necessary to provide the online service, product, or feature. The bill prohibits, subject to a parental consent requirement, a data controller from collecting precise geolocation data from a known child unless (a) such precise geolocation data is reasonably necessary for the controller to provide an online service, product, or feature and, if such data is necessary to provide such online service, product, or feature, such controller shall only collect such data for the time necessary to provide such online service, product, or feature and (b) the controller provides to the known child a signal indicating that such controller is collecting such precise geolocation data, which signal shall be available to such known child for the entire duration of such collection. The bill prohibits a data controller from engaging in the activities described in the bill unless the controller obtains consent from the child's parent or legal guardian in accordance with the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. This bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2025, and is identical to HB 707.

Summary: Electric utilities; recovery of development costs associated with small modular reactor. Permits Dominion Energy Virginia to petition the State Corporation Commission at any time for the approval of a rate adjustment clause for the recovery of small modular reactor project development costs for up to one small modular reactor facility. The bill also permits the utility to petition the Commission for project development cost recovery along separate development phases. The bill has an expiration date of December 31, 2029.

Summary: Energy efficiency programs; incremental annual savings. Provides that for the 2029 program year and all subsequent years, "in the public interest" for the purpose of assessing energy efficiency programs means that the State Corporation Commission determines that the program is cost-effective. The bill directs the Commission to promulgate regulations no later than September 30, 2025, establishing a single, consistent cost-effectiveness test for use in evaluating proposed energy efficiency programs. The bill requires Dominion Energy Virginia and Appalachian Power Company to track, quantify, and report to the Commission the incremental annual savings, as defined in the bill, achieved by such utility's energy efficiency programs. This bill is identical to HB 746.