RICHMOND – Today marked Sine Die, the last day of the regular General Assembly session. And while lawmakers have delivered on a number of bills to advance affordable, clean energy and cut power plant pollution, they gaveled out without a budget – and by doing so delayed taking serious action on one of the most pressing issues impacting our electric bills, and communities across the Commonwealth: data centers.
In response to the conclusion of this year’s regular session, Michael Town, executive director of the Virginia League of Conservation Voters, issued the following statement:
“This has been a historic legislative session for clean energy as lawmakers passed dozens of bills to advance clean, affordable energy, reduce energy costs, and bolster our state’s goals to reach 100% clean energy. This is progress, and we are grateful, but it’s what’s left to get done that will determine the success of this year’s General Assembly. Following the defeat of a number of measures to hold this industry more accountable, Big Tech is no closer to ‘paying their fair share’ for their data centers’ impact on ratepayers and communities across the state. We urge our state leaders to pass a budget that requires data centers meet clean energy and environmental standards, and that actually lowers voters’ electric bills.”
Background: Virginia LCV weighed in on 148 bills this session, with around two-thirds of those passing both chambers.
Legislative highlights include bills to: rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative; expand solar energy and battery storage; streamline and cut costs for rooftop solar and ensure strong consumer protections; allow small-scale, plug-in “balcony solar” installations; and expand and improve shared solar programs and virtual power plant offerings across different utility service territories.
Missed opportunities include: legislation giving the State Corporation Commission more oversight over data centers to shift costs away from everyday ratepayers, requiring strong clean energy and environmental standards for data centers to qualify for any tax incentives, and mandating completion of an impact assessment before these energy-hungry facilities can move forward.