Virginia
Summary
Virginia lawmakers are considering allowing utilities and local governments to test geothermal heating and cooling networks.
The discussion builds on legislation passed earlier this year. Senate Bill 252 and House Bill 1102 created a carve-out for geothermal heating and cooling systems within Virginia’s renewable portfolio standard and require Dominion Energy Virginia and Appalachian Power to begin obtaining a portion of their renewable energy certificates from qualifying geothermal systems in 2027.
Lawmakers also heard about a geothermal project underway at the University of Virginia’s Fontaine Research Park.
Paul Zmick, UVA’s director of energy and utilities, said the university is already integrating a data center into its heating and cooling system at Fontaine Research Park, where 100 geothermal wells have been drilled and as many as 650 are planned.
Continue Reading
You can watch the discussion below; the UVA presentation given by Paul Zmick takes place 1:16:22 in the video.
Watch the Session!
#MemberNewsIDEA
#UniversityofVirginia
#GeothermalandGeo-Exchange
#DataCenter