There’s been considerable discussion recently regarding county review and approval of utility-scale solar projects. We would like to provide some context to this important conversation on behalf of Virginia counties. Members of the Virginia Association of Counties are accommodating this emerging and intensive land use in a responsible and inclusive manner.

Over the past decade, Virginia local governments have approved 260 projects totaling 11,640 megawatts in capacity generation. That’s 69 counties, eight cities and six towns that have said yes to utility-scale solar (defined as projects that are 1 megawatt or more in capacity). Given that the average land necessary to construct and operate 1 megawatt of solar is 10 acres, Virginia’s local leaders have approved approximately 116,400 acres, or more than 180 square miles dedicated to this land use.

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That’s the size of King George County, which has a population of more than 28,000.

At this rate localities will soon approve more than 217 square miles of solar, which will then be bigger than the individual land areas of 15 counties.

That’s a lot of land dedicated to this use.

Local planning commissions and boards of supervisors review these proposals by bringing together stakeholders to ensure that the size, location and landscape design of projects are consistent with local plans and ordinances, and not contrary to a county’s vision and goals for how these installations may benefit and fit within a community. Competing objectives for preserving working farms and forestlands are crucial factors that many rural localities must weigh when making these decisions.

D.E. Shaw and Co. built this solar farm, pictured in 2018, on 1,710 acres of woods and wetlands in Chesterfield County.

But given all the complexities and challenges for the siting of utility-scale solar installations, Virginia’s counties are, on the whole, receptive of this land use. The Virginia Solar Survey published in April 2022 by the Virginia Department of Energy, in partnership with the Virginia Solar Initiative at the University of Virginia, included a response rate of 82% that was primarily from counties (the survey was sent to all 95 counties and 38 cities in Virginia). Table 3 on page 18 shows that of the 116 utility-scale solar projects that went through the complete application process, localities approved 106, or 91%.

In terms of meeting the goals of the often-cited Virginia Clean Economy Act, the results thus far are more than encouraging. For example, by Dec. 31 Dominion Energy must meet a deadline for the necessary approvals to construct, acquire or enter into agreements to purchase energy for 3,000 megawatts of solar-generating capacity. In an October 2023 filing to the Virginia State Corporation Commission, the utility reports 3,744 megawatts of solar generation toward meeting this interim target. Dominion Energy is well ahead of schedule in meeting the target of 16,100 megawatts by Dec. 31, 2035.

As the commonwealth works toward its goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, utility-scale solar will play a critical role. Virginia’s counties have been meeting the demand for the siting of these installations, while at the same time making sure they are appropriately situated within the landscape of competing uses. These are local decisions made with the input and the design from both the developers and the community.

06-26-1949 (cutline): Migratory workers on the Eastern Shore sack potatoes after they are turned up by a mechanical differ. Fast workers fill 125 hundred-pound bags in six hours.

10-07-1954 (cutline): Virginia farm woman.

05-29-1952: Area farmer uses motorized conveyor to move hay into barn.

02-15-1951 (cutline): Henrico poultryman experiments with infra-red brooder lights. L.C. Meador adjusts bulb that gives both heat and light.

02-08-1954 (cutline): More labor saved--Mercer's feeding lot for shoats (pigs) is strategically arranged so he can run truck along fence and shovel off corn to any point inside.

02-08-1954 (cutline): More labor saved--Mercer lets his Durocs hog down corn, then turns the Herefords in to clean up fodder and help take care of themselves.

08-24-1953 (cutline): Farmers John Miller and Amos Huffman, joined by Rover, look down on a pleasant scene that family ties have held together as a farm in Page County.

08-24-1953 (cutline): The "nonswag" gate framing Rover is another joint project of Page County partnership farming venture.

08-24-1953 (cutline): John Miller shows off the her sire of beef cattle that now make up the main business of a Page County partnership farming venture.

05-29-1950 (cutline): G.P. Rodgers, in the saddle, and son break out their seeder for a 'dry run.' Wheel-lifting lever, extending over box, is operated by the driver's foot.

11-25-1949 (cutline): Harvest of Soybeans--J.B. Alvis, Henrico County Farmer, of Route 5, pilots his tractor as we combines a portion of his 70 acres of soybeans. The machine cuts and threshes the soybeans, and, with the help of the boy behind Alvis, bags them. The stalks are thrown back on the ground by a special spreader attachment, and later are plowed under to furnish organic matter for the soil. Alvis keeps enough breans for next year's seed, sets aside a few bags to grind and mix with livestock feed, and sells the rest. Last year Virginia farmers produced 1,749,000 bushels of soybeans, which grossed them $4,110,000.

07-17-1952 (cutline): Hanover County's Burnette family grows acres of truck crops--Giant fields of tomatoes, cantaloupes and watermelons are being grown virtually at Richmond's back door by the Burnette family, in Hanover County. Horse, Old Doddin pulls sled used for loading tomatoes.

06-26-1949 (cutline): Migratory workers on the Eastern Shore sack potatoes after they are turned up by a mechanical differ. Fast workers fill 125 hundred-pound bags in six hours.

From the Archives: Farms and farmers

A look back at farms and farmers in and around Richmond.

06-26-1949 (cutline): Migratory workers on the Eastern Shore sack potatoes after they are turned up by a mechanical differ. Fast workers fill 125 hundred-pound bags in six hours.

10-07-1954 (cutline): Virginia farm woman.

05-29-1952: Area farmer uses motorized conveyor to move hay into barn.

02-15-1951 (cutline): Henrico poultryman experiments with infra-red brooder lights. L.C. Meador adjusts bulb that gives both heat and light.

02-08-1954 (cutline): More labor saved--Mercer's feeding lot for shoats (pigs) is strategically arranged so he can run truck along fence and shovel off corn to any point inside.

02-08-1954 (cutline): More labor saved--Mercer lets his Durocs hog down corn, then turns the Herefords in to clean up fodder and help take care of themselves.

08-24-1953 (cutline): Farmers John Miller and Amos Huffman, joined by Rover, look down on a pleasant scene that family ties have held together as a farm in Page County.

08-24-1953 (cutline): The "nonswag" gate framing Rover is another joint project of Page County partnership farming venture.

08-24-1953 (cutline): John Miller shows off the her sire of beef cattle that now make up the main business of a Page County partnership farming venture.

05-29-1950 (cutline): G.P. Rodgers, in the saddle, and son break out their seeder for a 'dry run.' Wheel-lifting lever, extending over box, is operated by the driver's foot.

11-25-1949 (cutline): Harvest of Soybeans--J.B. Alvis, Henrico County Farmer, of Route 5, pilots his tractor as we combines a portion of his 70 acres of soybeans. The machine cuts and threshes the soybeans, and, with the help of the boy behind Alvis, bags them. The stalks are thrown back on the ground by a special spreader attachment, and later are plowed under to furnish organic matter for the soil. Alvis keeps enough breans for next year's seed, sets aside a few bags to grind and mix with livestock feed, and sells the rest. Last year Virginia farmers produced 1,749,000 bushels of soybeans, which grossed them $4,110,000.

07-17-1952 (cutline): Hanover County's Burnette family grows acres of truck crops--Giant fields of tomatoes, cantaloupes and watermelons are being grown virtually at Richmond's back door by the Burnette family, in Hanover County. Horse, Old Doddin pulls sled used for loading tomatoes.

06-26-1949 (cutline): Migratory workers on the Eastern Shore sack potatoes after they are turned up by a mechanical differ. Fast workers fill 125 hundred-pound bags in six hours.

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