Author: Steve Haner
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Without Full $1B Tax Cut, Let July 1 Deadline Pass
by Steve Haner Because the federal government cannot operate without constantly borrowing money, members of Congress in both parties recently held their noses and voted for a compromise budget and borrowing deal. That need not and should not happen now in Virginia. There is no similar pressure in Virginia, even though the June 30 end…
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New Jefferson Institute CEO: Derrick Max
The following was released this morning by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy: The Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy announced today that Derrick Max has been appointed the new CEO and President of Virginia’s non-partisan, free-market public policy organization. An experienced thought leader and advocate, Derrick Max will succeed outgoing CEO Chris Braunlich,…
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Is Dominion Campaigning Behind a Front Again?
By Steve Haner An electric power industry lobbying and public relations group which has been financially supported by Dominion Energy Virginia is mailing out flyers to voters praising legislative incumbents who helped Dominion pass favorable legislation this year. A mailer supporting incumbent Fairfax Democratic Senator George Barker caused the Democrat blog Blue Virginia to respond…
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First Lawsuit Over Whales and Wind Dismissed
By Steve Haner A federal district judge in Massachusetts has rejected an effort to stop an offshore wind project near Nantucket Island on the basis of danger to whales, apparently the first court test of similar claims being raised against wind turbine proposals along the U.S. eastern seaboard, including here in Virginia. On May 17,…
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The Subversive Power of Doughnuts
by Steve Haner Let me get this straight. An elected member of the General Assembly comes to school buildings to give doughnuts to teachers in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week and the leftist Democrat agitators of the teachers’ union are “triggered”? They whine about her generosity to the gutless school management, which then caves to…
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Dominion Seeks Permit to Harass 100s of Whales
By David Wojick The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is taking public comments on a massive proposal to harass large numbers of whales and other marine mammals off Virginia by building a huge offshore wind complex. There is supposed to be an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed harassment, but it is not there…
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Renewables? Fossil Fuels? Americans Want Both.
by Steve Haner Given a choice between an energy future that is dependent on a) generation using sun, wind or falling water; or b) thermal generation sources using fossil fuels or uranium; or c) a combination of both, which do Americans prefer? Should it surprise anybody that the answer is both? Reliance on both, the…
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Christie Using FERC Pulpit for Dire Prophecy
by Steve Haner Virginian Mark Christie is using his position on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as a national pulpit to preach a message of energy reliability doom, and he is being heard. It helps that he is not alone in spreading the alarm. It also helps that he is basing his warning on actual…
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CVOW on Schedule and Budget, Utility Reports
by Steve Haner Dominion Energy Virginia’s first wave of offshore wind remains on schedule, and within the announced capital cost of $9.8 billion; and the cost per unit of the energy from the turbines will be lower than initially projected, the utility reported last week. Details? Well, many of those are secrets. Much of the…
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Hearing Held, No Vote Taken on Beach Wind Cables
by Steve Haner One four-hour public hearing was not enough. Virginia Beach City Council wants another such debate before it votes on a wind company’s request to bring power cables ashore at Sandbridge Beach. Last week’s hearing on Kitty Hawk North’s application for an easement to bury cables apparently was not covered by any Hampton…
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Combining RACs in Base Rates May Be “Bill Relief”
by Steve Haner Simpler is usually better. Monthly electric bills for many Virginians are about to get less complex, and in the short run also lower. Will that lower cost be long term? It is too soon to tell. On July 1 Dominion Virginia Power will stop collecting separate monthly payments on its bills for…
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Putting Off Paying Your Debt is Not “Bill Relief”
by Steve Haner Whether customers pay a lot more for one year starting this July, or just a little bit more for ten years starting next winter, Dominion Energy Virginia’s entire backlog of accumulated fuel costs from prior years will be paid in full. Every dollar will come from customers, with annual interest tacked on…
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Dominion’s New Plan Abandons Carbon Free Goal
by Steve Haner Dominion Energy Virginia has long been warning, albeit somewhat quietly, that the dream of running Virginia’s economy on nothing but solar, wind and battery power was not based on reality. With the filing of its most recent integrated resource plan (IRP) on May 1, proposing how to meet customer needs out 25…
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Marking Five Years: My Most Read Posts
by Steve Haner With the end of April, five years have passed since Jim Bacon gave me a password for Bacon’s Rebellion and the semi-honorary title of contributing editor, probably no longer applicable. Subscribers numbered one-sixth of what they are now, but it has been clear from the beginning that some of the state’s political…
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Residents Ask VA Beach to Reject Wind Easement
By Steve Haner Opposition to offshore wind is stirring in Virginia Beach, but the focus is on a North Carolina proposal that would bring its power ashore at Sandbridge Beach, not the Dominion Energy Virginia project which is closer to the state’s largest city. Private energy developer Avangrid Renewables LLC still needs a key easement…