republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2021/sb-1207.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Solar and energy storage projects; siting agreements throughout the Commonwealth."
description: "Solar and energy storage projects; siting agreements and special exceptions throughout the Commonwealth. Expands existing provisions related to siting agreements and zoning special exceptions for solar projects located in an opportunity zone to include energy storage projects and makes the provisions statewide. The bill provides that its provisions shall not apply to any energy storage project that has received zoning and site plan approval, preliminary or otherwise, from the host locality before January 1, 2021. The bill also provides that its provisions shall not become effective with respect to energy storage projects unless the General Assembly approves legislation that authorizes localities to adopt an ordinance for taxation of energy storage projects such as solar projects with a local option for machinery and tools tax or solar revenue share."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "SB 1207"
citation: "Virginia SB 1207 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["George L. Barker"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 29
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2021-01-11"
last_action: "2021-03-11"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/804a4a56-47c8-466d-99e1-068232d0786a"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+sum+SB1207"
source_hash: "3336de8d2d33926197224d6ad4839bd5a30318062be77f7725f2dd48cdd9ba48"
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 1207 (2021) — Solar and energy storage projects; siting agreements throughout the Commonwealth.

Solar and energy storage projects; siting agreements and special exceptions throughout the Commonwealth. Expands existing provisions related to siting agreements and zoning special exceptions for solar projects located in an opportunity zone to include energy storage projects and makes the provisions statewide. The bill provides that its provisions shall not apply to any energy storage project that has received zoning and site plan approval, preliminary or otherwise, from the host locality before January 1, 2021. The bill also provides that its provisions shall not become effective with respect to energy storage projects unless the General Assembly approves legislation that authorizes localities to adopt an ordinance for taxation of energy storage projects such as solar projects with a local option for machinery and tools tax or solar revenue share.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0058** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+CHAP0058)
2. **Committee substitute printed 21103169D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1207S1)
3. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21102067D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1207)
4. **SB1207ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1207ER)

## Votes

- Read third time and passed Senate (37-Y 0-N) — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns (20-Y 0-N) — **20–0** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Passage (81-Y 15-N 2-A) — **80–15** (pass) · lower
- Continued to Special Session 1 in Counties, Cities and Towns — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- Reported from Finance and Appropriations (16-Y 0-N) — **16–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Local Government with substitute (14-Y 1-N) — **14–1** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- George L. Barker — primary (person)
- Jennifer L. McClellan — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-01-11** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21102067D `introduction`
- **2021-01-11** Referred to Committee on Local Government `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-18** Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2021-01-18** Reported from Local Government with substitute (14-Y 1-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-18** Committee substitute printed 21103169D-S1 `substitution`
- **2021-01-18** Rereferred to Finance and Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-26** Reported from Finance and Appropriations (16-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-27** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2021-01-28** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2021-01-28** Reading of substitute waived
- **2021-01-28** Committee substitute agreed to 21103169D-S1
- **2021-01-28** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB1207S1
- **2021-01-29** Read third time and passed Senate (37-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-02-02** Placed on Calendar
- **2021-02-02** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2021-02-02** Referred to Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-08** Continued to Special Session 1 in Counties, Cities and Towns
- **2021-02-19** Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns (20-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-23** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2021-02-24** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2021-02-24** Passed by temporarily
- **2021-02-24** Passed House (81-Y 15-N 2-A) `passage`
- **2021-02-24** VOTE: Passage (81-Y 15-N 2-A)
- **2021-02-26** Enrolled
- **2021-02-26** Signed by Speaker
- **2021-02-27** Signed by President
- **2021-03-01** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 1, 2021
- **2021-03-01** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 31, 2021
- **2021-03-11** Approved by Governor-Chapter 58 (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/804a4a56-47c8-466d-99e1-068232d0786a`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).