Read more about the bills mentioned in this story — or any other legislation in the 2025 General Assembly session — at https://lis.virginia.gov/.
A controversial Senate bill intended to help localities navigate the process of evaluating proposed large solar projects appears to be dead for this year’s General Assembly session.
Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, on Tuesday moved to have the Senate pass by his SB 1190 for the day.
Because Tuesday was crossover — the last day for the Senate and House of Delegates to consider legislation before each chamber sends the bills that it passed to the other — Deeds’ bill is out of time to be considered.
A similar bill in the House of Delegates, HB 2126 by Del. Rip Sullivan Jr., D-Fairfax County, was killed 4-1 in subcommittee last week.
The development in the Senate came a day after more than a dozen senators debated for about an hour on Monday. Supporters of the bill said it would provide technical assistance and advice to help local governments, while opponents said it would infringe upon local government authority to decide how land is used.
When the bill came up for a vote Monday, all 19 Republicans in the 40-member Senate plus Sen. Russet Perry, D-Loudoun County, voted against it. Sen. Lashrecse Aird, D-Petersburg, was recorded as not voting but intended to vote against it, according to the General Assembly’s Legislative Information System website.
Later Monday, Perry moved to reconsider the vote that had killed the bill. She then moved to pass the bill by for the day, setting it up for consideration on Tuesday, which her chief of staff said in an email was done so that some possible amendments could be considered.
On Tuesday, Deeds’ motion to pass his bill by was approved on a voice vote. He offered no explanation on the Senate floor at the time, which is not uncommon for such motions.
“I didn’t have the votes for it,” he said in a text message to Cardinal News later. “It shouldn’t have been revived yesterday.”
Deeds’ bill was emblematic of an ongoing conflict over how much respective power the Virginia state government and local governments should have when it comes to approving or rejecting new utility-scale solar projects.
In its latest form, Deeds’ bill would have created both a committee of state employees to advise local governments about solar and a panel of experts from Virginia’s public universities to research solar siting and permitting.
It would have required Virginia’s 21 planning district commissions — voluntary associations of local governments — to develop regional energy plans, which local governments would use to set targets for energy production and energy efficiency.
Virginia faces rapidly rising electricity demand, largely thanks to the growth of data centers in Northern Virginia’s massive data center market and elsewhere in the commonwealth.
It also has legislatively mandated renewable-energy goals to add new solar, wind and energy storage in the coming years, Meanwhile, local governments are increasingly resisting signing off on new solar.
Deeds’ bill underwent numerous negotiated changes from its original version, which was endorsed by the state’s Commission on Electric Utility Regulation. The final version focused less on new requirements for local governments and more on providing advice and assistance.
While Deeds and his supporters argued that his bill would not supersede local government decision-making with regards to solar proposals, opponents maintained that it would amount to the state adding new mandates that would disproportionately impact rural Virginia.
