Energy Bills Advance to Governor’s Desk
Loudounnow: Reid, Singh Energy Bills Advance to Governor’s Desk
By Hanna Pampaloni - March 2, 2026
Three pieces of legislation introduce by Del. David Reid (D-28) and Del. JJ Singh (D-26) are advancing to Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s desk for a final action after receiving approval from both the House and the Senate.
Reid’s HB 369 extend incentives already available for some types of generation in renewable energy programs to zero carbon electricity. The goal is to further incentivize clean energy.
HB 562 authorizes electric co-ops to establish virtual power plant programs.
A virtual power plant is a network of energy sources that can act as a single power plant in times of peak energy demand to help reduce the strain on the power grid.
Last year, a bill allowing Dominion to launch a virtual power plant program received approval from the General Assembly. This bill looks to continue that work, Reid said.
“This is the idea of being able to use an aggregation of all those different things that we’ve talked about – solar, battery, thermostats, distributed energy resources – to be able to bring those together to be able to provide relief to the grid at certain times,” he said.
Both bills received approval from the Senate on Monday afternoon and now move to be considered by Spanberger.
Singh’s HB 1102 would require some utilities to obtain renewable energy credits from geothermal heating and cooling systems in Virginia to make up a percentage of their total credits acquired beginning in 2027.
“Utilities are not required to procure additional [credits], we’re just tweaking the mix,” Singh said.
Maryland has implemented a similar program, which resulted in the cost of geothermal credits decreasing, Singh said. The bill is a policy change recommended by the Commission on Electric Utility Regulation.
The bill passed the Senate Feb. 26 with some technical changes that were approved by the House on Monday afternoon. HB 1102 also will now be considered by Spanberger.