Category: Utilities
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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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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…
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One Case, Five Virginia Energy Reg Failures
by Steve Haner How badly broken is Virginia’s energy regulatory system? One recent State Corporation Commission decision on Dominion Energy Virginia’s proposed next wave of solar projects illustrates several of the problems. The projects are unimportant, routine. What matters are the policy failures revealed. Only the rich can look at the future and yawn.
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SCC Agrees Dominion Must Own Most Wind, Solar
By Steve Haner The State Corporation Commission has rejected arguments that the Virginia Clean Economy Act would allow Virginia’s dominant electric utility to get more than 35% of its new wind, solar and battery power from third party suppliers. Dominion Energy Virginia is guaranteed by law (actually, required is the better word) to own 65%…
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Youngkin Energy Reforms Killed Without Votes
By Steve Haner Governor Glenn Youngkin’s proposal to ensure that any future wave of wind turbines built off Virginia must follow a real competitive bid process ended up dead as a beached whale. The General Assembly didn’t just kill his proposed amendment during its reconvened session April 12, it refused to even take up the…
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Youngkin Seeks Bids on Future Offshore Wind
By Steve Haner Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) has proposed a stronger requirement in state law that any second wave of offshore wind serving Virginia be subjected to a competitive procurement process, rather than simply allowing Dominion Energy Virginia to build it with all the costs and risks imposed on its customers. The planned 176-turbine Coastal…
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APCO VCEA Plan Keeps Coal Until 2040 (In WVA)
by Steve Haner Appalachian Power Company (APCO), serving Western Virginia, has now filed its annual update on Virginia Clean Economy Act compliance, including long term bill impact estimates. As the State Corporation Commission begins its review process, here are some highlights: The projected increases in electric bills are little changed and perhaps a bit lower…
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Lower Bills? Green Energy Keeps Them Climbing.
by Steve Haner Customer cost projections for compliance with the Virginia Clean Economy Act have increased again from the first such estimates made in 2020. The bill for 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity from Dominion Energy Virginia to power a home for a month may rise almost $100, or 83%, by 2035. Dominion residential customers…
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“Cheap” Solar Costs More Than Offshore Wind?
by Steve Haner In preparing for the latest round of new additions to its solar generation assets, Dominion Energy Virginia rejected eight privately- developed projects which were substantially cheaper than the projects it wanted to build on its own with ratepayer money. Just how much more expensive the company-owned projects will be is not clear,…
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Under RGGI Virginia Releases More CO2, Not Less
by Steve Haner Since Virginia joined the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) compact at the start of 2021, according to data reported by the U.S. Energy Information Agency, the amount of carbon dioxide emitted to provide electricity to customers in the state has grown. Despite two years of RGGI caps and taxes, total CO2 emissions…
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SCC, SMR Nukes Caught in Energy Wars Deadlock
by Steve Haner What the 2023 General Assembly didn’t pass is also an important Virginia energy policy story, starting with failure on its part to fill the two open seats on the crucial State Corporation Commission. This follows its failure last year to fill one open seat on the three-judge panel. As reported yesterday, advocates…
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SCC Oversight Restored, Don’t Expect Lower Bills
by Steve Haner The final version of a regulatory revision for Dominion Energy Virginia restores State Corporation Commission authority over the utility’s profit margin and rates, a major goal for Governor Glenn Youngkin (R). It was also the highest priority in a detailed energy policy put forward by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy.…
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RTD Promises Lower Electric Bills? Watch and See.
From this morning’s Richmond Times-Dispatch: A reduction in Dominion Energy bills is on the way after a compromise on a new approach to regulate the company made it through the General Assembly on the last day of the session…. The compromise on electric bills — in legislation that passed nearly unanimously — would bring an…
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General Assembly: Status of Selected Issues
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn on Saturday, February 25. Time to check on the status of some issues that have been discussed on this blog. Budget bill. The budget bill contains not only the usual appropriations, but also all those tax cuts proposed by the Governor. There is activity behind…