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As power-hungry data centers and rising fuel prices put the squeeze on anxious voters last fall, Virginia Democrats secured a governing trifecta in Richmond partly on a promise to rein in energy costs.
Now, with a 60-day legislative session in the rearview mirror as of March 14, newly elected Gov. Abigail Spanberger and lawmakers in her party look primed to deliver on that pledge in spades.
Democrats, who grew their majority in the House of Delegates last November and have controlled the Senate since 2020, still remain divided on whether and how to continue the tax breaks that have helped make Virginia the data center capital of the world; a special session is scheduled next month to resolve the standoff.
But legislators already have plenty of bragging rights. A slew of bills that would maximize use of the state’s grid, pave the way for more batteries and solar arrays of all sizes, and take other steps to lower energy bills are poised to become law with Spanberger’s signature in the coming weeks.
“I think it was a good session for affordability,” said Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, a Democrat who represents a suburban Richmond district. “I think it was a good session for supply.”
In many ways, Virginia is the poster child for the energy upheaval underway across the country. It’s ground zero for the AI boom and the massive computer warehouses needed to support it, which threaten to spike demand at rates not seen in decades. PJM Interconnection, the regional grid manager, is plagued by backlogs and barely capable of bringing new generation sources online. The cost of fossil fuels, together with the ongoing addition and upkeep of poles and wires, is contributing to skyrocketing utility bills.
Amid these pressures, the state hasn’t wavered from a law mandating 100% carbon-free electricity by midcentury — even as the Trump administration has repeatedly threatened to derail Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, the largest offshore wind farm in the country, and as congressional Republicans have slashed incentives and other inducements for solar and energy efficiency.
All that context was top of mind as lawmakers began their session this year, said Del. Phil Hernandez, a Democrat from Norfolk. “The assignment was crystal clear,” he said. “It really doesn’t matter where you are in Virginia: Electricity prices are salient. People are concerned, rightly, about the upward trajectory.”
Democrats’ strategy for tackling those worries was twofold, said VanValkenburg: to boost solar and storage, and to better utilize existing transmission and distribution infrastructure. “These are the two things we can do that are the cheapest, the fastest to get online, and the fastest way to save ratepayers money,” he said.
VanValkenburg has been on a long quest to speed the deployment of large-scale solar, promoting bills in 2024 and 2025 to ease local solar restrictions; they failed to become law. But the third time might be the charm. His latest attempt, Senate Bill 347, prohibits outright bans on large-scale solar while still leaving ultimate siting decisions up to local governments. It cleared both chambers last month and awaits Spanberger’s signature — though it’s among the few energy measures she hasn’t taken an explicit position on.
“I hope she signs it,” VanValkenburg said. “At the end of the day, this bill doesn’t mandate a single piece of solar. It just creates a better conversation, which I think will get us more solar.”
While that measure would pave the way for adding immense solar farms capable of powering thousands of homes, lawmakers also legalized a much smaller variant: balcony solar. Come January, Virginians should be able to buy and plug in the devices on their balcony or yard in the span of a few hours — avoiding permitting and utility red tape and shaving as much as 15% off their energy bills.
Lawmakers also sought to boost rooftop solar arrays this session, chiefly by increasing targets for these types of installations. The 2020 Virginia Clean Economy Act called on Dominion to get at least 1% of its electricity from renewable energy projects less than 1 megawatt in capacity. A bill sponsored by VanValkenburg, which now sits on the governor’s desk, would increase that number to 5%.
The Virginia Clean Economy Act could also get a refresh when it comes to batteries. The law was first written to require utilities Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power Co. to deploy a little over 3 gigawatts of short-duration batteries, a mature technology that is widely available. A measure sponsored by Democrat Del. Rip Sullivan of Fairfax would raise the target to nearly 17 gigawatts by 2045, with most coming in data center–heavy Dominion territory. By that same year, the bill requires the utilities to deploy a total of 4.5 gigawatts of long-duration storage; such batteries can discharge energy for 10 hours or more but are still nascent in the commercial sector.
“Storage is really a critical affordability component, especially over the long term,” said Nate Benforado, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. “If we can build storage, that is going to obviate the need for a lot of this gas, which is expensive and risky for customers.” Noting the war in the Middle East as the latest global conflict to impact fossil fuel prices, Benforado added, “If we continue to invest in gas infrastructure, expect your bills to go up and up.”
Lawmakers also passed bills to better utilize the state’s existing network of poles, wires, and other electricity delivery infrastructure. Because the grid is built to accommodate the maximum amount of electrons that might ever flow through it — such as on a particularly cold winter morning when people crank up heating systems — about half of it goes unused 99% of the time.
One measure would require Dominion and Appalachian Power to quantify grid utilization across their systems, a first step toward the deployment of batteries, line sensors, and other grid-enhancing technologies to increase energy generation on the system.
Another bill, dubbed the Fast Access to Surplus Transmission, or FAST, Act, would spur the same companies to identify sites where batteries or other technologies could be added to existing solar projects, taking advantage of extra room on the grid at the point of interconnection. Under a first-of-its-kind trial program, the utilities could add a total of 600 megawatts of generation using the surplus capacity.
“We’ve started to see a drastic reduction in costs around energy storage,” said Jim Purekal, a director at Advanced Energy United who heads the group’s legislative work in Virginia. “The more we install these, especially if we use existing grid capacity, the more we’re saving everybody money. And if we’re able to install these projects in tandem with solar and wind, which are your cheapest forms of energy generation, now we’re off to the races.”
Hernandez was a sponsor of the FAST Act, and he is especially proud of its novelty. “Sometimes Virginia is not great at being first to move on a concept,” he said, “but in this case, it worked out.”
He also championed legislation requiring Dominion and Appalachian Power to invest millions in energy-efficiency upgrades for low-income, elderly, and disabled households. Another of his bills would streamline the permitting process for home rooftop solar.
“There were a whole lot more from other members,” Hernandez said. “This moment that we’re in is all about having 1,000 great ideas, because there’s no one thing you can do to fix every problem.”
To wit, over 50 energy and climate bills tracked and supported by the Virginia Conservation Network passed during the two-month session — including those setting the state up to rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, adopt more community solar farms, study ratemaking reforms, and many others.
Spanberger has yet to sign any of the measures, and many passed with little help from Republicans. But the vast majority of these bills are almost certain to become law, and VanValkenburg is hopeful that they’ll endure with bipartisan support. That’s because the economics of clean energy — especially solar and storage — just keep improving.
“I think these laws are going to be durable from a free-market capitalism perspective,” VanValkenburg said. “But I also just think that those are also the only ways that you’re gonna keep energy bills down.”
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