VA SB 588
Status unknownSolar facilities; Department of Energy to develop criteria to determine appropriateness of sites.
Virginia · 2026 Regular Session · upper
Quick answers
Did VA SB 588 pass?
The current status of VA SB 588 is not known from the official record. Latest recorded action (2026-02-17): Left in Finance and Appropriations
What is VA SB 588 about?
Department of Energy; developing criteria to determine the appropriateness of sites for solar facilities. Requires the Department of Energy (the Department) to develop a set of criteria to be used by reviewers to (i) assess the appropriateness of potential siting areas and (ii) assign a siting appropriateness score from one to 100 for each area and to establish a scoring committee to review applications for proposed solar facilities. Beginning January 1, 2027, the bill requires every completed land use application for a proposed solar facility to be forwarded by the host locality to the Department for evaluation and scoring. The bill provides that the locality shall continue to have final authority for approval or disapproval of a proposed solar facility.
Who sponsors VA SB 588?
David W. Marsden is the primary sponsor of VA SB 588.
Description
Department of Energy; developing criteria to determine the appropriateness of sites for solar facilities. Requires the Department of Energy (the Department) to develop a set of criteria to be used by reviewers to (i) assess the appropriateness of potential siting areas and (ii) assign a siting appropriateness score from one to 100 for each area and to establish a scoring committee to review applications for proposed solar facilities. Beginning January 1, 2027, the bill requires every completed land use application for a proposed solar facility to be forwarded by the host locality to the Department for evaluation and scoring. The bill provides that the locality shall continue to have final authority for approval or disapproval of a proposed solar facility.
- Introduced
- 2026-01-14
- Latest action
- 2026-02-17 — Left in Finance and Appropriations
- Bill type
- bill
- Last updated
- —
Sponsors
- David W. Marsdenprimary
Committees
Not provided by source.
Action timeline
2026-01-14
Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26105042D
filing,introduction
2026-01-14
Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources
referral-committee
2026-02-02
Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB588)
2026-02-05
Senate committee offered
2026-02-05
Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (10-Y 4-N 1-A)
committee-passage
2026-02-17
Left in Finance and Appropriations
Versions
Documents
Votes
Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources with substitute
2026-02-05 · pass · 10-4
Member-level votes (15)
- David W. Marsden: yes
- Mark D. Obenshain: no
- Richard H. Stuart: abstain
- William M. Stanley, Jr.: no
- David R. Suetterlein: no
- T. Travis Hackworth: yes
- Angelia Williams Graves: yes
- Russet Perry: yes
- Stella G. Pekarsky: yes
- Timmy French: no
- Saddam Azlan Salim: yes
- Tammy Brankley Mulchi: yes
- Danica A. Roem: yes
- Kannan Srinivasan: yes
- Michael J. Jones: yes
Related bills
No related bills recorded for this bill.
Official source
Attribution
Data from openstates_bulk_csv, retrieved 2026-07-24T05:35:59.552682Z
Inspect retained evidence for changes recorded after evidence tracking began:
Use this data
Every field on this page is available from the free public API — no key or licence required. Fetch this bill as JSON: GET /api/v1/bills?jurisdiction=VA&identifier=SB 588. See the API docs or the MCP server for AI assistants.
Known limitations
- Sponsor party and chamber affiliation are not yet captured by this API.
- Committee referrals are not yet captured.
See the methodology page for data sources and limitations.