Virginia’s 2026 Energy Plan & Southampton’s Solar Approval

Happy Friday!

September 18, 2026

It’s been a busy week for Energy Right across Virginia! From Charlottesville to Suffolk and the Shenandoah Valley, our team has been part of conversations about how communities can approach solar, battery storage, and responsible energy development. We were at CHESSA’s Energize Summit discussing the broader benefits of solar and storage, as well as engaging with local leaders in Suffolk, Winchester, and Frederick County on solar projects and evolving energy policies.

Virginia’s Upcoming Energy Plan

In October, Gov. Abigail Spanberger is expected to release Virginia’s new Energy Plan, a 10-year roadmap for how the Commonwealth plans to meet its growing energy needs. The plan is being developed after months of public and stakeholder input, with affordability, reliability, economic growth and Virginia’s long-term clean-energy goals all part of the discussion.

So what should Virginians be watching for? Affordability should be one of the biggest tests. Virginia’s electricity demand is growing, and meeting that demand will require new generation, transmission and other infrastructure. The important question is how those investments will affect the people already paying the electric bill. A plan that calls for more energy should also address how Virginia can keep the cost of that energy manageable for households and businesses.

The plan will also have to address the Commonwealth’s changing energy mix. Virginia needs more electricity, but there is no single technology capable of meeting every need. Solar, battery storage, nuclear, natural gas and other resources each have different costs, capabilities and timelines. The final plan should give Virginians a better sense of how the administration intends to balance affordability, reliability and energy development rather than treating any one resource as a solution to every challenge.

Another area worth watching is the role of local communities. Virginia’s energy needs are statewide, but the infrastructure needed to meet those needs is built somewhere. Generation facilities, battery storage and transmission lines can have significant effects on surrounding communities and landowners. How the Energy Plan addresses local input, property rights and the relationship between statewide energy policy and local decision-making will be important.

Ultimately, the Energy Plan should give Virginians a clearer picture of how the administration intends to navigate the next decade of energy growth. The Commonwealth needs more reliable electricity, but how we produce it, where we build it and who pays for it will matter just as much as how much electricity we add. Those are the questions worth watching when the plan is released in October.

FROM THE ROAD

Old Frederick County Courthouse

On Tuesday, September 15th, the Energy Right team engaged with both the City of Winchester and Frederick County on solar and battery energy storage system (BESS) policies. While the City was reviewing updates to its solar and BESS permitting policies, the team met with county staff and shared BESS resources as the county begins discussions on how to address battery storage. With no current BESS ordinance or policy in place, Energy Right will continue working with county staff as they evaluate potential standards for the county.

What We’re Thinking

Southampton Sets a High Bar—and This Solar Project Met It

Southampton County has one of Virginia’s more stringent solar ordinances, establishing a high bar for utility-scale development. Recently, the county Planning Commission recommended approval of a utility-scale solar project after a detailed review. That doesn’t necessarily signal a change in how Southampton views solar—instead, it shows that individual projects can be evaluated on their own merits, even in a community where solar development has faced significant scrutiny.

Southampton has made it clear that solar projects must meet demanding standards, conditions, and safeguards. This application offered a chance to see whether those expectations could be met in practice. After reviewing the details, the Planning Commission found the project could conform to the county’s requirements and protections. Whatever the broader views on solar development, this particular application did the work required to meet Southampton’s high bar. That deserves recognition, as does the development team’s work navigating a process designed to scrutinize the details.

That distinction matters. Strong ordinances should establish clear expectations for development, not guarantee a particular outcome. When an applicant can meet those expectations, the conversation can move beyond broader views of solar and focus on whether the individual project satisfies the standards the community has put in place.

Southampton’s experience highlights the value of rigorous local review. A project can face significant scrutiny and legitimate community concerns while still demonstrating that it meets the requirements placed before it. That’s what a strong land-use process should allow: communities setting clear standards, developers being held accountable to them, and individual projects being evaluated on what they actually propose rather than assumptions about the broader industry.

Where We Went

Recent News

U.S. solar capacity has reached roughly 299 GW—enough to power more than 50 million homes—after developers added 11.4 GW in the second quarter of 2026. Utility-scale projects drove much of that growth as electricity demand rises from data centers, manufacturing, and electrification. Continued expansion will depend on transmission, storage, faster interconnection, and policy certainty, reinforcing solar’s growing role within the nation’s broader energy mix.

WHAT NEXT?

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