Renewables in Virginia: The General Assembly’s Next Clean Energy Steps
This is the third and final installment of a three-part series looking into the state of renewable energy in Virginia. Two weeks ago, Powered By Facts took a look at recent laws the General Assembly has passed that prepare the state for a transition to a clean energy grid. Last week, we discussed the various ways renewable energy generators can be sited without having negative land use impacts. This week’s post explores renewable energy policy Virginia’s General Assembly should consider in future sessions. Thanks for staying informed on renewable energy development in Virginia!
Virginia’s General Assembly has made a considerable amount of progress in advancing the state’s renewable energy goals in recent years. In 2020, the legislative body passed the Clean Economy Act, which positioned Virginia as the first state in the South to establish the goal of a carbon-free electric grid by 2050. The law sets ambitious goals for the development of renewable energy in Virginia. Also in 2020, the General Assembly approved Virginia’s admission to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which puts a price on each ton of carbon emitted from power generators. Energy customers in Virginia can now also enjoy access to community solar; this allows customers to purchase electricity through a subscription to a shared, local solar panel.
These are just a few of the steps the General Assembly has taken to promote the use of renewables in Virginia over the last few years. These steps promote a cleaner, healthier environment, reduce Virginia’s reliance on fossil fuels, and create scores of clean energy jobs, which are often high paying and come with excellent benefits.
While renewable energy is becoming a reality in Virginia, the General Assembly still has work to do. During the next legislative session, the General Assembly needs to continue to support the development of renewables throughout the state. The General Assembly also needs to patch up some existing laws so that they can better serve the interests of individuals and businesses in Virginia.
During the most recent General Assembly session, the legislature took action to incentivize the use of electric vehicles. This is especially important, as carbon emissions in Virginia come from transportation more than any other sector. Virginia can further encourage the use of electric vehicles by implementing a tax credit for businesses that install charging infrastructure. This helps the state to complete its charging network, and offsets the cost of installation. With charging infrastructure installed, a business could benefit from those who stop inside to shop while waiting for their car to charge.
By authorizing electric utilities to work together with school divisions to develop projects that encourage the use of electric school buses, the General Assembly can help to further reduce carbon emissions from the transportation sector. Once these projects have been developed, electric school buses and their associated infrastructure could be used as energy storage resources, which could help stabilize Virginia’s electric grid during peak hours. The General Assembly came close to making this a reality during the 2021 session, but the bill died at the last minute.
While the law permitting community solar in Virginia is a definite step in the right direction, the General Assembly should amend certain provisions of the law that impose unreasonable size limits on generator capacity and establish a mandatory minimum electric bill for customers. As the law currently stands, community solar panels can generate no more than 5 MW of energy; while this can power a fair number of homes (one MW of solar energy is generally enough to power 190 homes), increasing the size limit would allow more customers to reap the benefits of community solar.
Additionally, the General Assembly should eliminate the mandatory minimum electric bill for community solar customers. Dominion Energy has suggested that the minimum bill be set at $74.90. This excessive cost will hinder the widespread adoption of community solar throughout Virginia and would allow only the wealthiest customers to take part in the programs.
Finally, the General Assembly should modify the Grid Transformation and Security Act of 2018 during the next legislative session. A 2018 report exposed some of the act’s flaws, which shows that the GTSA does little to actually advance the development of renewable energy in Virginia. The GTSA fails to include any performance metrics or targets that can be measured, neglects efforts to plan for the increased use of distributed energy, and lacks any assurance that there will be economic benefits or improvements in reliability as a result of plans developed. The General Assembly should modify the GTSA to include more detailed and structured requirements for utilities; these requirements should also be subject to third-party review.
Virginians can be proud of the progress the General Assembly has made in recent years to encourage the widespread adoption of renewable energy throughout the state. More work needs to be done, however, to ensure that renewable energy policy in Virginia is as practical and affordable as possible for both individuals and consumers alike.