HB 2792 (Tran), a local government solar energy bill, unanimously reported out of the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee on February 11 and will now head to the Senate floor.
The bill, which VACo drafted with Delegate Tran and other local government representatives, establishes a six-year pilot program that allows a locality to use excess energy generated by a renewable energy project to be credited towards electric bills for other municipal accounts. Under the program, a county could install solar panels or wind turbines “. . . located on airports, landfills, parking lots, parks, post-mine land, or a reservoir that is owned, operated, or leased by the municipality” and use excess energy generated at the facility to be credited to other metered accounts. The result will be a reduction in the amount of electricity for which the county is billed by the utility.
HB 2792 previously passed the House 78-1 and will be heard and voted on by the Senate by the end of this week.
The Senate counterpart to this legislation, SB 1779 (Ebbin), previously passed the Senate unanimously (40-0) and is scheduled to be heard by the House Commerce and Labor Committee on the afternoon of February 12.
VACo supports HB 2792 and SB 1779 and looks forward to their eventual passage.
VACo Contact: Chris McDonald, Esq.