As February 7th, a substitute for the Virginia Clean Economy Act VCEA (HB 1526) has been introduced and reported out of the Labor and Commerce committee. I am working through the substitute VCEA to understand what is now on the table. Here is what I have gleaned so far:

• It requires that Virginia join RGGI and get to zero emission credits by 2050.
• It allocates 45% of RGGI funds to a flood preparedness fund.
• It allocates 50% of RGGI funds to programs for low-income energy efficiency programs.
• It uses RGGI revenue to fund reporting that requires GHG reductions resulting from RGGI be tracked and accounted for.
• It does not allow offsets or fuel-netting to be used to meet CO2 reductions that are required by RGGI.
• The timing is a bit hard to follow. It appears that the RGGI regulations go into effect in 2025 and that RGGI will regulate emissions from 2031 to 2050. However, it requires that the reporting on RGGI begin in January, 2022.
• The bill gives biomass wide access to be counted as a renewable energy resource.
• It removes language that had allowed utilities to recover revenue reductions due to lost revenue from energy efficiency programs. 
• It makes energy efficiency pilot programs “in the public interest.”
• It places a pseudo-moratorium on new fossil fuel plants by saying they are only allowed to meet reliability requirements and/or if a utility has met its energy efficiency goals and cannot address anticipated electric energy growth via demand response and storage.
• It requires that the SCC consider the social cost of carbon in approving any new generating facility (as a benefit or a cost).
• It increases the amount of utility scale renewables that are “in public interest” from 5,000 MW to 16,100 MW capacity.
• It removes language that had said planning for new nuclear capacity  is “in the public interest.”
• It makes 5,100 MW of offshore wind “in the public interest.”
• It has requirements to direct investment and hiring relating to the provisions of the bill to disadvantaged communities. 
• It allows existing nuclear power to remain in place and separates it from the calculation of Dominion’s total electric energy for the purpose of RPS calculations.
• It would get VA’s regulated electric utilities to 30% renewables by 2030. This would get Dominion to about 60% carbon free by 2030.
• It gets Dominion to 100% carbon free by 2045. It gets APCO to 100% carbon-free by 2050.

I will make updates as I make my way through the bill and other bills related to it.

Below is a transcript of my comments from the Virginia Environmental Justice Rally on October 28, 2018. The rally was held in support of Juliana vs US, the case where 22 youth are suing the federal government for causing climate change. (Photo credit Chris Tandy)

The law of holes says… when you find yourself in a hole, step one to get out…  is to stop digging. Climate change is a hole dug by burning fossil fuels for decades. The hole is deep, getting deeper, and its ill effects are being felt now. It is time to stop digging.

Continue reading “It is Time to Stop Digging” →

Virginia’s 2018 Legislative session closed on March 10, 2018. On the energy policy front, the big attention getter was the “Dominion Bill” (SB 966),  but a few other bills made it through the session as well.

Our list of energy policy related bills submitted for Virginia’s 2018 Legislative session is updated here. Bills that did not make it to the Governor’s desk are indicated by strike-through text.

Out of 93 bills that we identified as being of interest, 18 made it out of both the Senate and House. Among the bills that passed, 13 were Republican sponsored and 5 were Democrat sponsored. Governor Northam has signed six bills into law including SB 966. He will take action on the remaining bills by April 9, 2018.

One bill to pay attention to is HB 1270 Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative; prohibition on participation by Commonwealth. This bill prohibits participation in the CO2 Budget Trading Program that is discussed on our Executive Action Page. It is expected that Governor Northam will veto this bill and that it will not be overturned by the legislature.

Our list of energy policy related bills submitted for Virginia’s 2018 Legislative session is updated here. Bills that have have failed are indicated by strike-through text.

At this point, close to one-third of the tracked bills have failed in one way or another. In broad terms, bills relating to topics such as renewable portfolio standards, expanding privately owned distributed generation, and putting a price on carbon are failing to move forward.

Two bills have passed floor votes.  HB 508 Solar facilities; local regulation passed the House and SB 902 Property tax; exemption for solar energy equipment and facilities passed the Senate. They next will cross over for consideration in the other chamber.

Monday, February 5 and Tuesday, February 6 are shaping up to be significant days with respect energy policy in Richmond. Continue reading “Legislative Update – February 4, 2018” →