Energy policymakers convene for Virginia Clean Economy Act summit

Aaron Berryhill, solar program manager at Virginia Energy and far right, speaks during the Virginia Clean Economy Act Summit. (Charlie Paullin/Virginia Mercury).

Democratic and Republican lawmakers, utilities, energy regulators and other interested parties met in Henrico County Monday to discuss how the state’s growing power needs may be met in conjunction with the goals of the Virginia Clean Economy Act, a 2020 law aiming for zero-carbon emissions by 2050. Since the measure passed four years ago, demands for power are now projected to increase by more than double in the next 15 years.

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Virginia’s spiking appetite for electricity is fueled by the continued development of data centers here, which funnel about 70% of the world’s internet traffic, said Kate Smiley, director of Virginia government affairs for the Data Center Coalition. There are about 11,000 data centers in the world, with about 500 in Virginia, or 4.5%, she said.

That explosion of electricity needs, and the  realities of how enacting the VCEA have played out, were the center of dialogue at the summit, convened by Sen. Dave Marsden, D-Fairfax.

“This is serious business,” Marsden said. “It’s going to be the most serious business that this Commonwealth deals with.”

Here are seven key takeaways from the meeting.

The process of solar project approval in Virginia is expected to  lead to clashes this legislative session. Legislators are considering proposals that could give state officials authority to approve projects if localities reject proposals. Other ideas include creating a regional siting board to review projects or have state officials issue an advisory opinion to localities to lend technical expertise. 

About 75 localities have approved solar projects, according to Aaron Berryhill, solar program manager at Virginia Energy. But one solar company said during a panel the uncertainty of the local approval process is causing “sleepless nights.” 

“Local permitting is more consequential and influential to the success of our business than any other factor in development,” said Danny Van Clief, CEO of Sun Tribe. 

Dean Lynch, executive director of the Virginia Association of Counties, a member of the panel, said the group is interested in continuing conversations on the proposals, but “we want authority,” not just input on decisions.

67 years after the U.S. Army’s first nuclear reactor was deployed at Ft. Belvoir in 1957, Dominion Energy is pursuing the construction of a small nuclear reactor (SMR), said Todd Flowers, manager of business development at the utility.

Congressional action, called the ADVANCE Act, has streamlined the licensing and permitting process to mitigate the “threats to deploy nuclear,” Flowers said.

As tech companies build out artificial intelligence amid the development of data centers, providing adequate American power is key to “strengthening our national security,” said David Long, vice president of operations at HII Nuclear Mission Technologies.

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SMRs can help the U.S. win against other nations in the “AI race,” Long said. “Nuclear has got to be part of that.”

Virginia is part of a regional grid transmission operator, called PJM Interconnection, which also has authority to approve solar projects.

Due to an influx of solar project proposals, PJM has a backlog of about 208,500 megawatts of energy generation sources awaiting approval across its entire footprint, which stretches across the mid-Atlantic. About 53,492 megawatts is awaiting approval in Virginia, with about 29,600 of that being solar. 

PJM Interconnection is undergoing reforms and expects to get about 107 projects on the ground in Virginia by the end of 2025, totalling about 11,967 megawatts.

“It really depends” if developers can overcome local land use permitting and financing obstacles to get those projects online to help with incremental increase in energy needs, Matthew LaRocque, senior consultant at PJM Interconnection, told the Mercury.

While solar may be able to send power to the grid during the day, Dominion Energy said the concern is maintaining enough electricity when the sun isn’t shining.

Households will need that power  before the sun comes up in the morning and after it sets in evening, particularly in the wintertime,explained Brandon Martin, manager for power generation business development at Dominion.

As a result of legislation, including the 2018 Grid Transformation Act, Dominion is testing several battery storage projects that could be charged during the day.

“We have a ton of excitement with respect to long duration energy storage, but we need to allow these technologies to develop and evolve and ultimately test those projects before we are able to bet the grid on them,” Martin said.

Energy efficiency obviates the need for peak demand, as do demand-side management programs, which can reduce the amount of electricity needed to be generated in the first place.

The VCEA requires Dominion to reduce its electricity sales by 5%, and Appalachian Power Company by 2%, through energy efficiency measures. 

Dominion Energy has had over a million participants in their energy efficiency programs equaling over 9,600 gigawatt hours of savings, the equivalent of 800,000 homes, said Mike Hubbard, manager of energy conservation with Dominion Energy.

Will Cleveland, a former Southern Environmental Law Center attorney now with his own private practice, said “the Virginia Clean Economy Act, doesn’t work if it doesn’t deliver you a zero- carbon grid that is both affordable and reliable.”

“If we don’t get all three of those things, it’s not going to work and it’s not a sustainable policy,” Cleveland said. “I think energy efficiency and demand response have a much larger role to play in achieving those … three goals than they do now.”

Transmission line development is part of the clean energy transition discussion in the state, since the lines could deliver power across greater distances of land as fossil fuel facilities come offline and new renewable sources are added to the grid. 

New approaches are being considered, including the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Order 1920 to enable more comprehensive planning and the use of grid enhancing technologies, or GETs, to increase the capacity of existing transmission lines.

But including local input upfront could help avoid barriers to transmission projects, said Tom Rutigliano, senior advocate of climate & energy at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

“It’s only in the last step before pouring concrete that there’s actual engagement with the public on transmission lines,” said Rutigliano. “You couldn’t design a better way to have transmission lines run into problems.”

New businesses that are about to make the commonwealth their home are eying the energy discussion and gauging how long it may take to receive adequate power supply. Clean energy manufacturers LS Greenlink and Microporous just announced they are establishing operations in the state, said Jas El Koubi, director of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership.

For every $1 of incentives invested into luring businesses to the state, about $8 is returned in the first five years, El Koubi said, adding that about 90% of the state’s general fund for various priorities comes from sales and income taxes.

“Many businesses prefer clean energy once available and cost concerns are addressed, with a wide variety of clean energy considerations at play in those cases,” El Koubi said in an interview.

Those growing business needs are also top of mind for the administration of Gov. Glenn Youngkin. The governor appointed Glenn Davis to be Virginia Energy director, whose approach to meeting the state’s energy demands mirrors Youngkin’s “All of the above” stance, including utilizing natural gas. At the summit, Davis reiterated the Virginia Clean Economy Act’s ban on natural gas and timelines to transition to a carbon-free grid should be lifted.

While environmental groups and others say demand can be met with renewable energy and efficiency measures, Davis told the crowd, “We need to have additional natural gas built. It just is what it is.” 

“We cannot have an affordable, reliable and increasingly clean grid without more natural gas built in the commonwealth of Virginia,” Davis said. “If anyone has a model that shows you can, please let me know.”