Environment and Energy Groups Set Priorities for 2026 Legislative Session

As the state prepares to inaugurate its next governor and lawmakers return to Richmond for the 2026 General Assembly legislative session next week, energy and environment policies are expected to dominate debates. Advocacy groups are laying out policies they want to see garner lawmakers’ support and the governor’s signature, with many familiar bills that failed in recent years.

With a hefty Democratic majority in the House of Delegates and a slimmer Democratic hold in the Senate, several bills that had previously been vetoed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin will make a return. Gov.-Elect Abigail Spanberger has already outlined multiple measures aimed at efficiency programs and reducing the need for transmission line buildouts that she plans to support.

The Commission of Electric Utility Regulation (CEUR), a group made up of legislators and citizen members, has presented a slate of legislative recommendations after months of public hearings that have gained support from various groups. Here are the key proposals.

Affordability

The voters of Virginia spoke loud and clear last fall: making life more affordable is their priority concern. The commission suggests that there be more transparency around potential energy efficiencies and involuntary service disconnections through monthly reports to the State Corporation Commission. It also suggests extending the 2038 commitments for the companies to fund programs for low-income households.

Legislation from Sen. Kannan Srinivasan, D-Loudoun, also aims to urge the utilities to aid low-income households with upgrades to help reduce their power usage. The major companies already have programs in place to help homeowners get access to grants and other funds for efficiency upgrades.

Regulation reform

Clean Virginia, a powerful clean energy lobbying group, is pushing lawmakers to pass utility regulation reforms. Some of the tweaks they recommend include directing the SCC to create a group to design performance-based regulations for utilities that they say would control costs and lessen vulnerability. The group plans to deliver recommendations for future legislation.

CEUR also recommends changing how utilities file their biannual integrated resource plans. The IRPs are what the utilities use to show their long-range projections on power usage from their customers and what power generation projects will be needed in order to retain grid reliability. There have been some debates over how the utilities calculate what customer bills could look like in the future and the SCC has ordered the companies to show two different methods of those calculations.

The commission wants to take a closer look at how the companies are calculating their projected load growth and how to ensure the numbers are accurate as data centers proliferate across the commonwealth.

Data centers

The ongoing debate around data centers centers on the tremendous amount of power they use, and how to ensure they are paying a fair share of the power generation.

A recent rate case for Dominion Energy was seen as “a step in the right direction” by the Southern Environmental Law Center. The case created a new rate class for high-load customers and locked them into 14-year contracts to make sure they pay for the energy they are projected to need, even if the projects don’t come to fruition or may not stay online for more than a few years.

Clean Virginia is recommending additional oversight, proposing the SCC review and create an approval process for large load users over 25 megawatts before they can get hooked up to the grid. The group said there needs to be more consideration of how adding these power-hungry facilities will have an impact on ratepayers’ bills and the energy infrastructure that would be needed to sustain grid reliability.

Along those lines, a bill filed by Del. Lee Ware, R-Powhatan, suggests that the SCC consider large load customers  voluntarily financing energy technologies as a way to speed up their connections. Another proposed bill from Del. Josh Thomas, D-Prince William, recommends that the SCC have a review process for high-load users over 25 MW to ensure the state has the infrastructure to meet their power needs.

Lawmakers will also have to consider if they wish to keep or alter the current tax incentive for these users. There has been discussion of tightening the requirements for companies to meet in order to be eligible for the tax breaks.

Environment

On the environmental policy side, there are moves to expand the state’s efforts to reduce pollution that ends up in waterways. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation has laid out its priorities, which include maintaining funds for the agricultural cost-share program that helps farmers implement best practices that reduce sediment and other pollutants from escaping their properties.

Despite signs pointing towards a tighter budget process this year, CBF is also urging the state to invest in the Community Flood Preparedness Fund as well as the Stormwater Local Assistance Fund. The group stresses how important it is to help coastal communities become more resilient against rising flood waters.

There is also a push by lawmakers and environmental groups to urge the Department of Environmental Quality to take a closer look at the source of forever chemicals ending up in rivers and streams.

The General Assembly 2026 legislative session begins this Wednesday, Jan. 14.

by Shannon Heckt, Virginia Mercury

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