Tag: Stephen D. Haner
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Welcome To a World You Made, Democrats
Dear Democrats: Welcome to our world. Signed, Republicans I’m sorry, watching Democrats react in horror as the Leftist Outrage Machine seeks to destroy the Northams using the tactics all Republicans know so well, it’s just amusing as hell. I hope Senator Chap Peterson remembers his defense of Mrs. Northam when the world returns to equilibrium and…
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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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Hanoi’s Most Hallowed Ground
I hope he doesn’t profane this hallowed place with his presence. Apparently, the Vietnamese are using it for their own propaganda purposes, but it remains a memorial to great American heroes, whatever your views on that war. Surely a man who passed on a trip to Belleau Wood will also stay away from the Hanoi…
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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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Tax Break Powers Opposition To Huge Solar Farm
If the East Coast’s largest solar generation facility, proposed for Spotsylvania County, is rejected by its Board of Supervisors this week, one of the reasons will be the major tax advantages sought by that industry and granted by the General Assembly. The tax exemption is at the heart of the final argument put forward by one…
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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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Taking Some Pain Out of Eminent Domain
Four successful bills heading for Governor Ralph Northam’s desk may combine into a measurable shift in Virginia’s condemnation laws in favor of the targeted landowners. They may also spark a race to the courthouse between now and when some go into effect July 1. The biggest financial impact may come from Senator Frank Ruff’s Senate…
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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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But The Idea Is To Cut Power Use, Isn’t It?
California’s giant Pacific Gas and Electric has a major program providing energy audits for its customers, and recently retained an outside firm to study the results. While quite a few customers did reduce their energy usage after the audits, it turned out a larger number increased demand. The report, dated December 2018, noted 19 percent…
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Assisted Conception Option For The New Realities
A major revision of Virginia’s assisted conception laws has fought its way through to a final vote in the State Senate Monday, pushed by a former Virginia official who has gone public with his unconventional and very 21st century family. Jay Timmons and his husband Rick Olson faced a major legal battle in Wisconsin a…
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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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Revised Again, Tax Bill Envisions Future Reforms
The possibility of additional future state tax reform or tax cuts improved Monday under a new version of the pending bill that puts Virginia into conformity with the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The resulting tax revenue not returned by the modest policy changes in this bill are to be held in reserve for…
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You May Pay A North Carolinian’s Coal Ash Costs
The cost to Dominion Energy Virginia customers for recycling coal ash or moving it into more secure landfills is growing, because the proposed bill now recognizes that Dominion’s North Carolina electricity customers cannot be forced to pay by the Virginia General Assembly or the State Corporation Commission. This phrase has been added to the current…