Category: Regulations, Gov’t Oversight
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On Energy Efficiency, Ratepayers Lose Again
Fellow electricity ratepayers, we just took it in the neck again. This morning’s Richmond Times-Dispatch brings the news that Dominion Energy Virginia will not seek to count lost revenue as one of the cost elements in the energy efficiency program it was ordered to undertake by the 2018 Ratepayer Bill Transformation Act. This follows an…
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Grass No, Hemp Yes! New VA Law Signed
Two years of trade-dispute induced tariffs have decimated Virginia’s tobacco farmers, the president of Virginia’s Board for Agriculture and Consumer Services told his fellow board members Thursday. As he spoke Governor Ralph Northam was upstairs in the same building preparing to sign legislation the industry hopes provides a path forward for those same farmers. Hemp. …
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SCC Details High Customer Cost of RGGI
The State Corporation Commission staff has “shown its work” on an earlier estimate of electricity rate increases resulting from Virginia’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, despite a Democratic legislator’s complaint in Sunday’s Washington Post it was not being transparent. “Even if you agree with the SCC, its analyses should be public information designed…
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Next Up: Carbon Tax, Cap and Trade On Your SUV
They are coming next for your SUV. While the Air Pollution Control Board still has steps to take, it is safe to consider Virginia’s membership in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative a done deal. That will quickly hit you in your electric bill, as Virginia’s two major electricity generators will have to pay a tax…
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Updates: IRP Amendments, Utility Tax Cuts
Dominion Files IRP Amendments, Cost Scenarios Requested by SCC Late last week Dominion Virginia Power filed a summary of amendments and additions to its rejected Integrated Resource Plan, along with a legal memorandum arguing with the SCC over what parts of the 2018 Ratepayer Bill Transformation Act are mandates. Dominion, of course, uses its name for…
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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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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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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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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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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,…
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Virginia Goes Wet With Nary A Whimper
It has only been a century since Prohibition was approved with ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1919. Is it finally over in Virginia? For Virginia, a century is but a moment. Are we rushing this? A bill is sitting on Governor Ralph Northam’s desk that would not have been successful ten years ago, would…
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GA Bills You For Industrial Electricity Discount
The people who make the real decisions about what we pay for electricity in Virginia, which would be the members of the General Assembly, have just cut electricity costs for large Dominion Energy Virginia customers by up to $10 million and shifted those costs over to other customer classes, including residential. This is yet another…
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RGGI Debate Continues With New Comment Period
The clock is ticking toward a March 6 deadline if you are burning with a desire to comment on the latest version of Virginia’s proposed Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative regulation. Perusing the hundreds of comments from the 2018 round of comments, there may not be much to add. If you liked the first version, you’ll…