Abigail Spanberger and the Democrat majority in the Virginia General Assembly have gone all-in on the Virginia Clean Energy Act (VCEA)—a law that hikes energy costs, weakens grid reliability, and delivers no measurable reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions. 

The VCEA calls for 13,000 megawatts (MW) of solar power to reach its 2045 clean energy mandate. With a 100 MW solar farm consuming up to 500 acres, that means roughly 65,000 acres—or 100 square miles—of land will be covered in panels. Beyond the sheer visual blight, what other consequences come with carving up this much land for solar fields?

• Land Use and Habitat Disruption: The land required by large-scale solar farms disrupt local ecosystems, displace wildlife, and fragment habitats. Clearing land for panels leads to deforestation or loss of agricultural farmland.
• High Initial Costs: The installation of solar farms involves substantial upfront costs for equipment, land acquisition, and infrastructure. Whether these costs can be overcome by long term savings is debatable. In fact, electricity rate projections and energy costs in so-called green-friendly markets suggest they will not.
• Intermittent Energy Production: Solar panels only generate electricity during daylight hours and are affected by weather conditions, requiring backup energy sources and large-scale storage systems which are not provided for in the VCEA. 
• Environmental Impact of Manufacturing: Producing solar panels involves energy-intensive processes and hazardous chemicals, like silicon tetrachloride, which pose harm to the environment if not managed properly. Mining for materials like silicon, silver, and rare earth metals also has ecological consequences.
• Aesthetic and Cultural Concerns: The visual impact on landscapes of solar panels affects cultural sites affecting tourism or local heritage.
• Energy Storage Challenges: Storing excess energy for nighttime or cloudy periods requires expensive batteries having their own environmental footprint, and involves materials like lithium or cobalt with ethical sourcing issues.
• End-of-Life Disposal: Solar panels have a lifespan of 20–30 years. Recycling processes for decommissioned panels are limited. Improper disposal will lead to toxic waste from heavy metals like cadmium and lead.
• Grid Integration Issues: Large solar farms will strain electrical grids requiring costly and complex upgrades to handle variable power inputs.
• Water Usage: Some solar technologies, like concentrated solar power, require water for cooling which will strain resources in arid regions.
• Potential for Local Climate Effects: Large solar farms will alter local microclimates by absorbing or reflecting heat, affecting nearby vegetation, wildlife, and weather patterns.

Governor Younkin has warned that VCEA is driving up energy costs, increasing dependence on out-of-state power imports, and imposing $5.5 billion in compliance costs over the next decade all while creating a reliability crisis due to insufficient baseload generation.

Winsome Earle-Sears aligns with Governor’s Yougkin’s policies and will prioritize energy reliability, as well as affordability, over fixed mandates for renewable energy.