Author: Steve Haner
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Back to Taxaginia: Add A New Wealth Tax
The 2019 General Assembly is a dust storm in the rear-view mirror, but the four state tax increases that were discussed in “Taxaginia” last November are still in the road ahead. This post revises and extends my reporting on their status in this morning’s Richmond Times-Dispatch, featured on the Commentary section front. In a piece…
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VNG Accused of Tilting Bid Process to Affiliate
A State Corporation Commission hearing examiner has recommended that a proposed agreement between Virginia Natural Gas and an affiliated asset manager be rejected and put out to bid once more, with their shared parent entity Southern Company Gas not making the decision this time. The proposed agreement, a continuation of a relationship dating back to…
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Environmental Groups Supported Paying “Lost Revenue” Before They Opposed It
Paying an electric utility for power it doesn’t sell is the economic equivalent of paying a farmer not to grow corn or soybeans, and the result will be the same as well – higher consumer prices. In a legal memorandum filed Friday, Dominion Energy Virginia doubled down on its request that about 40 percent of the…
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Amazon Local Incentives Not Worth A Revolution
One of the self-styled revolutionaries seeking to prevent Amazon from planting its second headquarters in Arlington County complains the local incentive package offered is $23 million. A research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University puts the total at $51 million. The actual monetary value is elusive and still to be determined. Both…
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“Left In Appropriations” Ends Many a Bill History
Fighting words to a member of the State Senate: “Left in Appropriations.” That phrase appears at the abrupt end of the bill history for so many pieces of Senate legislation (and plenty of House bills, too.) See for yourself – it is quite a list. All bills died with adjournment Sunday. I went looking there…
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Are Republicans Really Hostile to Solar Energy?
Among those testifying during the marathon public hearing this week on a proposed Spotsylvania County solar installation was a former GOP operative turned lobbyist (sounds familiar) who identified himself as “executive director for Conservatives for Clean Energy Virginia.”
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Welcome To a World You Made, Democrats
Dear Democrats: Welcome to our world. Signed, Republicans I’m sorry, watching Democrats react in horror as the Leftist Outrage Machine seeks to destroy the Northams using the tactics all Republicans know so well, it’s just amusing as hell. I hope Senator Chap Peterson remembers his defense of Mrs. Northam when the world returns to equilibrium and…
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Another Day, Another Load Aggregation Petition
Efforts by large electricity customers to aggregate their locations into one account eligible to seek a competitive supplier suffered a setback in Monday’s ruling against one such petition. But another set of petitioners was in a State Corporation Commission hearing room Wednesday taking another crack at it. The petition rejected Monday was from Wal-Mart and…
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Hanoi’s Most Hallowed Ground
I hope he doesn’t profane this hallowed place with his presence. Apparently, the Vietnamese are using it for their own propaganda purposes, but it remains a memorial to great American heroes, whatever your views on that war. Surely a man who passed on a trip to Belleau Wood will also stay away from the Hanoi…
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SCC Decision Denying Aggregation Choice: Read It
Others will have this story and I like to post things on Bacon’s Rebellion which are unique. But I do have something to add to today’s State Corporation Commission decision to deny Wal-Mart Stores permission to leave Virginia’s monopoly electric companies. The short decision is worth reading.
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Tax Break Powers Opposition To Huge Solar Farm
If the East Coast’s largest solar generation facility, proposed for Spotsylvania County, is rejected by its Board of Supervisors this week, one of the reasons will be the major tax advantages sought by that industry and granted by the General Assembly. The tax exemption is at the heart of the final argument put forward by one…
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PG&E Efficiency Program’s Contrary Results
Okay, for the wonks among you: At my request, the State Corporation Commission staff directed me to the full report on Pacific Gas and Electric’s Home Energy Report (HER) Program, which found that more people in the program increased their consumption of electricity and gas than decreased it.
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Taking Some Pain Out of Eminent Domain
Four successful bills heading for Governor Ralph Northam’s desk may combine into a measurable shift in Virginia’s condemnation laws in favor of the targeted landowners. They may also spark a race to the courthouse between now and when some go into effect July 1. The biggest financial impact may come from Senator Frank Ruff’s Senate…
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Three Lessons From Dominion’s Income Tax Case
If you thought the tax conformity debate took too long at the General Assembly, check out the fight at the State Corporation Commission over Dominion Energy Virginia’s corporate income tax bill. The SCC still hasn’t decided how much to cut Dominion’s base rates to reflect its lower income tax payments, but a decision is close.…
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Fresh RAC Tracker Doesn’t Reflect What’s Coming
The State Corporation Commission staff has provided an updated version of a table tracking the possible rate impact of various Dominion Energy Virginia cases pending before the commission, most creating or adjusting rate adjustment clauses (RACs). It starts with a baseline of $117.64 for the February monthly cost to that famous 1000-kilowatt hour typical customer,…