Tag: Stephen D. Haner
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Boomergeddon’s Coal Mine Canary Sings Warning
Angry consumer complaints are starting to appear on a growing case record at the State Corporation Commission, which opened the case on its own authority to demand insurance company presentations on the long-term care product market and its history of massive rate hikes. A typical comment so far: “This frankly, appears to be a ploy…
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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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Energy Bacon Bits: VNG Case, LED, APCo’s Grid
The State Corporation Commission has approved a challenged natural gas contract between Virginia Natural Gas and an affiliated asset management firm, but the next request for proposal process will start this coming summer with substantially greater oversight. The March 15 opinion is here. As reported on Bacon’s Rebellion a few weeks ago, losing bidders for…
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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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Arlington Welcomes Amazon 5-0 As Crowd Screams
The Arlington Board of Supervisors endured six hours of public hearing marked by local hooligans screaming at Amazon company representatives, then voted 5-0 Saturday for the modest local incentive package negotiated to bring the tech giant to a new location near Reagan National Airport and Crystal City. A review of the final county staff presentation…
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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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Scrap the Truman? Make Your Case, Navy
Despite 12 years of work for the Virginia shipyard where these magnificent beasts are born, maintained and where they go to die, I am no expert on nuclear aircraft carriers. Political games around budgets, however? There I have a bit of experience. A few years back the United States Navy made what appeared to be…
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Passing Class No Guarantee of Certificate In New State Workforce Program
Virginia’s FastForward workforce credential program now in its third year is showing good success in getting students through training, but a high number of people in some programs do not earn the matching certificate. Those who achieve both usually show the highest wage growth. For those who went into the program earning under $20,000 a…
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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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Back to Taxaginia: Add A New Wealth Tax
The 2019 General Assembly is a dust storm in the rear-view mirror, but the four state tax increases that were discussed in “Taxaginia” last November are still in the road ahead. This post revises and extends my reporting on their status in this morning’s Richmond Times-Dispatch, featured on the Commentary section front. In a piece…
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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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Amazon Local Incentives Not Worth A Revolution
One of the self-styled revolutionaries seeking to prevent Amazon from planting its second headquarters in Arlington County complains the local incentive package offered is $23 million. A research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University puts the total at $51 million. The actual monetary value is elusive and still to be determined. Both…
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“Left In Appropriations” Ends Many a Bill History
Fighting words to a member of the State Senate: “Left in Appropriations.” That phrase appears at the abrupt end of the bill history for so many pieces of Senate legislation (and plenty of House bills, too.) See for yourself – it is quite a list. All bills died with adjournment Sunday. I went looking there…
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Are Republicans Really Hostile to Solar Energy?
Among those testifying during the marathon public hearing this week on a proposed Spotsylvania County solar installation was a former GOP operative turned lobbyist (sounds familiar) who identified himself as “executive director for Conservatives for Clean Energy Virginia.”