Local Opposition to Renewable Energy Projects Must be Addressed to Achieve Virginia’s Clean Energy Goals

Virginia has set its sights on a clean energy future, but the path to achieving this vision is becoming increasingly complex. The Commonwealth’s ambitious goals, enshrined in the Virginia Clean Economy Act of 2020 (VCEA), are clashing with a formidable force: growing local opposition to solar generation projects. This challenge threatens to derail Virginia’s progress towards a sustainable energy landscape.

This is the first of three articles by GreeneHurlocker’s lawyers addressing the problem that pits the VCEA’s statutorily mandated goals promoting solar energy against local community actions that limit or reject solar development. In this article, we’ll lay out the challenges confronting the VCEA, generally, and describe what we’re seeing at the local level. In our next article, we’ll discuss the various approaches—and their pros and cons—that other states have taken to address similar tensions between state and local authorities. In our final article, we will propose a framework for what we believe is a nuanced, inclusive, and effective legislative approach to address local opposition to renewable energy development that will allow the Commonwealth to get back on track toward its clean energy objectives and meet the energy needs of Virginians today.

The Clean Energy Mandate and Current Reality

The VCEA created a renewable portfolio standard (RPS), mandating that the state’s two largest utilities, Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power, transition to 100% renewable energy generation by 2045 and 2050, respectively. In its simplest form, the utility’s annual percentage of renewable energy sales increases every year by a few percentage points until it hits 100%. In this way, the General Assembly plainly expressed Virginia’s commitment to addressing climate change and fostering a renewable energy economy. However, the current state of affairs threatens to derail these lofty goals.

The combination of at least three factors presents substantial challenges for the two utilities as they continue to comply with their annual RPS obligations. First, Virginia is experiencing a dramatic increase in power demand, driven largely by the burgeoning data center industry. Dominion projects an 85% growth in power demand over the next 15 years. Second, under the VCEA, the utilities’ annual RPS compliance obligations increase each year until they arrive at 100% renewable. Third, beginning in 2025, the criteria for RPS-eligible renewable energy credits, or RECs, becomes more stringent and focuses heavily on renewable generation facilities located in Virginia. A REC is the proof that the energy is renewable.   

Add it up, and you’ll see an economist’s dream supply-and-demand scenario: higher-than-expected electricity usage and an annual RPS percentage that increases annually means significantly more RECs are needed, but there will be fewer facilities from which one can acquire an eligible REC.  

These factors amplify the urgency of expanding renewable energy sources, particularly solar power, which is seen as a key component of Virginia’s clean energy strategy. 

The Rise of Local Opposition

It’s now common knowledge to industry observers how fierce—and often effective—local citizen opposition in Virginia can be when a project is in front of a planning commission, Board of Supervisors or Board of Zoning Appeals. This phenomenon is not unique to the Commonwealth; across the United States opposition to renewable energy projects can be equally daunting. A recent report from Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law revealed “78 renewable energy projects across 47 states that have encountered significant opposition. The report also identifies 395 local restrictions across 41 states, along with 19 state-level restrictions, that are so severe that they could have the effect of blocking a renewable energy project.” A comprehensive February 2024 USA Today survey of wind and solar project opposition, to which GreeneHurlocker contributed, found that at least 15% of counties in the United States “have effectively halted new utility-scale wind, solar or both.”

Turning specifically to Virginia, GreeneHurlocker publishes the Virginia Solar Land Use New of Note, in which we track solar-related ordinances as well as decisions involving specific solar projects, many of which are projects being developed by our clients. We are also witnessing the resistance firsthand through our experience working with renewable energy developers seeking approvals for local solar and other renewable energy projects.

As we have reported over the past year, numerous Virginia jurisdictions have adopted policies and ordinances establishing acreage caps, radius restrictions and/or density percentage caps that substantially limit the land that can be devoted to solar development. Many counties have, in our opinion, touched the outer limits of constitutionality by enacting with declared solar moratoria, some of them lifting them early after having thought better. Some of the limitations that aren’t expressed as moratoria appear to us to have the same practical effect.  

The intensity of the opposition is illustrated very well by the Dinwiddie County Board of Supervisors recent rejection of a utility-scale solar project even with a $10,000,000 upfront payment – plus substantial annual payments – having been put on the table by the developer.

These local actions reflect a growing disconnect between state-level clean energy policies and community-level concerns.

Understanding the Opposition

Those objecting to solar developments in Board of Supervisor meetings across Virginia communities express various concerns, including  the loss of prime soils in agricultural land, the cutting down of trees (even those grown on commercial tree farms), claimed environmental impacts, noise, construction traffic, property value impacts, and more. 

However, in our experience — as with epic cell phone towers and affordable housing battles of past and present – it seems to come down to proximity. Local apposition typically centers on resistance to what the visual changes might be in their proverbial backyard (a concern that the usual ample required vegetative screening doesn’t quash). Folks simply don’t want to see solar panels where there once were crops, cows or trees.

Faced with strong opposition from vocal groups that are part of the local voting public, and often skeptical of renewable energy anyway, elected officials often vote to deny projects.

While citizen concerns often are rooted in commendable and understandable desires to preserve local character and resources, they have created a significant barrier to the rapid expansion of solar energy necessary to meet Virginia’s clean energy mandate.

The Policy Predicament

This situation presents a complex challenge for policymakers and energy developers. On one hand, the General Assembly has prescribed clear and aggressive clean energy goals to address climate change and foster a sustainable energy future. On the other hand, local governing bodies, based on community concerns that cannot be overlooked, are denying the very projects that the General Assembly envisioned and which are needed to attain these goals. 

Looking Ahead

As Virginia grapples with this challenge, it’s clear that finding a path forward will require careful navigation of competing interests. The General Assembly must find ways to address local concerns while still making progress on its renewable energy goals. 

As we move forward, finding solutions to this complex problem will be crucial. The success of Virginia’s clean energy future will depend on its ability to align state goals with local realities, creating a path to sustainable energy that works for all.