With the passage of legislation mandating statewide standards for utility-scale solar facilities, local governing bodies are now required to provide the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) with any decision regarding the application for a special use permit for a solar facility of one megawatt (MW) or more in generating capacity, along with any reasons for denying such an application. To facilitate the reporting of such decisions, SCC has provided the following online application – Virginia SCC – Special Exception Decision Record for Solar Photovoltaic Projects form.
Decisions must be reported to the SCC within 60 days and include (1) any finding of nonconformity with the local comprehensive plan, and (2) the date of the last revision to the comprehensive plan.
The SCC is also required to maintain a searchable database on its website of all such decisions and the reasons for any denials (see Database of Locality Special Exception Decision Records for Solar Photovoltaic Projects)
VACo Contact: Joe Lerch, AICP