Vote NO to HB891. Solar has added PFAS to many acres of land. Combine that with allowing BESS is a bad combination. Localities need to say yes or no. The vast majority of solar panels currently use toxic and highly persistent PFAS chemicals in the outer layer to ensure durability. In 2022, the market share for PFAS materials in these outer layers was close to 80%, while PFAS-free alternatives accounted for only one-fifth.

As a resident and concerned citizen of rural Disputana, Prince George County,(House Dist 82) I strongly opposed to this and all proposed legislation that seek to undermine or override local authority on decisions about land use. I strongly urge you to respect the voices of the people in communities across the Commonwealth and vote NO on HB711 & HB 891. The people, through our duly elected officials, must retain the right and the responsibility to make decisions regarding land use at the local level without interference by politicians from outside our rural communities who have no knowledge of, or interest in, local concerns.

As a resident and concerned citizen of rural Greensville County, I am opposed to this and all proposed legislation that seek to undermine or override local authority on decisions about land use. I strongly urge you to respect the voices of the people in communities across the Commonwealth and vote NO on HB711. The people, through our duly elected officials, must retain the right and the responsibility to make decisions regarding land use in the communities where we live.

As a resident and concerned citizen of rural Greensville County, I am opposed to this and all proposed legislation that seek to undermine or override local authority on decisions about land use. I strongly urge you to respect the voices of the people in communities across the Commonwealth and vote NO on HB891. The people, through our duly elected officials, must retain the right and the responsibility to make decisions regarding land use in the communities where we live, including decisions about utility scale solar and battery energy storage systems.

I oppose HB891. This bill is not renewable energy and takes land rights away from local land owners.

I oppose this bill.

I oppose this bill on industrial solar.

Approval and siting authority for BESS facilities should remain with local governments. Removing this authority undermines core principles of local governance and risks ignoring community-specific concerns. Overreaching state-level overrides such as those promoted in this bill sideline the voices of the locality, reducing targeted communities to "spectators in their own backyards" and stripping away foundational zoning powers that rest with local government. There is no need to repeat all of the dangers associated with BESS facilities; diligent lawmakers should be aware of those especially in light of recent catastrophic events occurring in the U.S. and abroad. Rural localities become the victims of these power grabs by state legislators. Localities like mine have been overrun with solar facilities and adding BESS facilities to these increases the dangers to area residents who rely on the groundwater aquifers that provide their well water. Contamination from any event whether at a solar facility or BESS installation has life-altering implications for those affected. In addition, the entire push for solar and BESS is unwise. They are costly, inefficient, unreliable, and dangerous. The environmental damage these facilities inflict on natural habitats is egregious. Please vote no on this bill and any other bills that mandate solar and BESS.

I ask you to oppose this bill. Removing the power of localities to make and enforce rules ensuring public safety and welfare is against everything that is included in their zoning power under state law. Localities know best the extent of their ability to control the safety of battery storage. Many smaller and poorer counties just don’t have the resources to ensure public safety in the advent of battery storage siting imposed by the state. Page County’ s Comprehensive Plan stresses its rural character which drive farming and tourism and supports its local economies. Battery storage facilities imposed and sited by the state will be damaging to our local economy.

This Virginia bill, masquerading as a boon for renewable energy, is a blatant assault on local governance and community safety, stripping counties and towns of their rightful authority to scrutinize and regulate battery energy storage projects tacked onto solar facilities. By deeming these potentially hazardous installations—prone to fires, chemical leaks, and environmental contamination—as automatic "accessory uses" without requiring special permits or public input, it prioritizes corporate profits over the well-being of residents, forcing communities to bear the risks of massive lithium-ion batteries without a say in siting, setbacks, or emergency protocols. This top-down mandate erodes democratic processes, ignores the unique vulnerabilities of rural areas where these projects often land, and sets a dangerous precedent for bypassing local oversight on critical infrastructure, all while claiming to advance green goals—it's nothing short of a reckless giveaway to big energy developers at the expense of public health and autonomy. PLEASE VOTE NO and PROTECT VIRGINIA!

I oppose HB891 and encourage you to vote NO to this bill. This bill chips away at local land-use decisions. Siting of a BESS is a decision that should be made locally.

I ask you kindly to not take out rights away when coming to gas powered blowers. This is unconstitutional and serves no purpose but to be pushed upon parties line. First you want to take our rights away for something that actually works you want to tax us on it. We are taxed to death. I thought you all were talking affordability, you are doing the opposite! You are draining our pocketbooks. Insanity. Stop the taxes and regulations and worry about crime and illegals. Remove them for the safety of our Virginians Taking away the rights of localities is wrong. The government does not own us. We are the people. Solar plant are industrial not agricultural and should not be used as such. Solar farms cause behavioral problems in children. The cause soil erosion. The kill the animals. You aren't supposed to live 1.3 miles from a solar farm. Solar has bad toxins and once you remove solar it is guesstimated you can not grow a food farm on it due to toxins. Trees do thousands of great things for us. Solar nothing. They don't work if covered with snow or ice on cloudy days or at night so totally useless. Cost the tax payers more in electric bills,after we are already taxed to death. Nuclear works 24/7. Follow Germanys lead and remove all solar and batteries facilities. And solars farms are at higher risk of fires. Solar canot go near wetlands because of toxic run off and can pour into homeowners wells.

I OPPOSE HB 891. BESS are a wasteful and expensive energy scam, that consume energy in the process of storing and discharging, and we the ratepayers will once again be fleeced by the developers, lobbyists, and politicians that support this. Solar and wind are poor use of energy, time, money, and land. They pollute our land and water. It is NOT green energy. It is a lie.

I OPPOSE HB 891. BESS are a wasteful and expensive energy scam, that consume energy in the process of storing and discharging, and we the ratepayers will once again be fleeced by the developers, lobbyists, and politicians that support this. Put BESS inside the fence of a data center. Do not allow or force them upon localities whose democratically elected officials are protecting the health, safety, and welfare of their citizens by creating restrictive ordinances against them. Localities deserve the right to choose what to allow in our environs. And it is not solar nor BESS!

I oppose any and all legislation that would allow for control of local , rural farm land by any state agency as relates to solar panel projects. Solar panels are potentially dangerous to farm land and the ground water supply. People with limited knowledge and understanding of rural life and land should not be making decisions concerning our land and its use. We do not want more populated and wealthy areas imposing solar projects on us. A solar project has an estimated life of 35 years but after that the land is sterile and unfit for any agricultural purpose for much longer. I understand that electricity is a necessity but not as much as food and safe drinking water. There must be better safer ways than destroying rural farm land and the associated life style of the residents.

I encourage you to not support HB 711 and HB 891. These two bills infringe on localities rites to site. Both Solar and BESS need to be thoughtfully planned. They are Heavy Industrial sites. They should be in Brown areas and not on prime farm and timber land. The companies are LLCs and can fold up and leave town at any time. Local fire departments are not equipped to handle fires at these sites and the standard is to let them burn. Just look what is ongoing at Moss Landing BESS a year later. It will take a very long time to recovery from that. We have had fires and many DEQ violations here in Virginia. The energy they produce may be “green” but to get to that is not green. Here in Prince George County we had a company that wanted to surround six homes in the middle of the project. Homes should be a mile away from these sites and not 75 to a 100 feet. Every site should be considered locally not by people that do not live here. Roof top is what should be focused on. It needs to be affordable and we should not be penalized from disconnecting from the grid. The electric companies are raising our rates to pay for BESS and Solar while racking in profits. Why are the tax payers penalized while they profit from taking from out rural life. Please do not forget about us.

I oppose this legislation. BESS siting is a land use decision. Land use decisions should be made by local government officials who represent the local people who will have to live with these decisions. BESS is very dangerous due to the risk of fire that is difficult to contain. Local Boards of Supervisors should decide where this industrial equipment is located based upon the characteristic of the local environment. The local BOS are familiar with the natural environment of their localities and are best suited to decide where this industrial equipment is located. Please vote NO.

I am OPPOSED to this legislation. Batteries are an inefficient method of energy storage and compounds the issue of inefficiency when combined with solar panels!

MOSS LANDING is all I should have to say why this bill should be declined! https://insideclimatenews.org/news/16012026/a-year-out-from-one-of-the-worlds-largest-battery-facility-fires/ We have already had Battery Storage and Solar site fires here in Virginia. Rural counties are told to let them burn. They are not equipped to handle LITHIUM BATTERY fires. Once again, proving green is not green. Localities ordinances matter and they do not need to be overwritten by people at the state level. Put them in your back yard and see how it goes! They should only be located in HEAVY INDUSTRIAL ZONED AREAS and not on prime farm and timber land.