republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2021/sb-1201.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Energy storage systems; definitions, tax exemption, revenue share for systems."
description: "Taxation of public service corporations; electric suppliers; storage. Amends the definition of electric supplier to include certain battery storage facilities with a storage capacity greater than 25 megawatts and subjects such facilities to central assessment by the State Corporation Commission. The bill also requires battery storage facilities qualifying as electric suppliers to file an annual report to the Commission.The bill also defines \"energy storage system\" as equipment, facilities, or devices that are capable of absorbing energy, storing it for a period of time, and redelivering that energy after it has been stored. The bill provides that energy storage systems shall be considered certified pollution control equipment and facilities and shall be exempt from local property taxation. The tax exemption applies only to certain projects with alternating current (AC) storage capacity of more than five megawatts and less than 150 megawatts. The bill also provides that a locality may assess a revenue share of up to $1,400 per megawatt of alternating current (AC) storage capacity on energy storage systems."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "SB 1201"
citation: "Virginia SB 1201 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["J. Chapman Petersen"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 29
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2021-01-11"
last_action: "2021-03-11"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/99f67738-fe2e-44c5-8c33-bfe94efda80b"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+sum+SB1201"
source_hash: "cab915950e185efd10964ab972c7b8dd92fade2751f3c1a4937ed171c5e142b5"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia SB 1201 (2021) — Energy storage systems; definitions, tax exemption, revenue share for systems.

Taxation of public service corporations; electric suppliers; storage. Amends the definition of electric supplier to include certain battery storage facilities with a storage capacity greater than 25 megawatts and subjects such facilities to central assessment by the State Corporation Commission. The bill also requires battery storage facilities qualifying as electric suppliers to file an annual report to the Commission.The bill also defines "energy storage system" as equipment, facilities, or devices that are capable of absorbing energy, storing it for a period of time, and redelivering that energy after it has been stored. The bill provides that energy storage systems shall be considered certified pollution control equipment and facilities and shall be exempt from local property taxation. The tax exemption applies only to certain projects with alternating current (AC) storage capacity of more than five megawatts and less than 150 megawatts. The bill also provides that a locality may assess a revenue share of up to $1,400 per megawatt of alternating current (AC) storage capacity on energy storage systems.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **CHAP0050** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+CHAP0050)
2. **Committee substitute printed 21103742D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1201S1)
3. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21100749D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1201)
4. **SB1201ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1201ER)

## Votes

- Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N) — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute (15-Y 0-N 1-A) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Finance (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Continued to Special Session 1 in Finance — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- Read third time and passed Senate (38-Y 0-N 1-A) — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Passage (91-Y 6-N 1-A) — **90–6** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- J. Chapman Petersen — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-01-11** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21100749D `introduction`
- **2021-01-11** Referred to Committee on Finance and Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-18** Impact statement from SCC (SB1201)
- **2021-02-02** Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2021-02-02** Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute (15-Y 0-N 1-A) `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-02** Committee substitute printed 21103742D-S1 `substitution`
- **2021-02-03** Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-04** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2021-02-04** Reading of substitute waived
- **2021-02-04** Committee substitute agreed to 21103742D-S1
- **2021-02-04** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB1201S1
- **2021-02-05** Read third time and passed Senate (38-Y 0-N 1-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-02-07** Placed on Calendar
- **2021-02-07** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2021-02-07** Referred to Committee on Finance `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-08** Continued to Special Session 1 in Finance
- **2021-02-10** Impact statement from SCC (SB1201S1)
- **2021-02-10** Reported from Finance (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-12** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2021-02-15** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2021-02-15** Passed House (91-Y 6-N 1-A) `passage`
- **2021-02-15** VOTE: Passage (91-Y 6-N 1-A)
- **2021-02-17** Enrolled
- **2021-02-17** Signed by President
- **2021-02-18** Signed by Speaker
- **2021-02-22** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on February 22, 2021
- **2021-02-22** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 31, 2021
- **2021-02-23** Impact statement from SCC (SB1201ER)
- **2021-03-11** Approved by Governor-Chapter 50 (effective 7/1/21) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/99f67738-fe2e-44c5-8c33-bfe94efda80b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).