Lately, more and more local governments are saying thanks, but not thanks, for the abundance of solar panels that are essential to Virginia's green energy future.
That's a growing concern in a state that already has a four-year-old law requiring 16,100 megawatts of solar installations to be connected to Dominion Energy's electric grid — enough to power more than 4 million homes by 2035. There are currently about 1,600 megawatts of solar installations.
“You have to do something to make it happen,” said Sen. David Marsden, a Fairfax Democrat who, as the new chairman of the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Conservation Committee, has called for a global response to the challenge of finding places. . Solar installations will be the focus this year.
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“You either have a real principle, or you have a shiny thing that you can admire and appreciate without doing anything,” he said.
It's an issue that could pit rural residents against urban and suburban residents, because solar plants can take up a lot of land — hundreds of acres for some of the largest solar plants — and Virginia has a lot of undeveloped land. It is still rural compared to urban areas. And the suburbs, Marsden said.
As part of a package of legislation aimed at accelerating Virginia's move to limit fossil fuel use, Del. Rep. Sullivan, D-Fairfax, introduced the proposal in House Bill 636. It would also allow states to step in to approve solar installations if local officials fail to enforce installation requirements in a timely manner.
Although local governments in rural Virginia, with limited property and business tax streams, like the idea of the additional tax revenue solar facilities could generate, they don't like ignoring voters who say they don't want to do it. Those looking at fields filled with solar panels fear that rainwater from the solar panels will pollute rivers and groundwater and that the installations will destroy the rural character of their communities.
Citizens' objections
They said loudly: Not in my garden.
“We spent all kinds of money to build this that will be our home,” Prince George's County resident Michelle Coker told county supervisors last month after they considered and ultimately rejected the 100-megawatt installation requested by RWE. It is located on 506 hectares of an area of 1,295 hectares.
“I work from home, so these terrible scenes are repeated every day,” she said, adding that she suffers from cancer and will not be able to travel from home for the foreseeable future. "And that's what we'll see." It will be a solar power plant near our house...keep it rustic please.
“This solar plant brings absolutely no benefit to our property,” area resident Chris Brooks told supervisors, adding that he owns three properties in three counties located within a mile of the solar plant. Property values were lowered and buffers did not block their views.
“What about the long-term impact of these panels after 30 years... What will happen to the wildlife in this area... These solar power plants do not provide electricity directly to Prince George, they are sent upstream and then sold.” He said. .
Approvals for solar installations can take years – RWE began development work on the Prince George project in 2017.
In Madison County, the council rejected a proposed solar installation covering 59 of a 92-acre site in July.
In August, Fauquier County supervisors rejected Torch Clean Energy's proposal for an 80-megawatt solar power plant, called the Soego Energy Facility, ruling it was inconsistent with the county's comprehensive plan.
Last year, Mecklenburg County supervisors did the same with a proposed 90-megawatt project on more than 1,000 acres, arguing that the project would displace about 490 acres of farmland while runoff would send waste and sludge into the Allen River and from there into the lake. Gaston. Local breeders pollute the water they use to water their animals
And in Dinwiddie County, Energix Renewables' second attempt to get the green light for the Lily Pond solar plant, slated to be built on 500 acres of the 1,900-acre site, faced significant local opposition, prompting the company to withdraw its bid to appoint supervisors. . It was approved in June. . They're trying again, with a revised proposal expected to be considered by the county Planning Commission next month.
Sullivan's bill sets several timelines for counties to consider a large solar, wind or battery project, if the county allows such facilities, and sets standards for such projects.
If the county cannot act in a timely manner, the bill would allow the state Corporation Commission to review the project and decide whether to approve it.
The commission can also intervene if a local government rejects a project that meets the project approval requirements of the State Corporation Commission.
Additionally, this can occur if the renewable energy developer first adopts county zoning or land use regulations after the project is proposed.
The Virginia State Assembly opposed the bill.
The group argues that local review and approval of large-scale solar, wind and battery storage projects is necessary to ensure the region's land use goals are met.
The association said that states should not usurp local authority to make these decisions.
Greg Habib, a lobbyist representing solar interests, said the bill is an attempt to balance state renewable energy goals with local governments.
"It's not about prevention," he said.
With the bill, Sullivan proposed measures to facilitate more shared solar installations — the type of installations that apartment or condo communities can install. Here he suggests that the bills customers pay should reflect their actual usage – minus what they get from the solar panels – as well as the original cost of connecting to the system. Current law states that the minimum bill must cover the cost of all infrastructure and services used to provide electric service.
He also proposed a system under which data centers — major energy consumers — could not benefit from promised sales tax reductions unless they provided carbon-free energy for 90% of their electricity use. Dominion says its data centers' electricity needs mean it must continue to operate gas-fired power plants.
Another bill would create a rural electric vehicle infrastructure program and funding to help private developers cover non-utility costs associated with installing electric vehicle charging stations.
Others will charge energy companies a daily fee of 33 cents per kilowatt-hour if they take too long to process interconnection requests when a customer's renewable generators — rooftop solar panels or wind turbines, for example — need public service. Customers track how much electricity comes from utilities and is injected into the grid for others to use.
“After four years, we've identified the problems,” said Sullivan, who sponsored the Virginia Clean Energy Act of 2020, which would require energy companies to stop burning fossil fuels and emitting carbon when generating electricity.
We have national goals and we have to think as a country about how to achieve them. »
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