News

Virginia Mercury outlined Dominion Energy's withdrawal from the regional capacity market, quoting AEE's Jeff Dennis on Dominion’s exit. Read snippets below and the full story here. 

Citing a controversial federal order that made it difficult for renewables to compete against traditional fossil fuel power plants in regional electricity markets, Dominion Energy this spring withdrew all its Virginia resources from the regional capacity market run by PJM, which coordinates the electric grid in all or part of 13 states and Washington, D.C. 

Virginia Mercury outlined Dominion Energy’s plans to comply with the VCEA, quoting Virginia AEE’s Harry Godfrey on compliance with the state’s renewable portfolio standard. Read snippets below and the full story here. 

State regulators’ blessing of Dominion Energy’s first annual plan for how it will meet the ambitious renewables targets set by the 2020 Virginia Clean Economy Act has sounded the starting bell of Virginia’s race to decarbonize its electric grid by midcentury.

Virginia Mercury quoted AEE’s Harry Godfrey on the General Assembly’s failure to fund an electric vehicle rebate program. Read excerpts below and the full story here.

While Virginia’s General Assembly has committed to adopt stricter transportation emissions standards by 2025 that will encourage more widespread use of electric vehicles, lawmakers’ final budget includes no funding for a rebate program intended to bring down the vehicles’ cost for consumers...

Virginia Mercury reported on proposed bills addressing land use issues as more solar projects are considered under the new Virginia Clean Economy Act, quoting AEE's Harry Godfrey. Read excerpts below and the full piece here.

Spotsylvania County: 6,350. Fauquier County: 3,500. King William County: 1,262. Each number recited by Del. Charles Poindexter, R-Franklin, to a House panel during the second week of the 2021 General Assembly session represented the number of acres that local governments in Virginia have approved for solar projects to date. 

Virginia Mercury outlined how state lawmakers are pushing for renewables including wind, solar, energy storage, quoting Virginia Advanced Energy Economy’s Harry Godfrey. Read excerpts below and the full piece here.

In 2020, lawmakers seeking to speed the development of renewables and wean Virginia off fossil fuels made a host of changes to state law that aimed to smooth local approvals of large-scale solar farms. This year, they’re wielding the same tools to encourage the growth of energy storage.

Virginia Mercury covered Va. utility regulator conditions for Dominion Energy's proposed renewable energy offering, quoting Virginia AEE's Harry Godfrey. Read excerpts below and the entire Virginia Mercury piece here. 

A utility regulator is recommending that the State Corporation Commission approve a proposal by Dominion Energy to offer a renewable energy package opposed by a host of environmental and business groups — but only if Dominion can sign up at least 15,000 customers in six months. The report released Tuesday is only a recommendation by Hearing Examiner Mary Beth Adams, but it provides an indication of how the commission, which has decision-making power, may approach the case’s key points.

Virginia Mercury covered how the current economic and financial crisis may affect implementation of the Virginia Clean Economy Act, quoting AEE's JR Tolbert and AEE member Sigora Solar's Karla Loeb. Read excerpts below and the entire Virginia Mercury piece here. 

Three weeks ago, Virginia’s Democrat-led General Assembly passed the most ambitious plan for transitioning off of fossil fuels and onto renewable energy sources to come out of the South yet. It was a banner moment for environmentalists. Among the promises they secured were state commitments to build out 24 gigawatts of solar, wind and energy storage by 2035 — almost 40 percent more than the existing capacity of the fossil fuel units owned by the state’s largest utility, Dominion Energy — and annual targets that would bind the utilities to progressively including more and more renewables in their energy portfolios. Then the new coronavirus hit, and the financial markets tanked.

Virginia Mercury covered the passage of the Virginia Clean Economy Act in both the House and Senate including floor debates and challenges quoting AEE's JR Tolbert and AEE member Sigora Solar. Read excerpts below and the entire Virginia Mercury piece here. This story was also covered by the Washington Examiner (quoting Godfrey), Richmond Times Dispatch  (Godfrey pictured with bill patrons, sub. req.), and August Free Press (quoting Godfrey).

The Virginia Clean Economy Act cleared its last hurdle in the General Assembly this week when both the House of Delegates and the Senate agreed to a final version that reflected the more aggressive House timeline of making Virginia’s electric grid carbon-free by 2045 while also incorporating stronger protections for electric utility ratepayers. The bill, SB 851, heads to the desk of Gov. Ralph Northam, whose administration has been heavily involved in pushing it forward. Sen. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, the Senate patron of the bill, called the passage “a major historic moment” that will “break our reliance on fossil fuels...”

Virginia Mercury summarized the current status of the historic Virginia Clean Energy Economy Act in the House and Senate, quoting Virginia AEE's Harry Godfrey. Read excerpts below and the entire Virginia Mercury piece here. This story also ran in 8 other outlets including Fredericksburg's Free Lance-Star.

There’s been a lot of hype and a lot of hand-wringing over the Clean Economy Act, the Democratic energy omnibus that outlines a path for Virginia to get to zero carbon emissions by 2050. In the largely partisan debate, Democrats have contended the VCEA is an ambitious but practical way for the state to combat climate change, the effects of which can already be seen in the sea level rise threatening Hampton Roads.

Virginia Mercury covered challenges faced by the Virginia Clean Economy Act quoting Virginia AEE's Harry Godfrey who refutes incomplete (and inaccurate) cost analysis by the SCC. Read excerpts below and the entire Virginia Mercury piece here. 

The Virginia Clean Economy Act, the Democrats’ energy omnibus bill designed to achieve Gov. Ralph Northam’s goals of reducing Virginia’s carbon emissions to zero by 2050, sparked sharp questions from senators Sunday over how the costs of shifting away from carbon should be calculated...

The SCC estimates that the Clean Economy Act, which is being backed by a coalition that includes the renewable energy industry, environmental groups and Virginia’s two electric monopolies, will cause the average electric ratepayer’s bill to increase by at least $23.30 per month by 2027-2030. Annually, customers would see a roughly $280 jump in their bills. According to the SCC, the majority of that increase will come from the buildout of 5,200 megawatts of offshore wind and 16,100 megawatts of solar, both of which the legislation would declare to be in the public interest...