VACo County Pulse Podcast

Energy Landscape of Virginia Episode 20 | The Convergence of Farming with Solar: What is Agrivoltaics? 

Joe Lerch talks with Rachel Henley, Working Lands and State Advocacy Specialist with the Virgini…

Episode 19 – Balancing Demand and Supply in the Regional Electric Grid – Discussion with PJM Interconnection. Joe Lerch talks with Jason Stanek, Executive Director of State Government Policy with PJM…

State and Local Housing Policy – Comparison of Maryland and Virginia with MACo Conduit Street Podcast.

Joe Lerch talks with Dominic Butchko, Director of Intergovernmental Relations with the Maryland A…

Joe Lerch talks with Dominic Butchko, Director of Intergovernmental Relations with the Maryland Association of Counties (MACo) to compare both the differences and similarities between Maryland and Vi…

Energy Landscape of Virginia Episode 11 | Nuclear Power, Small Modular Reactors, and Fusion 

In 2023 nuclear power produced approximately one-third of all power from Virginia sources while representin…

Energy Landscape of Virginia Episode 10 | Harvesting Excess Heat from Data Centers for Energy – District Energy Systems

District Energy Systems are a proven engineering solution that conveys heat betw…

Joe Lerch talks with Aaron Berryhill, Solar Program Manager with Virginia Department of Energy on the latest numbers in Virginia for solar installations. We cover a wide range of sources that inform …

Joe Lerch and VACo Executive Director Dean Lynch provide an update on the status of legislation relating to Data Centers and Utility-Scale Solar.

Where to find out more about topics covered in this ep…

“Data Centers in Virginia” JLARC Report – Interview with Mark Gribbin

In this episode we sit down with Mark Gribbin, Chief Legislative Analyst with the  Joint Legislative Audit Review Commission (JLAR…

Joe Lerch and VACo Executive Director Dean Lynch provide an update on solar industry lobbying efforts to preempt local authority on siting of utility-scale facilities and what VACo and its members wi…

Part 2. After learning about the opportunities for repurposing abandoned mine land for data centers in our 1st part with Will Clear and Will Payne, we visit with Mike Hatfield and Natalie Chapman fro…

Listen in to Part 1 of a two-part episode recorded in Washington County, where we sit down with business partners Will Clear and Will Payne, who are investing in Southwest Virginia with a particular …

Draft Revisions to DEQ Solar Permit-By-Rule (PBR) Regulations – HB 206

This episode reviews regulations that amend the requirements for utility-scale solar installations to receive state permits to op…

Utility-Scale Solar – Legislative Outlook with Dean Lynch

In the first of a 2-part episode, Joe Lerch sits down with VACo Executive Director Dean Lynch to discuss the big picture on state energy polic…

Utility-Scale Solar – Erosion Control and Stormwater with Mike Rolband

In Part 2 of our episode on Utility-Scale Solar, Joe Lerch sits down with Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Dire…