Senate passes solar, cannabis and virtual power plant bills after hours of debate on energy policy

The Virginia Senate on Friday passed Senate Bill 1040, a bill that raises the renewable portfolio standard carve-out for distributed solar and increases the cap for projects on previously developed sites, after a lengthy floor debate over energy costs and siting. The chamber also approved Senate Bill 970, a framework for an adult-use cannabis retail market, and Senate Bill 1100, directing certain utilities to seek approval for a virtual power plant pilot.

Senate Bill 1040, sponsored by Senator Glen Van Valkenburg, the senator from Western (Richmond) (Senator Glen Van Valkenburg), would raise the distributed-solar carve-out under the renewable portfolio standard from 1% toward 5%, increase the allowed size of a distributed resource from 1 megawatt to 3 megawatts, and raise the carve-out for previously developed project sites from 200 megawatts to 600 megawatts. Van Valkenburg told colleagues, "This is not about solar siding. This is about putting solar in places where people, all of us, I think, want to have solar." The bill passed, Ayes 26, Nos 14.

Why it matters: Sponsors said the bill spreads solar development into rooftops, parking lots and brownfields and seeks to reduce pressure on rural siting while offering ratepayer protections. Opponents pressed the projected cost to ratepayers under the Virginia Clean Economy Act and whether the state-level energy mandate disproportionately burdens certain…