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If HB2126 passes in the Assembly this session, Charlotte and all other Virginia counties would then be on the clock. We’re now getting more details as the proposed solar bill gets fleshed out in the House Committee on Labor and Commerce, where it currently sits. The key part is a requirement and a timeline that counties would have to follow. 

If it’s approved, the bill would create both the Energy Facility Review Board and the Virginia Clean Energy Technical Assistance Center (VCETAC). We cover the Assistance Center in more detail here. The Review Board would be put in charge of conducting analysis and studying policy options, reviewing all regional energy plans, all local comprehensive plans, and any local solar and storage ordinances, to make sure they go hand in hand with the Clean Economy Act.

Approved by the General Assembly in 2020, the Clean Economy Act requires just under two-thirds of the state’s electricity to come from solar or wind energy by the end of 2035. This Energy Facility Review Board would be focused on making that happen, having the authority to “facilitate the responsible siting of critical interconnection projects in the Commonwealth.” That part we covered in our earlier article. But here is where the timelines come into play. 

Timelines and deadlines for solar bill

Let’s say HB2126 gets approved this session. By Jan. 1, 2026, so not even a full year later, the bill says the Review Board and Assistance Center would be required to create a model solar ordinance that all counties and cities would need to follow. This would be a model for siting, permitting and zoning of solar projects. Your permits and zoning wouldn’t need to be identical to it, but it would need to be close. And counties wouldn’t have much time to change. 

The bill says “by July 1, 2026, each locality shall adopt an ordinance for the permitting of solar energy facilities and energy storage facilities that is consistent with the Commonwealth Clean Energy Policy and the model local ordinance adopted by the Virginia Energy Facility Review Board.” So the model ordinance has to be created by Jan. 1 of next year and then all counties would have to alter their current policies to be consistent with it by July 1. What happens if counties don’t meet that deadline? Then the model ordinance created by the Review Board goes into effect, overriding the local rules. 

Why the hurry to get this done? 

Why the rush? Well, there’s been a bit of panic in Richmond, due to some data coming out from the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center. In 2024, for the first time ever, Virginia cities and counties rejected more solar projects than they approved. In fact, the amount of new projects approved in 2024 was the lowest amount in six years. It’s raised concerns both from Assembly members and solar companies, who are urging lawmakers to pass the bill. 

“Over half of Virginia’s counties have signaled to solar energy that they are closed for business,” said Evan Vaughan, Executive Director of MAREC Action, in a statement sent out Tuesday morning to media. “There are 55 counties and cities that have either banned or made it difficult and costly to develop utility-scale solar projects. Others have no ordinances at all to regulate solar projects. We acknowledge localities that have welcomed solar projects, but the current situation makes the development process inconsistent and unpredictable for localities and developers alike at the very time that Virginia needs more clean energy.” 

To clarify, MAREC Action (Mid-Atlantic Renewable Energy Coalition) is a coalition of more than 50 energy companies, operating in the Mid-Atlantic region. Vaughan further claimed in the statement that good solar projects that Virginia needs are being blocked through a patchwork of local decisions and policies, while Virginia’s energy demand continues to grow. This trend, Vaughan claimed, threatens Virginia’s ability to meet its expanding energy demand and achieve clean energy goals.

Is there a problem with demand?

Vaughan’s statement is very similar to what Virginia State Sen. Scott Surovell said in the Monday, Jan. 6 public hearing for the bill, before it was voted on and moved to the next committee. Surovell said a change was needed to help investors. 

“If we continue to have the completely unfettered free market, whatever you want to call it system, where every locality can do whatever they want right now, we’re gonna continue to have 80% of all solar projects being rejected,” Surovell said during Monday’s hearing. “All kinds of people who want to invest in this state are going to stop investing in this state because the system is so incredibly unpredictable.” 

Instead of a free market system, HB2126 would have counties use a similar, if not identical ordinance for solar. 

As far as the claims about not meeting energy demand, that’s been stated quite a bit. Dominion Energy, for example, has predicted a 5.5% annual increase in demand over the next decade and then for energy demand to double by 2039. The State Corporation Commission plans to hold a hearing in April to discuss the forecasts and if they measure up.

One more deadline in the solar bill

That’s not the only change the solar bill would create. The latest version calls for the Review Board to develop, by Jan. 1, 2026, a regional energy report. Basically, the Review Board would be asked to fill in data for each planning district, including their “meaningful annual contribution to clean energy generation, energy efficiency measures and energy storage.” Think of it almost as a report card of sorts. Which regions are contributing the most, which ones are contributing the least. The Review Board would be required to do this every three years, to check up on progress. 

Then in turn, by July 1, 2028, each city and county would have to work with their respective planning district commission to update their comprehensive plan and show they’re working to improve their contribution. But what if the region is not in compliance? What if they’re not going to meet the target goals for solar? The bill has an answer for that too. 

“If the Review Board determines that the regional energy plan is not in compliance, the relevant planning district commission has 60 days to adopt a compliant regional energy plan,” HB2126 states. “If the relevant planning district commission fails to adopt a compliant energy plan within the 60 days, the Review Board, within 90 days of such failure, is required to issue an alternative regional energy plan that is in effect for such a region.” 

‘All we’re doing is constraining local authority’ 

During that last public hearing on Jan. 6, Speaker of the House Don Scott asked Surovell when the last time was that Virginia did something like this. Surovell pointed to things like hunting laws and restrictions, but Scott argued those were statutes, not model ordinances counties were being required to adopt. He questioned if this wasn’t the state usurping local control. 

“All we’re doing is constraining local authority, I wouldn’t say we’re usurping it,” Surovell said, arguing that the Assembly does this all the time. 

Del. Candi Mundon King said she had a problem with the burden that’s being placed on cities and counties with this bill. 

“The burdens on regions and localities to produce this in the next couple of years is really a struggle for me,” Mundon King said. I’m really struggling to understand how that will help make things easier for localities, because just on its face value, it looks very complicated.” 

With approval given by a commission majority of 7 of the 12 members, the bill moved forward to be discussed in the Virginia House. It’s currently in the House Committee on Labor and Commerce and has not yet been scheduled for a hearing in that group.