Norfolk city officials would like to see utility financial assistance extended to more renters, which they say will help cash-strapped residents avoid eviction.
So they are working with Del. Bonita Anthony, a Democrat who plans to introduce a bill in the General Assembly that would make renters with all-inclusive rent payments eligible for utility financial assistance.
The bill would require landlords to separate and itemize the costs of the utilities on monthly bills, which would allow renters to file for financial assistance programs offered by companies such as Dominion Energy.
“We think there’s a sizable number of folks that might be in these all-inclusive rental situations, and we want to provide access to be able to get them to these low-income subsidy programs,” Bryan Pennington, director of government relations for Norfolk, said during a Monday meeting with City Council members and Norfolk’s state delegation.
The proposal is one of several legislative priorities Norfolk officials are backing.
The city also is asking lawmakers to include $200 million in the budget for a regional flood preparedness fund and $50 million to start a new fund that would match local flood mitigation projects. Lawmakers also want a city charter change that would give Norfolk the power to terminate grandfathered land uses for property the city deems adversely impacts public health, safety or welfare after a 2-year period.
Pennington said when Dominion presented its subsidy programs during a town hall meeting last summer, several attendees said they couldn’t apply because their landlord obscured how much they paid for utilities each month.
As a result, Dominion and other utilities have told lawmakers not enough people are applying for the subsidy programs, Pennington said.
At the same time, Pennington said Norfolk’s Department of Housing and Community Development found that emergency expenses of roughly $200, like an unexpected medical or car repair bill, could cause working families to miss out on rent payments and lead to eviction.
Thus, enrollment in financial assistance programs could help those families avoid eviction, he said.
In an emailed statement, Anthony’s office said the bill was being developed after city officials raised concerns. Anthony also is consulting with the Virginia Poverty Law Center, small-scale landlords and various utility providers in drafting the legislation.
Because the legislation had not yet been introduced, it was too early for Dominion to weigh in, company spokesperson Jeremy Slayton said in an email.
Norfolk landlords filed 7,185 eviction cases against tenants in 2025, according to court data analyzed by the Equity Center at the University of Virginia. Eviction filings declined around 23% compared to 9,275 cases in 2024. Judges ruled in favor of eviction in 3,755 of those cases in 2025.
Trevor Metcalfe, 757-222-5345, trevor.metcalfe@pilotonline.com
