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Senate committee advances bill to boost rooftop and brownfield solar programs
Summary
Senate Bill 1040 would raise the distributed-solar carve-out in Virginia’s Renewable Portfolio Standard, increase the size limit for distributed resources, expand power purchase agreement availability and triple the brownfield carve-out; committee supporters called it a way to avoid impacts on farmland.
Senate Bill 1040, sponsored by Sen. Van Valkenburg, won committee approval after proponents said it would steer more solar to rooftops and previously developed sites and reduce pressure on farmland and forests.
The nut graf: The substitute for SB 1040 would raise the RPS distributed‑solar carve‑out from 1% to 5% by 2028 (with later setting by the SCC), increase the maximum size of a distributed resource from 1 megawatt to 3 megawatts, expand access to third‑party power purchase agreements, and raise a brownfield carve‑out from 200 megawatts to 600 megawatts.
Senator Van Valkenburg explained the bill’s purpose: the Clean Economy Act originally created a 1% distributed solar carve‑out and a 200‑megawatt brownfield carve‑out; SB 1040 “raises the carve out from 1 to 5% by 2028…and triples the carve out on previously developed project sites like Brownfields from 200 megawatts to 600 megawatts.”
Environmental and land‑use groups testified in support. Josepha Salman of the Southern Environmental Law Center thanked the patron and said the bill is “an important step to drive more solar to rooftops and previously developed project sites and avoid those impacts to natural resources.” Conservation and clean‑energy groups including the Virginia League of Conservation Voters, the Piedmont Environmental Council and Secure Solar Futures likewise urged passage.
Dominion Energy told the committee it supported the bill’s approach and worked with the patron on language; Christy Noonan said the company supported delaying an in‑state requirement for two years to reduce potential deficiency payments and asked for further refinements in follow‑up.
Opposition from some quarters was limited in the committee record; labor and forestry groups generally supported the changes as a way to limit solar on farmland and forests and to steer projects to brownfields, parking lots and previously developed sites.
Vote and procedural outcome: The committee adopted the substitute and voted to report the bill to the full committee; the roll call in committee recorded 9 ayes, 5 noes and 1 abstention on the report motion.
Why it matters: The measure would expand options for distributed generation, potentially reducing siting pressure on agricultural and forest land while adding more rooftop and brownfield arrays to Virginia’s clean‑energy portfolio. By tripling the brownfield carve‑out the bill also aims to direct development to previously disturbed lands rather than open farmland.
What's next: The full Senate will receive the bill after the committee report; Dominion and other stakeholders pledged to continue drafting conversations to refine the implementation language.
