ACTION ALERT: Speak Up for a Strong Solar Ordinance in Albemarle County!
On July 16, 2025, at Albemarle County’s public hearing on the draft solar ordinance, C3 is calling on the climate advocacy community: let’s get this ordinance passed!
Here are three upcoming opportunities to get involved:
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Virtual Lunch & Learn with C3
To help the community prepare to give public comment, C3 is holding a virtual Lunch and Learn on Tuesday, July 16, at 12pm, where we’ll discuss how the ordinance drafts have evolved in relation to public input over the past year. We’ll discuss our support for passing the ordinance now, and share tips on how to deliver a public comment.
Click below to register to attend the virtual event.
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Get Creative and Be Seen
Help create a strong, visible presence at the hearing. Whether or not you speak, your presence matters. Join us at the C3 office at 232 E High St in Charlottesville, any time from 4-5:30pm on July 17. We’ll use the time before the hearing to make signs, discuss the ordinance, and then head to the hearing together. Strength in numbers!
Click below to add the event to your online calendar.
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Join C3 at the Public Hearing
The Board of Supervisors is holding a public hearing on the revised solar ordinance at the Lane Auditorium on McIntire in Charlottesville on Wednesday, July 17, 6pm. Show up to tell the Board: local climate advocates support passing the ordinance now.
Click below to RSVP by email and let C3 know you plan to join local climate advocates at the hearing.
Reach out to the Board directly
Whether or not you can attend the Lunch and Learn or join in person on the day, you can still make your voice heard.
Email bos@albemarle.org with the subject line “Please pass the solar ordinance on July 17” and let the Board of Supervisors know that you want them to urgently pass this solar ordinance now, so that we can start to see the benefits of streamlining the ordinance sooner.
You can also go to the County website to attach an eComment to the agenda, once it becomes available in the days before the public hearing. eComments are publicly viewable and are a great way to speak up and stand behind your beliefs when you can’t attend a hybrid hearing!
Albemarle County has committed to bold climate goals, including net-zero emissions by 2050. A critical step toward achieving those goals is expanding access to clean, renewable energy like solar. The County is now considering updates to its solar ordinance — and your voice can help ensure this new policy moves us forward, not backward.
This is a pivotal moment. The updated ordinance will guide how solar is developed in our County for years to come. C3 supports the ordinance – not because it’s perfect, but because it’s a vital step forward in creating clear, consistent solar rules that developers, landowners, and community members can rely on.
For more on solar ordinances - including what makes a good one – see our Solar FAQs!
Why Support the Ordinance?
Introducing by-right solar facilities
Allowing by-right solar facilities up to 21 acres of fenced area streamlines smaller, community-scale projects that don’t require transmission lines. By-right solar provisions are not a given in the Commonwealth, and including them in the County’s ordinance opens up new economic opportunities.
Community-scale development
Adopting the ordinance now could enable smaller, more agile projects to act quickly and make use of these credits while also bringing the County closer to meeting its decarbonization goals.
Climate advocacy has delivered
Albemarle has been working on its solar ordinance for two years now, with the first draft having been released in January 2024. Since that time, C3 and our community has stayed engaged with the updated revisions, which have each taken anywhere from 6 months to a year to complete. The current proposed draft is now a vast improvement from where we started.
Bringing clarity to the County
Without a clear, functional local ordinance in place, solar developers are left with uncertainty, stalling projects that could bring clean power, local investment, and community benefits.
Federal incentives uncertain
Time-sensitive federal funding and incentive are being terminated early under Trump’s budget bill, and projects whose construction commences over 12 months after the adoption of the bill must enter service by 31 December, 2027, to qualify for existing IRA incentives.
Staying vigiliant
Passing the ordinance now doesn’t mean the conversation is over. C3 and our partners will monitor the impacts of the ordinance on solar progress in the County and how it works to expand opportunities — but we need a solid foundation in place first.