The VPM Daily Newscast contains all your Central Virginia news in just 5 to 10 minutes. Episodes are recorded the night before.
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Here’s a recap of the top stories on the morning of Sept. 7, 2023:
Midsize solar developers in limbo after Dominion requirement spiked by SCC
Reported by VPM News’ Patrick Larsen
After state regulators suspended Dominion-imposed requirements for connecting certain solar facilities to the grid, some developers are optimistic — but unsure of how to move forward.
Dominion established interconnection parameters for midsized distributed solar facilities in December 2022 without approval by regulators. The parameters required installation of expensive technologies that can take a solar facility offline in a fraction of a second, in case of emergency. But solar developers and environmentalists with the Virginia Distributed Solar Alliance said the cost was prohibitive.
The State Corporation Commission agreed, suspending the parameters last week and telling Dominion it can raise the issue in other ongoing solar regulation cases.
Virginia lawmakers pass bipartisan budget with teacher pay raises, tax rebates
Reported by VPM News’ Ben Paviour
Virginia lawmakers overwhelmingly passed a budget agreement Wednesday that would send an additional $645 million to state public schools and give teachers a 2% raise — on top of the 5% increase approved last year.
The agreement is the result of months of talks between a small group of negotiators in the Democrat-controlled state Senate and GOP-majority House of Delegates. It’s now up to Gov. Glenn Youngkin to either approve the agreement as-is or submit amendments to lawmakers in the next seven days.
In other news:
- VCU fills in its footprint, instead of expanding campus (Richmond Times-Dispatch)*
In case you missed it:
- Wells Fargo closing downtown branch at 2nd and Grace (Richmond BizSense)*
- Two arrested in Montgomery County as pipeline protests continue (The Roanoke Times)*
- Cannabis-related stores are popping up across Virginia amid confusion over the state’s marijuana laws (Cardinal News)
*This outlet utilizes a paywall.
