Counties Cities and Towns

Friday, January 30, 2026·1h 6m·▶ Watch / Listen

The Virginia Counties, Cities and Towns Committee advanced more than 20 bills, with the most contested being HB891, which makes battery energy storage a by-right addition to approved solar facilities and passed 17-4 over local government objections. The committee also flagged a procedural dispute over inadequate advance notice for Subcommittee 1 bills and carried a block of bills to the 2027 session ahead of the final pre-crossover full committee meeting next week.

Key Actions

·HB891 – Battery Energy Storage at Approved Solar SitesPassed

+ 13 more actions

Controversies

HB891 – removal of local siting authority over battery energy storage

Joe Lurch (Virginia Association of Counties) argued that HB891 makes battery energy storage a by-right use across over 360 utility scale solar projects representing about 16,000 megawatts, removing the ability of elected local boards and their constituents to make siting decisions and eliminating host site agreement authority. Supporters Philip Scranage (AES), Josephus Almond (Southern Environmental Law Center), and Jeff Palmer (Mid Atlantic Renewable Energy Coalition) argued the bill is limited in scope, does not affect standalone storage projects, and requires compliance with existing ordinances under the enactment clause.

+ 1 more controversy

Notable Quotes

“Virginia, as you all know, we are facing a near term energy reliability crisis and legislation like this is absolutely critical to help solving it.”
HB891 patron (name not stated in transcript) — The patron opened testimony on HB891, which would make battery energy storage a by-right addition to solar sites already holding approved conditional use permits.

+ 3 more quotes

Votes

Motion to report HB891Passed

Yes (1)Delegate Shin (recorded after initial roll close)

Motion to report HB1279 with amendmentsPassed

Motion to report HB888 with substitutePassed

Motion to report HB711 with substitutePassed

Motion to report HB1144 with amendmentPassed

Motion to pass by HB1463 for one weekPassed

Motion to report HB277 with substitutePassed

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TranscriptPreview

Committee will come to order. Welcome to the third full committee meeting of counties, cities and towns. Dream it, plan it, build it. Our lovely committee of shires and spires. Just a couple of administrative notes before we open the roll. We have done our final pre crossover subcommittee meetings this week. Any further bills will be heard in full committee. And my intent is that next week's full committee will be the last full committee pre crossover. So if your bill is being worked, you got a deadline. Get it done. We just have a lot of business before this body as a whole. A lot of folks got to be at other committee meetings. If you have a bill that's being worked and you haven't seen the subcommittee chair or the chair about it and wonder what's going to happen while it hasn't been worked, I think you can figure out what's going to happen if you haven't seen those folks by next Friday. And I just want to say how grateful I am to the staff and our committee members who have gone through an inordinate amount of bills and work over the past two weeks and…

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