republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2026/hb-895.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	Electric utilities; energy storage requirements, Department of Energy to develop model ordinance.	Electric utilities; energy storage resources; Department of Energy to develop model ordinances; State Corporation Commission to conduct technology demonstration program. Increases the targets for energy storage capacity that Appalachian Power and Dominion Energy Virginia are required to petition the State Corporation Commission (the Commission) for approval to construct, acquire, or procure and extends the time frame by which such capacity must be met. Under the bill, (i) Appalachian Power shall petition the Commission for approval to construct, acquire, or procure at least 780 megawatts of short-duration energy storage capacity by 2040 and 520 megawatts of long-duration energy storage capacity by 2045 and (ii) Dominion Energy Virginia shall petition the Commission for approval to construct, acquire, or procure at least 16,000 megawatts of short-duration energy storage capacity by 2045 and 4,000 megawatts of long-duration energy storage capacity by 2045. "Long-duration energy storage" and "short-duration energy storage" are defined in the bill. Under the bill, the Commission shall approve an independent auditor to help develop criteria for and to help review requests for proposals for new energy storage resources. The bill requires the Commission to conduct a technology demonstration program for long-duration energy storage resources and initiate a proceeding to determine if such technology is viable and that the targets in the bill are reasonably achievable, for which a final order shall be entered no later than March 1, 2031. Certain provisions of the bill are only effective upon such determination by the Commission. The bill requires the Department of Energy, in consultation with the Department of Environmental Quality and the Department of Fire Programs, to develop model ordinances suggested for use by localities in their regulation of energy storage projects by December 1, 2026. The bill directs the Commission to initiate a technical conference by September 1, 2026, to evaluate safety standards and practices for energy storage development. The bill also includes a provision authorizing the Commission to evaluate energy storage project proposals during annual petitions filed for the development of new renewable generation capacity. This bill is identical to SB 448.	us/states/va	Virginia General Assembly	2026	HB 895	Virginia HB 895 (2026)	bill		enacted	Richard C. "Rip" Sullivan, Jr.	5	40	10	2026-01-13	2026-04-13	openstates	ocd-bill/4f26ba6a-49d1-49f7-abb2-cb3713627c34	https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB895	456229aae3201fb34cd3fa909789598e62252dd76e62095d6a6bb7c76a8e6dd9	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-va

Virginia HB 895 (2026) — Electric utilities; energy storage requirements, Department of Energy to develop model ordinance.

Electric utilities; energy storage resources; Department of Energy to develop model ordinances; State Corporation Commission to conduct technology demonstration program. Increases the targets for energy storage capacity that Appalachian Power and Dominion Energy Virginia are required to petition the State Corporation Commission (the Commission) for approval to construct, acquire, or procure and extends the time frame by which such capacity must be met. Under the bill, (i) Appalachian Power shall petition the Commission for approval to construct, acquire, or procure at least 780 megawatts of short-duration energy storage capacity by 2040 and 520 megawatts of long-duration energy storage capacity by 2045 and (ii) Dominion Energy Virginia shall petition the Commission for approval to construct, acquire, or procure at least 16,000 megawatts of short-duration energy storage capacity by 2045 and 4,000 megawatts of long-duration energy storage capacity by 2045. "Long-duration energy storage" and "short-duration energy storage" are defined in the bill. Under the bill, the Commission shall approve an independent auditor to help develop criteria for and to help review requests for proposals for new energy storage resources. The bill requires the Commission to conduct a technology demonstration program for long-duration energy storage resources and initiate a proceeding to determine if such technology is viable and that the targets in the bill are reasonably achievable, for which a final order shall be entered no later than March 1, 2031. Certain provisions of the bill are only effective upon such determination by the Commission. The bill requires the Department of Energy, in consultation with the Department of Environmental Quality and the Department of Fire Programs, to develop model ordinances suggested for use by localities in their regulation of energy storage projects by December 1, 2026. The bill directs the Commission to initiate a technical conference by September 1, 2026, to evaluate safety standards and practices for energy storage development. The bill also includes a provision authorizing the Commission to evaluate energy storage project proposals during annual petitions filed for the development of new renewable generation capacity. This bill is identical to SB 448.

Version chain

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

1. Introduced (filed) — source
2. Commerce and Labor Substitute (committee substitute) — source
3. Labor and Commerce Substitute (committee substitute) — source
4. Subcommittee #3 Subcommittee Substitute (committee substitute) — source
5. Enrolled (enrolled) — source

Votes

• Reported from Finance and Appropriations — 10–4 (pass) · upper
• Reported from Labor and Commerce with substitute — 17–5 (pass) · lower
• Subcommittee recommends reporting — 6–1 (pass) · lower
• Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute — 6–2 (pass) · lower
• H VOTE: — 64–32 (pass) · lower
• Reported from Appropriations — 17–5 (pass) · lower
• Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) — 40–0 (pass) · upper
• Passage R — 21–19 (pass) · upper
• H VOTE: — 68–30 (pass) · lower
• Reported from Commerce and Labor with substitute — 8–5 (pass) · upper

Sponsors

• Richard C. "Rip" Sullivan, Jr. — primary (person)
• Alfonso H. Lopez — cosponsor (person)
• Betsy B. Carr — cosponsor (person)
• Elizabeth B. Bennett-Parker — cosponsor (person)
• Shelly A. Simonds — cosponsor (person)

Timeline

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

• 2026-01-13 Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104780D filing, introduction
• 2026-01-13 Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce referral-committee
• 2026-01-22 Assigned HCL sub: Subcommittee #3 referral-committee
• 2026-02-05 House subcommittee offered
• 2026-02-05 Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute and referring to Appropriations (6-Y 2-N) substitution
• 2026-02-09 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB895)
• 2026-02-10 Committee substitute printed 26107210D-H1 substitution
• 2026-02-10 Reported from Labor and Commerce with substitute and referred to Appropriations (17-Y 5-N) committee-passage
• 2026-02-11 Assigned HAPP sub: Commerce Agriculture & Natural Resources referral-committee
• 2026-02-11 Subcommittee recommends reporting (6-Y 1-N)
• 2026-02-11 Reported from Appropriations (17-Y 5-N) committee-passage
• 2026-02-13 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB895)
• 2026-02-13 Read first time reading-1
• 2026-02-16 Read second time reading-2
• 2026-02-16 committee substitute agreed to substitution
• 2026-02-16 Engrossed by House - committee substitute substitution
• 2026-02-17 Read third time and passed House (65-Y 32-N 0-A) passage, reading-3
• 2026-02-18 Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
• 2026-02-18 Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor referral-committee
• 2026-03-02 Senate committee offered
• 2026-03-02 Reported from Commerce and Labor with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (8-Y 5-N) committee-passage
• 2026-03-03 Committee substitute printed 26108942D-S1 substitution
• 2026-03-06 Reported from Finance and Appropriations (10-Y 4-N) committee-passage
• 2026-03-09 Rules suspended
• 2026-03-09 Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
• 2026-03-09 Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
• 2026-03-10 Read third time reading-3
• 2026-03-10 Commerce and Labor Substitute agreed to
• 2026-03-10 Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute substitution
• 2026-03-10 Passed Senate with substitute (21-Y 19-N 0-A) passage
• 2026-03-11 Senate substitute agreed to by House (68-Y 30-N 0-A) substitution
• 2026-03-11 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB895)
• 2026-03-30 Enrolled enrolled
• 2026-03-30 Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB895ER) passage
• 2026-03-30 Signed by President passage
• 2026-03-31 Signed by Speaker passage
• 2026-03-31 Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026 enrolled, executive-receipt
• 2026-03-31 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 executive-receipt
• 2026-04-02 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB895)
• 2026-04-13 Approved by Governor-Chapter 694 (effective 7/1/2026) executive-signature

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/4f26ba6a-49d1-49f7-abb2-cb3713627c34. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).