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If there’s one thing we should all agree on, it’s that Virginia farmers should be able to use their land as they wish to support their families, without excessive government interference.
So why have some Virginia towns and counties refused to let farmers host solar panels on their property?
This local opposition has come to a head, with some parts of the state now denying more solar panel permits than they’re approving. The result has been a loss of 6.7 gigawatts of potential power generation capacity, according to one estimate.
As a former chair of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee, I fully understand the importance of not only protecting productive farmland but also preserving the character of rural communities. It’s local governments’ right and duty to ensure that proposed developments meet reasonable safety and land-use standards.
But there’s a difference between evaluating projects on their merits and shutting the door on an entire source of energy without giving it due consideration.
Virginia’s state government deserves credit for pushing back on such blanket bans with a law that took effect earlier this year prohibiting counties from banning solar outright. Localities can still deny permits — they just have to submit an explanation to state regulators.
Blanket denials of solar projects represent an infringement on the property rights of farmers who want to lease acreage for solar panels. That land doesn’t belong to the county; it belongs to individual farmers.
These blanket denials also contribute to a major backlog of Virginia power projects that are stuck in limbo. The fact is that we need power — and we need it soon. One industry analysis estimates that if our region doesn’t add new power quickly, local electricity rates could rise as much as 85% by 2032, costing the average household an extra $3,300 over the next six years.
The amount of power used by businesses throughout our state increased by nearly 30 million megawatt-hours between 2019 and 2025, and that usage is only expected to rise.
I’m a conservative who supports an all-of-the-above energy plan. I understand many conservatives have long seen solar as a niche technology beloved by the left that could not compete with other energy sources. That was a fair view once, but not anymore. The cost of building and installing solar panels has plunged, and battery storage now allows solar power to be used after the sun goes down. That’s likely why solar now draws support from state legislators on both sides of the aisle.
Think of a diverse energy mix as an insurance policy. Virginia must build more natural gas power plants and support its existing nuclear stations. But where it makes sense, solar deserves a place in that mix too.
Where a project makes sense for a community, it deserves to be considered on its merits. Blanket prohibitions on farmers who choose to lease acres for solar won’t save family farms; they hurt them and take away their right to make their own financial choices. For many farm families, a solar lease is its own kind of insurance: steady income that arrives whether or not it’s a good year for crops.
Solar won’t solve all of Virginia’s energy challenges, and no one should pretend it will. But protecting a farmer’s right to choose it, where it makes sense and meets reasonable local standards, is the fair, free-market and pro-Virginia approach.
Former U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Roanoke represented Virginia’s 6th District in the U.S. House from 1993-2019. He is the former chairman of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee.
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