It has taken a while, but the Washington Post has finally begin to catch on to what Steve Haner and others have been saying about the omnibus energy bill making its way through the General Assembly:
Finally Catching Up With Bacon’s Rebellion
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13 responses to “Finally Catching Up With Bacon’s Rebellion”
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Thanks. By “others” you mean Virginia Mercury. Bit of an old fashioned competition going on (with them with all the readers, and with reprints by VPAP.) Anybody who has followed this on both outlets is well versed, but it has been quite a few stories. Uh, did you see anything in the Post article about PIPP? More than just a passing reference to the likely rate impacts? That would be no.
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Others might also include blue virginia
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Mainly Ivy Main is useful there, and she also writes now for VM….But BV gives me insight into what the other side is thinking/doing.
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Yep, I read it also. My only complaint is that this is not a new thing with Dominion, it’s a continuation of a years-long practice done by the GA no matter who had the majority.
Those who support the Dems are clearly disappointed and should be – but the condemnation of the Dems from GOP-supporters who did not similarly condemn the GOP for their failings, geeze.
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Not sure Haner or others would agree or not, but I do not think, never thought, that everything that was on the list of things the Dems wanted to deal, would get done or if they did get done, not 100% of what was wanted.
That’s been my impression of the GA all along – that bills start out, some die right away, others get carried over, and some survive but not in the original form.
Some bills – take more than one year to complete the legislative process – whether the GOP is in control or the Dems.
This is pro-forma pretty much in my view.
Next, there are certain lobby “players” in the GA that are big and strong and effective – and they can and do make a difference on how legislation makes it’s way through the process and I have no doubt, what-so-ever that Dominion had a well-conceived strategy about how they would approach this GA with the Dems in control.
And you actually knew some of that when we saw how Northam responded to the pipeline issue.. not at all what the green activists wanted.
Change is still ongoing – and how it proceeds will be affected by ongoing events in the utility world as well as election changes in the GA.
The election can change things especially if the Dem candidate for POTUS is considered too far left – it will hurt down ballot – across the board as Conservatives make the case against “socialism”.
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I continue to believe that this multiplicity of bills, with a multiplicity of numbers on the table to negotiate over, is a core strategy of Dominion’s. The non-profits have bought into the idea and continue to ignore the primary challenge to clean energy in Virginia … regulations that reward continued high levels of capital investments with high levels of profit.
Maybe the environmental groups basically put everything into fighting the ACP, a cause certainly worth every effort, but they have failed to really grasp what Tom has told us on Bacon’s. Witness a quote from the WashPost article … “In addition, Dominion has a massive wind energy project underway off the coast at Virginia Beach. The (new) legislation specifies that the new wind energy has to be utility-owned, protecting Dominion’s investment.” The new legislation not only protects, but also guarantees, Dominion ‘s profits on the investment. Consumers would be much better off following the example of the state to our North. Purchase the electricity from offshore wind developers.
The members of the Virginia Energy Reform Coalition want real regulatory change, but they have not been joined by the environmental groups, possibly because Ken Cuccinelli was the original spokesman. Maybe the Governor’ s luke warm responses to the clean energy issues when he first took office bear some of the blame. I don’t know, but Dominion remains in charge of the politics of all this.
Back in 2013 I talked with lots of people about doing an end run around Dominion’s blockade to developing anything that would reduce their central demand load. We could have followed the example set by Texas of creating a state wide PACE program. Texas called it “PACE in a Box”, clean energy loans that could serve to retrofit buildings and pay for on-site solar. Each local taxing district could call the state for a “Box” of regulations to initiate the program.
Arlington did go ahead with setting up a PACE program. A few others are following, but it is now 7 years later and VA is at the bottom of the pile of states that have implemented building efficiency and on-site programs. Dominion has made sure that programs that reduce their total central generation from those profit producing assets aren’t able to scale.
Instead Virginians are still arguing about all the little bits and pieces of way too many bills, in way too little time.
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Agree. Dominion is still in charge and Virginia is not getting the results we need. It is too easy for Dominion to lock in its advantage at every turn.
Good intentioned folks are being misled and are thus supporting legislation that is against the best interest of ratepayers – including businesses folks claim to care so much about. The only hope for something positive is the legislation that the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee is to hear later this afternoon. It must pass for any benefit to result this year.
If the coal plant exemptions hold, there’s no way anyone can claim environmental achievements. If Dominion is allowed to continue to own off shore wind, economic benefits will be lost.
The list could go on and on.
Sadly, Virginia seems locked in the old Virginia Way and those who now think they’ve won will learn they’ve been had.
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I’m surmising, perhaps in ignorance, that “green” was not well represented at the lobby level and/or they were up against a substantial lobby force for Dominion and company.
Still, in the end, the Dems had to essentially vote against some legislation so something must have convinced them to do so which sort of counters the claim that the Dems were going to vote for any/all “extreme” legislation no matter what! Nope.
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Nor sure I understand what you mean.
I am just saying that the environmental lobby has not chosen their fights very well and is tied up lobbying for little bids and pieces. ie ‘missing the forest for the trees’.
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Jane – I expected the environmental lobby to be unified and prioritized on legislation and it sounds like they maybe were not.
I don’t know how many there are , compared to Dominion. My suspect is that they are the size of one of the feet of Dominions lobby beast.
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They are basically unified but have not understood what you and I have learned from Tom on this blog. They have been completely distracted by finding small wins, a little more solar here, a promise of energy efficiency there.
I just read 2 pieces about WVA where the health and environmental devastation is huge. Water from wells is contaminated with arsenic and other stuff. People are sick and yet the WVA legislature just passed pretty large tax breaks for the coal and gas industries and reduced their financial obligations as they close some mines. What can you expect from a coal Baron Governor?
So, it’s about a lot more than just lobbyists … the industries are entrenched in communities by the jobs they supply and the taxes they pay. We need some ‘trust busters’ to right the balance and give some power to the community and I guess to science too.
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It’s fitting that your “catching up” photo is of Formula E cars. Nice touch.
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This blog is more factual than VM.
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