Category: Business and Economy
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Rent Control Bill Introduced in Virginia
by Hans Bader A just-introduced Virginia bill, HB 192, would limit rent increases to “one percent over the Consumer Price Index” in places where the rental vacancy rate is “less than 10 percent,” if the “Consumer Price Index … is greater than five percent.” Virginia has a rental vacancy rate of about 4%, well below…
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Richmond’s Meals Tax Disaster
by Jon Baliles (These reports were published first by RVA 5×5 and are republished here with permission.) Starting about 25 years ago, Richmond’s restaurant scene began its ascent into the local consciousness as our region’s favorite (and only) professional sport. Offerings expanded and ventured into new directions and opened peoples eyes and expanded our tastes;…
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Hey Virginia: Hands Off Those Cake Pops
by Kerry Dougherty There’s a reason Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s approval rating in the latest Mason-Dixon Poll perches at a lofty 58 percent in this once-blue state, despite Republicans losing control of the legislature in November’s election. Youngkin gets it. On X, he wrote: “We’re going to fix this, Virginia will always be the best place…
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Keep Carytown Safe for Cars
by Jon Baliles The debate about making Richmond’s Carytown a car-free zone is edging closer to the forefront in recent months with strong opinions, interesting suggestions, some good ideas, and some bad ones. The Times-Dispatch Editorial Board weighed in with its opinion, and it was vocal. It’s worth the entire read and filled with stats…
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Sorry, Senator. Zalenskyy is No George Washington
by Kerry Dougherty Tim Kaine jumped the shark. Get a load of the nonsense this United States Senator – from VIRGINIA – Tweeted on Tuesday: President Zelenskyy spoke to the Senate today about the critical role of American support for Ukrainian democracy. He stood beneath a portrait of George Washington, who helped birth an America…
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SCC Examiner Says No to Dominion Gas Plans
By Steve Haner A hearing examiner at the Virginia State Corporation Commission has recommended rejection of Dominion Virginia Energy’s plan to maintain and add to its fleet of fossil fuel generators. It failed to overcome the presumption in state law that all such plants must go away, she wrote. In her extensive report following the…
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Virginia’s Final (Maybe) RGGI Tax Grab: $97M
by Steve Haner Virginia has participated in its final (for a while anyway) Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative auction and the proceeds on the carbon tax set a new record, with Virginia collecting more than $97 million in one swoop. The total carbon tax take for the state is just under $828 million in three years.…
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Virginia Beach Nixes Kitty Hawk Wind Cables
by Steve Haner The political leaders of the City of Virginia Beach have informed an offshore wind developer that they oppose its plan to bring power cables ashore at Sandbridge Beach. No formal vote was taken on the application, however, according to media reports. The story appeared in The Virginian-Pilot and on local television station…
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Excess Profits Squeezed Out From Dominion Rates
By Steve Haner The long struggle to prevent Dominion Energy Virginia from earning excess profits in its base rates year after year appears to be over and consumers finally won. That is the main takeaway as the first general review of its base rates since the 2023 regulatory re-write is moving toward a quick settlement.…
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Virginia Must Investigate and Control the Relationships of Its State Institutions of Higher Learning With the Government of China
by James C. Sherlock The title of this article seems at first glance axiomatic. After all, the power “to conduct … all intercourse with other and foreign states” is granted in the state constitution to the Governor. Yet that power has been assumed by some Virginia state institutions of higher education (IHEs) with the apparent approval…
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Dominion Wind May Be Sued, Hikes Customer Bills
by Steve Haner Two national activist groups on energy and environmental issues, both with connections to Virginia, have taken the first legal steps to challenge the recent federal approvals for Virginia’s planned offshore wind complex. Most of what follows is directly from their announcement dated November 14. The Heartland Institute and the Committee for a Constructive…
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William and Mary and the Chinese Communist Party – Dangerous Allies – Part 3
by James C. Sherlock Chinese fighter and U.S. jet over South China Sea. Courtesy CNN and YouTube. William and Mary’s superb AidData program makes major contributions to America’s understanding of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). The school is justly proud of it. AidData published in December of 2021 a study Corridors of Power –…
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Never Again
by James C. Sherlock At 78, I have been all over the world often and for long periods of time. I felt myself reasonably immune to cultural surprises. But I had never seen anything like this. It was the Maghrib prayer time about 5 p.m. on Saturday. On the southeast corner of 12th and Pennsylvania…
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SCC Approves Paying Extra for Fuel As “Relief”
by Steve Haner The Virginia State Corporation Commission has approved Dominion Energy Virginia’s request to stretch out the back payments on $1.3 billion in old fuel bills from previous years over more than seven years. While the ultimate dollar cost to customers is millions higher because of interest charges, even the SCC news release touted…
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“Good old TikTok: Chinese spy engine and purveyor of virulent antisemitic lies.” Sen. Josh Hawley
by James C. Sherlock Taylor Lorenz, the estimable young Tech and Online Culture columnist for The Washington Post, has been the author of some of the most important reports on the Hamas-Israel war. Today, she published with Drew Harwell, a Post reporter covering artificial intelligence and the algorithms changing our lives, “Israel-Gaza war sparks debate…