McGuireWoods partner D. Brennen Keene and McGuireWoods Consulting senior vice president L. Preston Bryant Jr. were quoted by the energy news source SparkSpread in a Sept. 23, 2020, story about the recently enacted Virginia Clean Economy Act and the boost it gives renewable energy development in the state.
The act requires Virginia’s two investor-owned utilities to phase out carbon emissions by 2050. Virginia is one of nine states with 100 percent clean energy targets, according to Moody’s.
“It’s become a very robust and competitive marketplace,” said Keene, co-leader of McGuireWoods’ renewable energy team. “The sheer amount of new renewable generation that has to be developed to meet those targets is significant.”
Bryant, who served as Virginia’s secretary of natural resources and in the House of Delegates, explained how the legislation took shape and what solar developers are doing to get projects underway.
“A lot of those megawatts will be frontloaded in the next several years,” Bryant said. “There is now a race to the courthouse among solar developers trying to find good, viable sites, mostly in rural Virginia.”
Keene and Bryant co-authored a July 1, 2020, client alert on the Virginia Clean Economy Act.