Southeast

Virginia

Virginia is home to a large interstate highway system, a dozen railroads, several busy commercial airports, and one of the nation’s largest seaports, making the transportation sector the state’s top energy consumer. Additionally, more than a third of the country’s coal exports are shipped through Virginia’s ports. The state has a significant coal-mining industry, but coal-fired electricity generation has been largely replaced by natural gas, and to a smaller extent, renewables.

GHG Reduction Targets

All targets relative to 2005 levels

2045 :

Net-zero

Governor

Glenn Youngkin (Republican)

House Party

Democratic Majority

Senate Party

Democratic Majority

Legislative session

1/10/24 - 3/9/24

Key Offices & Links

19

Policies Enacted or In Progress

across 6 policy areas

See all

43

Policy Opportunities

across 7 policy areas

See all

Southeast

14 states

This map shows the occurrence of climate policies passed at the state-level. Higher numbers represent more climate policies enacted.

Compare with other states

Progress by Policy Area

Enacted
In-progress
Partially Enacted
Not Enacted

Glossary of Terms

Status	Policy	Policy Area	Policy Category	YR Enacted
Enacted	Residential Energy Codes Empty column The statewide energy code for residential construction is 2021 IECC with amendments. Establishing Policies Virginia State Energy Code (2023)	Buildings and Efficiency	Building Codes	2023
Enacted	Commercial Energy Codes Empty column The statewide energy code for commercial building construction is 2021 IECC and ASHRAE 90.1-2019. Establishing Policies Virginia State Energy Code (2023)	Buildings and Efficiency	Building Codes	2023
Not Enacted	Stretch Building Energy Codes Empty column Stretch building energy codes are an optional, more stringent building code established by the state that local jurisdictions can adopt to require that newly constructed buildings are more efficient than the baseline state codes.	Buildings and Efficiency	Building Codes
Not Enacted	Appliance Standards Empty column Appliance standards set minimum energy and water conservation requirements for appliances and equipment.	Buildings and Efficiency	Building Standards
Not Enacted	Building Performance Standards Empty column Building performance standards establish energy and/or greenhouse gas performance targets for existing buildings in a state. These targets increase in stringency over time, leading to efficiency improvements in buildings to conserve energy and reduce emissions.	Buildings and Efficiency	Building Standards
Not Enacted	Clean Heat Standards Empty column Clean heat standards establish a performance standard requiring heat providers to deliver a gradually-increasing percentage of low-emission heating services to customers.	Buildings and Efficiency	Building Standards
Enacted	Energy Efficiency Resource Standards (EERS) Empty column Phase 1 electric utilities are required to achieve 2% energy savings by 2025 and Phase 2 utilities are required to achieve 5% savings by 2025, relative to 2019 sales. The State Corporation Commission will establish efficiency savings targets for 2026–2028. Gas utilities are not subject to an EERS. Establishing Policies Chapter 933 (2007) HB 1526 (2020) SB 565 (2024)	Buildings and Efficiency	Building Efficiency	2024
Enacted	Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Empty column Virginia has enacted commercial PACE-enabling legislation and has active programs. Establishing Policies Va. Code - 15.2-958.3 (2009)	Buildings and Efficiency	Building Efficiency	2009
Partially Enacted	Weatherization Funding Empty column The State Policy Opportunity Tracker (SPOT) breaks clean energy policies down into “components”, which are binary questions to evaluate policy quality. Higher quality policies have more of their SPOT components fulfilled. Establishing Policies SPOT - Weatherization Funding in Virginia Policy Components enacted enacted not-enacted not-enacted 2/4	Buildings and Efficiency	Building Efficiency
Not Enacted	All-Electric Buildings Empty column All-electric buildings policies require new buildings to be constructed with all-electric heating, cooling, and cooking systems to transition away from fossil-fuel use in buildings.	Buildings and Efficiency	Building Electrification

Virginia

Key Offices & Links

19

43

Southeast

Progress by Policy Area

Climate Governance and Equity

Cross-Sector

Electricity

Buildings and Efficiency

Transportation

Industry, Materials, and Waste Management

Natural and Working Lands

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Projections in Virginia