Of the 182 bills that Virginia Conservation Network took a position on this session, 39 bills addressed energy and climate policy for the Commonwealth. Our Partners advocated for policies that 

• Remove barriers for customer-owned solar
• Increase utilities’ energy efficiency targets
• Defend our key climate policies
• Protect ratepayers from expensive, dirty energy production

See the wins and missed opportunities for climate & energy policy below. You can see the outcomes of all of VCN’s policy positions on our Bill Tracker.

Aerial view os solar panels on Lee County Public Schools. Photo by Andre Eanes

As Virginia builds out clean energy projects to reach a 100% carbon-free grid, we must ensure we’re prioritizing building solar on-site and on pre-existing structures or already degraded lands. In this session, our Partners focused their advocacy on removing barriers for distributed solar, meaning solar projects that are built on already built infrastructure or at site-of-use. Shared solar projects are small-scale (5 MW or less) facilities that electricity users can pay into to take advantage of clean power. They are affordable, clean energy options for customers who are unable to secure rooftop solar. Building out solar on customers’ roofs and on otherwise unusable space decreases the amount of land needed for larger projects and creates a more resilient, decentralized grid. 

Legislators passed a series of bills that remove barriers to customer-owned clean energy and limits to community solar programs, including:

• Expanding Virginia’s shared community solar program for Dominion and Appalachian Powers’ ratepayers [HB106, HB108, SB253, SB255]
• Allowing Virginia to fund incentives for solar projects built on former coal mines and unusable “brownfields” [HB199/SB25]
• Requiring disclosure statements for residential solar installations so that all Virginians receive the same information regarding their systems before installation. [HB576/SB313]
• Removes barriers for homeowners to install solar systems and battery storage by allowing customers to lease battery storage along with their solar systems, exempting customers from unnecessary standby charges, and allowing participation in retail programs that maximize benefits to the grid and homeowners [HB1062/SB271]

Not all of Virginia Conservation Network’s supported bills passed this session. Other proposed bills from this session would have started a parking lot solar pilot program and ensured new or renovated public buildings are built with energy-efficient, solar-ready roofs. We’ll continue working on these potential policy solutions and more in the next year that remove barriers to distributed solar. 

Learn more about the importance of maximizing Virginia’s distributed solar policies and the details of passed and defeated bills from the 2024 General Assembly session on our Bill of the Day post.

The cleanest, cheapest energy is the energy never generated. Our Partners passed the Virginia Clean Economy Act in 2020 which established energy savings targets through energy efficiency programs for utilities. Legislators built on this success by passing a series of bills that strengthen energy-efficient targets and programs. Bills that will reduce energy use – and energy bills – with energy efficiency programs while still maintaining function, safety, and comfort include:

• The SAVE Act gives the SCC further discretion and tools to strengthen utilities’ energy efficiency targets [HB746/SB565]
• Prohibiting the governor and Board of Housing and Community Development from weakening statewide building codes, including energy efficiency requirements, before Virginia’s next code development process [HB950]
• Adding energy-efficient geothermal heating and cooling systems as a renewable energy resource [SB508]
• Allowing utilities to install cheaper, cleaner electric heat pumps as part of their energy efficiency programs [SB737]

Virginia is committed by law to powering the Commonwealth with 100% carbon-free electricity by 2050 through the passage of the 2020 Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA). Energy efficiency, distributed solar, and vehicle electrification all play a critical role in supporting our clean energy goals. We not only passed bills that strengthen distributed solar and energy efficiency projects but also passed bills that allow Virginia to take advantage of more clean energy investments. Passed legislation that supports our climate priorities includes:

• Requiring utilities to assess and consider Grid-Enhancing Technologies (GETs) in their Integrated Resource Plan in order to maximize the reliability of our electric grid as the Commonwealth brings more clean energy sources online [HB862]
•  Initiates an SCC study to look at how utilities could invest in solar, storage, and energy efficiency for certain customers and be paid back for their investments in the savings generated by the technologies [SB276]
• Establishing the Virginia Clean Energy Innovation Authority to finance clean energy and greenhouse gas emission reduction projects [SB729]

We also successfully defeated several bills that attempted to repeal and undermine our cornerstone climate policy. Our Partners successfully worked with legislators to defeat bills that would repeal the Virginia Clean Economy Act, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, and incorrectly would have defined nuclear and hydrogen energy as renewable energy.

However, Virginia’s General Assembly but missed an opportunity to build upon the Commonwealth’s landmark clean energy policy. The Affordable, Reliable, Competitive (ARC) Act was defeated early this session. This left opportunities on the table to inject competition into Virginia’s energy industry and boost energy affordability and reliability for customers.

“South Carolina spent $9 billion to dig a hole in the ground and then fill it back in.” Photo: Chuck Burton/AP

One of the biggest defeats this session will affect ratepayers across the state. Legislators passed bills that will raise electricity bills for expensive, unproven energy projects that may never actually produce power. 

These bills enable Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power Company to charge ratepayers to build Small Modular Nuclear Reactors (SMRs). SMRs are very expensive to build and are an unproven technology – all other attempts to build SMRs in the US have failed. As we’ve seen from other states, the end result of trying to build SMRs is higher electric bills, billions in wasted taxpayer money, and no energy to power our homes and businesses. Virginia Conservation Network opposed forcing families to pay for poor investments by our electricity providers. We’ll continue to advocate for ratepayer protections into the next General Assembly session, despite this defeat.    

You can learn more about small modular technology, the previous failed attempts to build them out, and details of the bill on our  Bill of the Day post. 

Passed policy now heads to the Governor’s desk for him to sign, amend, or veto bills by April 8th. Legislators will make a final vote on amended bills during Veto Session on April 17th to determine which bills will officially become law starting on July 1st, 2024. 

Be the first to know about new environmental legislation: register for our virtual General Assembly Recap on Tuesday, April 23rd, from 12-1:30 PM. You’ll hear the inside scoop from environmental policy experts about the conservation community’s biggest victories, the missed opportunities, and any surprise outcomes from the 2024 General Assembly session.

See the outcomes of other environmental policies from the 2024 General Assembly session below: