On January 24, the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee reported a substitute for SB 1190 (Deeds) by a vote of 9 to 6 and then referred it to the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee for further consideration.
VACo opposes the amended SB 1190. VACo Members – Contact members of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee to oppose.
While the amended bill scales back the preemption of local decisions on siting of solar facilities, VACo’s opposition and concerns are the following:
- Mandates that every locality, no later than July 1, 2029, shall incorporate into its comprehensive plan targets for energy production and energy efficiency based on regional energy plans that planning district commissions are now required to adopt.
- The regional energy plans must be adopted by January 1, 2027 and will include targets for the development of energy efficiency, distributed generation solar energy, shared solar, utility-scale solar, onshore and offshore wind, and battery energy storage.
- These targets will be developed by the Virginia Department of Energy by July 1, 2026. The targets, in total, must meet the requirements of the Virginia Clean Economy Act of 2020 to achieve zero greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector by the middle of this century.
- Prohibits a locality from adopting a comprehensive plan or ordinance that unreasonably restricts or prohibits the development of any renewable energy facility.
- Prohibits a locality from denying any permit or special exception application for a renewable energy facility without a reasonable basis.
Counties should not be required to amend their comprehensive plans to include targets for energy production, including utility-scale solar, which are in effect largescale power plants, many of which may have oversized footprints. For example, a solar facility with a generating capacity of 100 megawatts (MW) can occupy 1,000 acres or more of land.
The state should not require comprehensive plans, ordinances, and local decision made on land use to be judged on what is any “unreasonable” denial or prohibition for renewable energy facilities.
VACo Contact: Joe Lerch, AICP