Solar industry hails Virginia’s passing of landmark green economy bill

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Image credit: Stephen Poore / Unsplash

Virginia’s lawmakers have drawn praise from the solar industry over the adoption of legislation that mandates 100% carbon-free electricity and sweeping energy storage targets.

On Wednesday, US solar body SEIA hailed the tentative passing of the so-called Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) at the state assembly this week.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

The draft bill – which needs another hearing in the bicameral state legislature before it can become hard legislation – will roll out a renewable portfolio standard that utilities and suppliers must incorporate all the way to 2050, helping the state’s grid become fully renewably-powered by that year.

As adopted this week, the VCEA offers support to rooftop solar and offshore wind, and requires Virginia utility Dominion to shutter all its six coal power plants by 2030. In addition, the legislation commits the state to deploying 3.1GW of energy storage systems by 2035.

In a prepared statement this week, SEIA shared estimates that VCEA will – if adopted – create nearly 30,000 jobs, pump “billions” into Virginia's economy and help boost solar uptake among the state's citizens.

“Virginia now has the opportunity to be a national leader in responsible clean energy growth. We urge the Virginia Assembly to continue to advance this historic bill,” said Sean Gallagher, vice president of state affairs at the PV body.

See here for a story offering additional background on VCEA's passing, written by Energy-Storage.News editor Andy Colthorpe

21 October 2025
New York, USA
Returning for its 12th edition, Solar and Storage Finance USA Summit remains the annual event where decision-makers at the forefront of solar and storage projects across the United States and capital converge. Featuring the most active solar and storage transactors, join us for a packed two-days of deal-making, learning and networking.
16 June 2026
Napa, USA
PV Tech has been running PV ModuleTech Conferences since 2017. PV ModuleTech USA, on 16-17 June 2026, will be our fifth PV ModulelTech conference dedicated to the U.S. utility scale solar sector. The event will gather the key stakeholders from solar developers, solar asset owners and investors, PV manufacturing, policy-making and and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out the PV module supply channels to the U.S. out to 2027 and beyond.

Read Next

October 7, 2025
Solar PV will account for almost 80% of the 4.6TW of new renewable power expected to be added by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
October 7, 2025
Doral Renewables has secured a PPA with an unnamed 'corporate buyer' for its 430MW Cold Creek solar-plus-storage project in Texas.
October 7, 2025
US independent power producer (IPP) Arevon has begun operations at two utility-scale solar projects in Indiana.
Premium
October 6, 2025
Talon PV aims to be the first US company to safely manufacture TOPCon cells at scale, backed by European technology and a crucial First Solar licensing deal.
October 6, 2025
US utility AES Corporation is reportedly in discussions to be acquired by Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a subsidiary of global asset owning giant BlackRock.
October 3, 2025
Renewables developer Madison Energy Infrastructure has bought the US distributed generation assets of NextEra Energy Resources.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
October 21, 2025
New York, USA
Solar Media Events
November 25, 2025
Warsaw, Poland
Solar Media Events
December 2, 2025
Málaga, Spain
Solar Media Events
February 3, 2026
London, UK