RICHMOND, Va.—It’s all eyes on Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin now to take action on a number of bills aimed at increasing renewable energy development in the state and utility customer savings.
Among the bills Youngkin must act on by midnight Monday is a measure sponsored by Del. Katrina Callsen (D-Charlottesville) and Sen. Schuyler T. VanValkenburg (D-Henrico) aimed at increasing small-scale solar projects.
The bill updates the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA), which Democrats passed in 2020 to require the state’s two largest utilities, Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power Company, to comply with a Renewable Portfolio Standard, or RPS.
To comply with the VCEA, the utilities currently must acquire renewable energy credits, or RECs, which are created when electricity from solar and wind sources is generated. Those renewable credits must be acquired in increasing amounts that equal 100 percent of…
