Clarifying non-agricultural status of solar farms
This bill amends West Virginia tax and agriculture codes to clarify that solar generation facilities are not considered "farming" for property tax valuation or agricultural classification purposes. Specifically, it removes solar farms from definitions of "farm property" and "agricultural operation" if they produce commercially sold electricity or are used beyond supporting farm residences or farming activities. The change applies to any acreage using solar facilities for non-farming purposes, though farms retain their classification if solar panels are installed only on farm buildings like barns or residences. This directly affects property tax assessments for solar farm operators and ensures solar development isn't classified under agricultural land use rules.
Bill status
in committee
1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Feb 12, 2025
Last action Mar 13, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison
What changed between versions
Introduced Version
→
Committee Substitute
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4 edits
MODERATE
The bill clarifies that solar farms are not considered agricultural operations or engaged in farming for tax appraisal purposes, even if solar panels are elevated to allow grazing underneath. This removes a previous exception that allowed certain solar farms to be classified as agricultural operations if they met specific elevation requirements. The change broadens the definition to exclude all solar generation facilities regardless of panel height, while still protecting farms that install solar panels only on existing farm buildings.
Scope change
The bill's scope expanded to explicitly exclude all solar generation facilities from agricultural operation definitions, removing the previous elevation-based exception that allowed some solar farms to qualify for agricultural tax treatment.
DEFINITION
Modified the definition of 'agricultural operation' to exclude all solar generation facilities regardless of panel elevation, removing the previous exception for elevated arrays allowing animal grazing.
Added explicit reference to §22-32-3(f) for the definition of 'solar generation facility' to provide legal clarity.
ELIGIBILITY
Modified tax appraisal eligibility criteria to clarify that solar farms cannot be classified as agricultural operations for property tax purposes.
Modified provisions to clarify that acreage using solar facilities for commercial electricity production cannot be considered farm property for tax purposes.
Floor votes
How they voted
No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
6
Key actions
1
Committee
4
Mar 13, 2025
Committee
To Finance
upper
Mar 13, 2025
Upper · Passed
Committee substitute reported, but first to Finance
upper
Feb 12, 2025
Committee
To Agriculture
upper
Feb 12, 2025
Introduced
Introduced in Senate
upper
Feb 12, 2025
Committee
To Agriculture then Finance
upper
1 primary · 1 co-sponsor
Sponsors
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