As Virginia grapples with rapidly increasing energy demands and skyrocketing utility bills, a group of state lawmakers are looking deeper into energy efficiency, community solar, and energy storage. They also talked about the uncertainty around community solar investments and the rollout of energy storage plans. Key recommendations from the Virginia Energy Efficiency Council include increasing investments into energy efficiency programs for low-income households to upgrade their homes and waste less energy. “Investments in energy efficiency is a very least-cost way to save money, save electricity, save energy, and help reduce pressure on the grid,” Hearne said. There are many battery storage projects in the interconnection pipeline for the regional transmission grid, PJM, to approve.