republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2024/sb-508.md

type, title, description, jurisdiction, legislature, session, identifier, citation, classification, subjects, status, primary_sponsors, version_count, action_count, vote_count, first_action, last_action, source, source_identifier, source_url, source_hash, vintage, source_snapshot, retrieved_at, confidence, tags

type	title	description	jurisdiction	legislature	session	identifier	citation	classification	subjects	status	primary_sponsors	version_count	action_count	vote_count	first_action	last_action	source	source_identifier	source_url	source_hash	vintage	source_snapshot	retrieved_at	confidence	tags
Bill	Renewable energy portfolio standard; geothermal heating and cooling systems.	Renewable energy portfolio standard; geothermal heating and cooling systems; Strategic Energy Investment Fund and Program established; Geothermal Energy Work Group established; reports. Provides that geothermal heating and cooling systems, as defined in the bill, located in the Commonwealth are eligible for compliance with renewable energy portfolio standard (RPS) requirements. The bill requires that certain percentages of the RPS requirements be derived from post-2019 geothermal heating and cooling systems, as defined in the bill, in accordance with the schedule prescribed in the bill. The bill also requires that at least 25 percent of the required RPS required percentages be derived from post-2019 geothermal systems in historically economically disadvantaged communities and includes information for the State Corporation Commission to use in calculating the amount of renewable energy credits attributable to geothermal heating and cooling systems. The bill includes certain labor and employment requirements for large (360,000 BTU or greater generating capacity) geothermal heating and cooling systems and authorizes the Department of Labor and Industry to promulgate related regulations and enforce compliance with the requirements. The bill adds additional noncompliance fees for Phase I and Phase II Utilities that are unable to meet the RPS compliance obligations that must be derived from a post-2019 geothermal heating or cooling system, and requires that such RPS noncompliance fees be paid into a new fund called the Strategic Energy Investment Fund. The Fund shall be administered by the Department of Energy and used to implement the Strategic Energy Investment Program, with the purpose of implementing job training programs in historically economically disadvantaged communities, energy efficiency measures for public facilities, and renewable energy programs in historically economically disadvantaged communities. The bill also creates a Geothermal Energy Work Group for the purposes of studying the status and impact of increasing the use of geothermal heating and cooling systems in the Commonwealth, among other factors. The bill directs the Work Group to submit an annual report of its findings to the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor and the House Committee on Commerce and Energy. Additionally, the bill directs the Department of Energy to conduct a comprehensive technical study on the status of geothermal heating and cooling systems in the Commonwealth and the potential impacts of expanding and incentivizing the use of geothermal heating and cooling systems in the Commonwealth. The Department of Energy, in consultation with the Geothermal Energy Work Group, is also directed to develop recommendations by December 1, 2024, for an incentive structure to increase the deployment of geothermal heating and cooling systems in the Commonwealth. Portions of the bill have a delayed effective date of January 1, 2025.	us/states/va	Virginia General Assembly	2024	SB 508	Virginia SB 508 (2024)	bill		enacted	Scott A. Surovell	5	36	7	2024-01-09	2024-04-05	openstates	ocd-bill/bc67823f-51de-43c0-8653-90fc6e609abf	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+sum+SB508	46d9993647e6096c0926351f4c824c489a4a8ce7d37c61ad88499175cc02ab13	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-va

Virginia SB 508 (2024) — Renewable energy portfolio standard; geothermal heating and cooling systems.

Renewable energy portfolio standard; geothermal heating and cooling systems; Strategic Energy Investment Fund and Program established; Geothermal Energy Work Group established; reports. Provides that geothermal heating and cooling systems, as defined in the bill, located in the Commonwealth are eligible for compliance with renewable energy portfolio standard (RPS) requirements. The bill requires that certain percentages of the RPS requirements be derived from post-2019 geothermal heating and cooling systems, as defined in the bill, in accordance with the schedule prescribed in the bill. The bill also requires that at least 25 percent of the required RPS required percentages be derived from post-2019 geothermal systems in historically economically disadvantaged communities and includes information for the State Corporation Commission to use in calculating the amount of renewable energy credits attributable to geothermal heating and cooling systems. The bill includes certain labor and employment requirements for large (360,000 BTU or greater generating capacity) geothermal heating and cooling systems and authorizes the Department of Labor and Industry to promulgate related regulations and enforce compliance with the requirements. The bill adds additional noncompliance fees for Phase I and Phase II Utilities that are unable to meet the RPS compliance obligations that must be derived from a post-2019 geothermal heating or cooling system, and requires that such RPS noncompliance fees be paid into a new fund called the Strategic Energy Investment Fund. The Fund shall be administered by the Department of Energy and used to implement the Strategic Energy Investment Program, with the purpose of implementing job training programs in historically economically disadvantaged communities, energy efficiency measures for public facilities, and renewable energy programs in historically economically disadvantaged communities. The bill also creates a Geothermal Energy Work Group for the purposes of studying the status and impact of increasing the use of geothermal heating and cooling systems in the Commonwealth, among other factors. The bill directs the Work Group to submit an annual report of its findings to the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor and the House Committee on Commerce and Energy. Additionally, the bill directs the Department of Energy to conduct a comprehensive technical study on the status of geothermal heating and cooling systems in the Commonwealth and the potential impacts of expanding and incentivizing the use of geothermal heating and cooling systems in the Commonwealth. The Department of Energy, in consultation with the Geothermal Energy Work Group, is also directed to develop recommendations by December 1, 2024, for an incentive structure to increase the deployment of geothermal heating and cooling systems in the Commonwealth. Portions of the bill have a delayed effective date of January 1, 2025.

Version chain

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

1. CHAP0597 (committee substitute) — source
2. Committee substitute printed 24107056D-S1 (committee substitute) — source
3. Committee substitute printed 24107417D-S2 (committee substitute) — source
4. Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24104935D (committee substitute) — source
5. SB508ER (committee substitute) — source

Votes

• Subcommittee recommends reporting (9-Y 1-N) — 9–1 (pass) · lower
• VOTE: Passage (84-Y 13-N) — 83–13 (pass) · lower
• Reported from Labor and Commerce (20-Y 1-N) — 20–1 (pass) · lower
• Reported from Commerce and Labor with substitute (9-Y 6-N) — 9–6 (pass) · upper
• Read third time and passed Senate (21-Y 19-N) — 21–19 (pass) · upper
• Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — 39–0 (pass) · upper
• Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute (10-Y 5-N) — 10–5 (pass) · upper

Sponsors

• Scott A. Surovell — primary (person)

Timeline

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

• 2024-01-09 Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24104935D filing, introduction
• 2024-01-09 Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor referral-committee
• 2024-02-05 Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
• 2024-02-05 Reported from Commerce and Labor with substitute (9-Y 6-N) committee-passage
• 2024-02-05 Committee substitute printed 24107056D-S1 substitution
• 2024-02-05 Rereferred to Finance and Appropriations referral-committee
• 2024-02-08 Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
• 2024-02-08 Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute (10-Y 5-N) committee-passage
• 2024-02-08 Committee substitute printed 24107417D-S2 substitution
• 2024-02-09 Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
• 2024-02-12 Read second time reading-2
• 2024-02-12 Commerce and Labor Committee substitute rejected 24107056D-S1
• 2024-02-12 Reading of substitute waived
• 2024-02-12 Committee substitute agreed to 24107417D-S2 substitution
• 2024-02-12 Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB508S2 substitution
• 2024-02-13 Read third time and passed Senate (21-Y 19-N) passage, reading-3
• 2024-02-16 Placed on Calendar
• 2024-02-16 Read first time reading-1
• 2024-02-16 Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce referral-committee
• 2024-02-19 Assigned L & C sub: Subcommittee #3 referral-committee
• 2024-02-27 Subcommittee recommends reporting (9-Y 1-N)
• 2024-02-27 Reported from Labor and Commerce (20-Y 1-N) committee-passage
• 2024-02-29 Read second time reading-2
• 2024-03-01 Read third time reading-3
• 2024-03-01 Passed House (84-Y 13-N) passage
• 2024-03-01 VOTE: Passage (84-Y 13-N) passage
• 2024-03-04 Impact statement from DPB (SB508S2)
• 2024-03-06 Enrolled enrolled
• 2024-03-06 Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB508ER) passage
• 2024-03-06 Impact statement from DPB (SB508ER)
• 2024-03-06 Signed by Speaker passage
• 2024-03-07 Signed by President passage
• 2024-03-11 Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 11, 2024 enrolled
• 2024-03-11 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024 executive-receipt
• 2024-04-05 Approved by Governor-Chapter 597 (effective - see bill) executive-signature
• 2024-04-05 Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0597)

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/bc67823f-51de-43c0-8653-90fc6e609abf. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).