This story was reported and written by VPM News.
The Commission on Electric Utility Regulation met at the Virginia State Capitol in late November to discuss solar siting.
That topic will likely be the subject of legislation presented during the upcoming General Assembly session — though it became clear during the meeting that many disagreements remain among stakeholders.
Virginia’s position in energy planning could be described as being between a rock and a hard place. The commonwealth has competing goals and needs — on the one hand, a Democratic trifecta established the Virginia Clean Economy Act in 2020, which requires the state’s energy producers to eliminate carbon emissions from electricity generation to zero by 2050.
That’s based on the fact that the power sector is one of Virginia’s biggest producers of greenhouse gases, which are the leading cause of global climate change.
On the other hand, the state’s energy demand outlook has changed considerably since 2020. The rapid build-out and approval of data centers in Virginia is expected to drive a doubling in demand over the next 15 years. That means the state has to build more energy infrastructure, and fast — and the always-on nature of those facilities means intermittent sources like solar won’t always be able to power them.
CEUR executive director Carrie Hearne presented a proposal designed to help localities and regional planning districts evaluate solar energy and energy storage facilities — and to eliminate local ordinances that make it impossible to build solar.
The measure would set up an advisory board at the State Corporation Commission to lead the work — it would issue opinions on “critical interconnection projects” greater than 20 megawatts and within 7 miles of an existing grid interconnection.
It includes a series of steps:
- By Sept. 1, 2025, a workgroup comprising state agencies, localities and other stakeholders would develop model ordinances for solar and storage siting. Localities would adopt their own requirements for setbacks, erosion control, fencing and other factors within parameters set by this workgroup.
- By Dec. 1, 2025, regional reports would be released with information on new and planned solar and storage projects and how they will contribute to VCEA goals.
- By July 1, 2026, planning district commissions would create regional energy plans; localities would be required to adopt siting ordinances and zoning with the board’s baseline requirements.
- By July 1, 2027, the state would determine if statewide energy goals are being met.
- By Nov. 1, 2027, the SCC would decide if the advisory board’s opinions should become binding, overriding local approval authority for “critical interconnection projects.”
Many members of CEUR and public commenters took issue with the possibility of the advisory board overriding local authority.
State Sen. Mark Obenshain (R–Harrisonburg) was among them, pointing to the state’s Agricultural Cost Share program as an alternative model. That program aims to reduce pollution entering waterways.
“We didn't threaten to punish them or to take away their rights. What we did was we offered them incentives, and that's worked extremely well,” Obenshain said. “It has fostered a sense of cooperation between the agriculture community, the industrial community, suburban communities, and the environmental goals that we have in Virginia.” Obenshain said.
Del. Candi Mundon King (D–Prince William) also took issue with the possibility of the state mandating projects.
“I don't know if [this] quite gets them to the incentive that they need to prioritize these projects,” Mundon King said.
Del. Rip Sullivan (D–Fairfax) was more positive on the proposed model, arguing the state should be able to enforce its energy goals in localities.
“I think this is a well thought out ramp to try to deal with some of the issues that are causing problems in localities, see if we can get that part to work better with the input of an advisory board,” Sullivan said. “And then we get to revisit it in three or four years to see whether we need to do something more drastic.”
Joe Lerch, director of local government policy for the Virginia Association of Counties, told VPM News that VACO would not support a bill that limits local authority on land use. He said the idea of providing technical support and organizing stakeholder discussions was good, pointing to an instance where an approved solar project was scrapped due to inadequate capacity at the closest grid interconnection.
“That kinda points to the fact that we can all do a better job if we bring all the stakeholders together and understand where the capacity is in the system for this type of work,” Lerch said.
Commission staff will continue conversations with stakeholders on the issue and present another version of the proposal in January, in the hopes of submitting a bill during the General Assembly session.
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