Virginia leaders have taken an important step toward strengthening energy affordability, protecting property rights, and expanding responsible solar deployment with the enactment of a new solar siting law.

SB 347 and HB 711 were enacted by the Virginia General Assembly and Gov. Spanberger with bipartisan support, led by Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg and House Majority Leader Charniele Herring. The legislation modernizes how local governments review and site utility-scale solar projects across the commonwealth.

For years, bans and restrictive ordinances slowed development, raised costs and made it harder to deliver affordable, clean energy to Virginia families and businesses. The reform sets clear statewide standards that help localities evaluate utility-scale solar projects on their merits — and preserves meaningful local oversight. At the same time, no single policy fully resolves the complexity of solar siting. Successful projects will continue to depend on developers engaging directly with local governments, addressing local concerns, and tailoring projects to community conditions.

Why Virginia needed this reform

Electricity demand in Virginia continues to grow, driven by population growth, electrification, and data center expansion. Meeting that demand requires affordable energy generation that developers can build quickly and responsibly.

Utility-scale solar remains one of the fastest and most cost-effective ways to add power to the grid. Before this reform, local ordinances often made it nearly impossible to efficiently site projects. Many counties imposed strict acreage caps, sweeping setbacks or outright prohibitions, even when projects had community support.

Those conflicting rules discouraged investment, delayed projects and contributed to higher electricity costs.

Under the new solar siting law:

• Ground-mounted solar in commercial, industrial, institutional and agricultural zones counts as a permitted use under defined statewide standards.
• Localities retain authority to approve or deny projects case by case.
• Local officials must document denials, which increases transparency and fairness.
• Environmental safeguards, setbacks, decommissioning plans and land management standards remain in place.

Virginia now has a clearer and more predictable framework that maintains local decision-making authority while supporting responsible energy investment.

A model for the Mid-Atlantic

Virginia’s approach may offer lessons for neighboring states confronting similar challenges.

Across the Mid-Atlantic region, policymakers are grappling with rising electricity demand, grid reliability pressures, and the need to modernize aging energy infrastructure. Without clear siting pathways, even cost-effective energy resources can stall.

Thoughtful siting reform — paired with continued investment in energy storage and transmission upgrades — will be critical to meeting future electricity needs while keeping costs manageable.

Virginia’s framework demonstrates that states can balance local control, environmental protection, and private property rights while enabling responsible clean energy development. At the same time, durable progress depends on continued engagement among developers, local governments, and communities.

What this means for Virginia landowners and communities

For Virginia landowners, the reform provides greater certainty. Solar leases can deliver stable income for 25-30 years, help families keep farms viable, and reduce pressure to sell land for subdivision and development that will prevent it ever being farmed again. Under solar panels, topsoil actually improves and can be returned to agricultural production in the future. 

For communities, responsibly sited projects generate local tax revenue for schools, first responders, and infrastructure. They diversify the energy mix with affordable, homegrown power that requires no costly fuel.

Moving forward

Clean, affordable energy does not happen by accident. Leaders must pair thoughtful policy with predictable standards and regional cooperation. 

This reform strengthens Virginia’s framework for reviewing solar projects, but implementation will matter just as much as policy design. As implementation begins, state leaders, local governments, landowners, and developers must continue to work together.

With this reform in place, and a cooperative approach to carrying it out, Virginia will have positioned itself as a leader in pragmatic, pro-growth clean energy policy, and a model for the Mid-Atlantic region.