VACo County Pulse Podcast

Energy Landscape of Virginia | Episode 26 | Dark Sky Parks and Reducing Light Pollution

Energy Landscape of Virginia Episode 26 | Dark Sky Parks and Reducing Light Pollution We visit two dark sky certified parks to learn how these places take advantage of a neglected and diminishing…

S2E25 Energy Landscape of Virginia | Episode 25 | VEPGA

Energy Landscape of Virginia Episode 25 | Purchasing electricity for local governments from Dominion Energy In a conversation with Stephen Burr, Energy Manager for Arlington County, and John Lord,…

Energy Landscape of Virginia | Episode 24 | Energy Related Legislation in the 2026 General Assembly

Energy Landscape of Virginia Episode 24 | Update on Energy Legislation from 2026 Virginia Legislative Session In a conversation with VACo Deputy Director Katie Boyle, we learn about the proposal to…

S1E5 Uplifting Our Children Through Education | Episode 5 | JLARC

Virginia’s K-12 Funding Formula: What the JLARC Report Means for Counties — and What Comes Next In the latest episode of VACo’s Uplifting Our Children Through Education podcast series, host Jeremy R.…

S1E4 Uplifting Our Children Through Education | Episode 4 | Education Advocacy

Championing K-12: Advocacy & Collaboration Between Boards of Supervisors and School BoardsIn this episode of Uplifting Our Children Through Education, host Jeremy Bennett sits down with J.T.…

S1E3 Uplifting Our Children Through Education | Episode 3 | Prince Edward County, School Funding & Infrastructure; Honoring the Past — Building the Future

In this episode of the Uplifting Our Children Through Education series, host Jeremy R. Bennett sits down with three local leaders from Prince Edward County to explore the powerful intersection of…

S2E23 Energy Landscape of Virginia | Episode 23 | Managing Forest Products for Sustainable Energy and Aviation Fuel

Energy Landscape of Virginia Episode 23 | Using Wood Byproducts to Make Sustainable Energy. In a conversation with Terry Lasher, Executive Director for the Virginia Forestry Association, we learn how…

S2E22 Energy Landscape of Virginia | Episode 22 | Logging and Biomass Energy Production

Energy Landscape of Virginia Episode 22 | Logging and Biomass Energy Production. Joe Lerch visits the Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative (NOVEC) Halifax County Biomass plant to learn how biomass…

S2E21 Energy Landscape of Virginia | Episode 21 | Managing Virginia’s Forest with Biomass Energy Production

Joe Lerch and James Hutzler visit Rob Farrell, State Forester and Director of the Virginia Department of Forestry, to learn how management of Virginia’s oak and hickory forests can be combined with…

S1E2 Uplifting Our Children Through Education | Episode 2 | Gloucester County and School Construction; When A Community Comes Together

In this episode of the Uplifting Our Children Through Education series, Host Jeremy Bennett sits down with County Administrator Carol Steele and Deputy County Administrator Maria Calloway of…

S2E20 Energy Landscape of Virginia | Episode 20 | The Convergence of Farming with Solar: What is Agrivoltaics?

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…

S1E19 Energy Landscape of Virginia | Episode 19 | Balancing Demand and Supply in the Regional Electric Grid– discussion with PJM Interconnection

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…

S1E18 Energy Landscape of Virginia | Episode 18 | Bonus Housing Episode with MACo

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…

S1E17 Energy Landscape of Virginia | Episode 17 | State Energy Policy – Comparison of Maryland and Virginia with MACo Conduit Street Podcast

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…

S1E1 Uplifting Our Children Through Education | Episode 1

Energy Landscape of Virginia | Episode 16 | Nuclear Power, Small Modular Reactors, and Fusion

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…

Energy Landscape of Virginia | Episode 15 | Harvesting Excess Heat from Data Centers for Energy – District Energy Systems

Energy Landscape of Virginia Episode 10 | Harvesting Excess Heat from Data Centers for Energy – District Energy SystemsDistrict Energy Systems are a proven engineering solution that conveys heat…

Energy Landscape of Virginia | Episode 14 | Solar by the Numbers – Facts and Figures

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…

Energy Landscape of Virginia | Episode 13 | Virginia General Assembly Update – Legislation on Data Centers and Utility-Scale Solar

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…

S4E7 Energy Landscape of Virginia | Episode 12 | “Data Centers in Virginia” JLARC Report – Interview with Mark Gribbin

“Data Centers in Virginia” JLARC Report – Interview with Mark GribbinIn this episode we sit down with Mark Gribbin, Chief Legislative Analyst with the  Joint Legislative Audit Review Commission…