It’s taken a while, but it finally looks like we’re getting some serious movement on some important Virginia energy bills. First, here are updates on Sen. Scott Surovell’s energy storage bill (SB632), which moved ahead a little while ago on an 11-3 vote from the Senate Commerce and Labor committee:
By 11-3 vote, Senate Commerce and Labor reports @ssurovell bill setting energy storage goal of 1000MW by 2030. pic.twitter.com/PKnciRrExy
— VAPLAN (@vaplan2018) February 3, 2020
Then, there’s Sen. Jennifer McClellan’s “Solar Freedom” bill (SB710), which also moved ahead, on a 12-3 vote, from Senate Commerce and Labor.
SB710 from @JennMcClellanVA, Solar Freedom bill, reports from Senate Commerce and Labor in the language that passed the Energy subcommittee. There is a substantive substitute in the works, but it will have to be taken up on the floor. (Or vote reconsidered at Sunday’s meeting) pic.twitter.com/8DOC7C7rbm
— VAPLAN (@vaplan2018) February 3, 2020
Finally, there’s the “big one” in many ways – Sen. Jennifer McClellan’s SB851, aka the “Virginia Clean Economy Act,” which by all accounts is the main legislative “vehicle” to move comprehensive clean energy legislation in the 2020 Virginia General Assembly session. On this bill, from everything I’m hearing, it sounds like, after marathon negotiations, agreement basically was reached by the “stakeholders” – a coalition of environmental groups, plus Dominion Energy, Appalachian Power, etc. – over the weekend. According to Sen. McClellan:
“It will be heard in the Senate Committee Sunday. There is an agreement in principal that needs to be put in writing. My understanding is it will be heard in the House Subcommittee tomorrow.”
Sen. McClellan also said that “there *will* be a substitute available tomorrow that can be heard here on Sunday.” Bill Murray of Dominion Energy then chimed in:
“I’ll echo what the Senator said...There’s a number of standalone measures that amend the same code sections as this broad bill. The broad bill discussions were a series of gives and takes, where the agreement will conflict with some of the standalone measures. But that’s something that we’ll be happy to discuss on Sunday. Because as you know…there’s probably 40 substantive provisions in the introduced bill, and as a result there were a series of gives and takes where everything sort of relates to everything else in this type of discussion. From our perspective, it’s a very balanced agreement, but…it is different from a number of individual standalone bills.”
Sen. Saslaw then chimed in: “They’re pretty much – they’re there.” And Murray added, “We’re at the stage where the lawyers need to write this up.”
So…yeah, sounds very much like VCEA is close to a “done deal,” although I guess you never know what might happen, especially with something *this* big, *this* complex, and with *this* many “cooks” in the kitchen. But if, as it appears, the “stakeholders” have all signed off on the deal, that certainly makes it a LOT more likely that VCEA wil pass. But I guess we’ll get a lot better read on Sunday, when the committee meets again. For my part, I’m *very* interested in seeing reading through the “substitute” once it’s available – supposedly tomorrow.
P.S. For more on the VCEA, see
- VAPLAN Analysis: Virginia Clean Economy Act “Includes Several Much-Needed Reforms to Our Energy Policy” BUT “Needs to Be Far More Aggressive”;
- Virginia’s Clean Economy Act: Are Its Analytical Underpinnings Unduly Pessimistic?;
- Seeking a Goldilocks “100% clean power” solution in Virginia;
- Video: “Virginia Clean Economy Act” Unveiled. Is It Adequate to the Challenges and Opportunities We Face?;
- Virginia Grassroots Coalition Calls on Legislators to Support, Strengthen Virginia Clean Economy Act;
- etc.
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