Category: Regulations, Gov’t Oversight
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Peeling Back Another Layer of the Grid Modernization Debate
A critical point has gone missing in the debate over the Grid Transformation and Improvement Act: the effect of regulatory changes on the ability of Virginia’s electric utilities to borrow money. Electric utilities like Dominion Energy Virginia and Appalachian Power Co. are highly leveraged; that is, a high percentage of their capital base consists of…
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Will Grid Transformation Allow Utility Double Dipping?
Dominion says the Grid Transformation Act will provide stable electric rates and a clean, reliable grid. Foes fear that the legislation will rip off customers and fatten utility profits. As the Grid Transformation and Security Act of 2018 wends its way through the General Assembly, lawmakers and lobbyists are focusing on a key question: Will…
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A View from the Trenches: Ending the Freeze
by Chris Saxman Statesmen should remember that they have been elected to persuade and to lead, and not just to accept as fixed the momentary moods and pernicious prejudices of the public. — Stanley Hoffman Professor Hoffman might have been quite pleased watching yesterday’s Senate Commerce and Labor Committee as the compromise legislation…
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Northam, Cox Agree to Roll Back State Regs
Governor Ralph Northam and House of Delegates Speaker Kirk Cox announced legislation yesterday that would launch a pilot program to “remove burdensome and unnecessary regulatory requirements facing hard working Virginians.” “We have a responsibility to constantly evaluate every regulatory requirement and policy to ensure that it is doing its job in the least restrictive way…
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Compromise Bill Ending the Rate Freeze Advances In Senate
How good is the electric-regulation compromise worked out between the governor’s office, electric utilities, consumers, and other interest groups? It’s so good, Sen. Frank Wagner, R-Virginia Beach, said today that the average homeowner will see electric rates locked in at 2009 levels “for a long time,” even as Virginia invests heavily in solar power, wind…
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Tinkering with the Electricity Regulation Bill
In yesterday’s fast-moving action in the General Assembly, bills to end the electricity rate freeze underwent several important changes. I have done no original reporting here. I’m just extracting key details from Robert Zullo’s article in today’s Richmond Times-Dispatch. A substitute bill submitted by Del. Terry Kilgore, R-Scott: Increases one-time rebates to Dominion Virginia Energy…
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Bills Would Prevent Ratepayer Refunds for Six Years, SCC Says
Proposals to overhaul Virginia’s system for regulating electric rates would provide no opportunity for the State Corporation Commission (SCC) to order refunds to rate payers until 2024 for Appalachian Power Company and 2025 for Dominion Energy Virginia, concludes a State Corporation Commission analysis of Senate Bills 966 and 967. The SCC conducted the analysis at…
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E-Lofts and the Recycling of Old Office Properties
Fairfax County has more than 18 million square feet of vacant office space, with little hope of filling it in the foreseeable future. Having already enacted zoning changes to make it easier to convert empty buildings in industrial and mixed-use areas to other uses, the county now is considering a proposal to do the same…
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The Logic Behind the Grid Transformation Act
After providing an overview of The Grid Transformation and Security Act of 2018 yesterday, I had numerous questions about the thinking behind many of the measures it proposes. So I talked to Katharine Bond, a senior policy official for Dominion Energy to get the power company’s perspective. Dominion has been a key player in drafting the…
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The Great Grid Grab
Who gets what from a Dominion-backed legislative package overhauling Virginia’s electric grid? At this point, there are more questions than answers. Last week lawmakers friendly to Dominion Energy Virginia introduced sweeping legislation, The Grid Transformation and Security Act of 2018, which would increase investment in Virginia’s electric grid with the goals of increasing renewable energy,…
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Dispatches from the Front
by Stephen D. Haner I promised you updates, dispatches from the front lines as the General Assembly once again deals with legislation proposed by our largest monopoly power company. It is my intention this game is played out in the open. Here is my version of Bacon Bits: (1) President Donald Trump and…
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Senate Committee Spikes Bill to End Electric Freeze, Promises Comprehensive Reform
The Senate Commerce and Labor Committee today killed a bill championed by Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax, that would have ended the freeze on base electric rates, restored State Corporation Commission (SCC) control over rate setting, and enabled the refund of hundreds of millions of dollars in electric utility profits to rate payers. Senate leaders said…
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Solar Power Building Momentum in Virginia
Dominion Energy has grown its solar fleet in Virginia and North Carolina over the past two years from near zero to nearly 1,350 megawatts in service, in construction or under development — enough to power 340,000 homes during peak sunshine. That makes Dominion sixth among owners of electric utilities, the company said in a press…
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Virginia Wallowing in Ignorance about Coal Ash
Sen. Amanda Chase, R-Chesterfield, has co-sponsored legislation that would require Dominion Energy to remove more than 25 million tons of coal ash from its Chesterfield, Bremo, Possum Point and Chesapeake power stations, reports the Chesterfield Observer. Senate Bill 1398, introduced by Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, applies to any owner or operator of a “coal combustion residuals unit.”…
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Weighing the Coal Ash Options
Meeting EPA deadlines constrains Dominion’s options for disposing of coal ash at four of its power stations. Under Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules published in 2014, Dominion Virginia Energy must find a way to safely dispose of nearly 30 million tons of coal ash within 15 years. After intense controversy over how best to proceed,…