ENERGY + ENVIRONMENT
At Dominion wind hearings, continued disputes over ratepayer protections
After two and a half days of testimony in Richmond, consumer protection advocates continue to disagree with Dominion Energy over whether regulators should require further safeguards for ratepayers as the utility seeks approval for its plans to build a massive wind farm off the coast of Virginia Beach. “There is no blank check for this […]
Eight Virginia groups join request for Federal Trade Commission to investigate electric utility industry
Eight Virginia organizations have joined more than 230 consumer, environmental and public interest groups in asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate electric industry practices that they say “impede renewable energy competition and harm consumer protection.” “Today, abusive utility practices are leading to increased electricity rates, obstruction of clean energy competitors in the face of […]
Who are the governor’s marine commission picks there to serve?
By Stephen Atkinson In a news release late Friday evening, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced appointments to various state boards, including the nine member Virginia Marine Resources Commission, the body that manages the commonwealth’s fisheries. Of the governor’s four appointments to the VMRC, three represent commercial fishing interests from the Reedville area. For the hundreds of […]
Virginia receives a big boost in federal funds for brownfields work
Virginia has been awarded a record amount of federal dollars to lay the groundwork for the cleanup of contaminated or potentially contaminated sites known as brownfields in the cities of Emporia and Newport News and the towns of Appalachia and Blackstone. This month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality […]
Youngkin announces slate of environmental board appointments
Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced a slate of appointments to Virginia’s citizen environmental boards Friday, including four picks for the seven-person Virginia State Air Pollution Control Board that will be charged with approving the administration’s efforts to pull Virginia out of a regional carbon market. Youngkin’s air board appointments include: James Patrick Guy II, general counsel […]
What’s ‘reasonable and prudent’ when it comes to Dominion offshore wind project’s costs?
Dominion Energy is seeking approval to build what will be the largest offshore wind power project in the United States off the coast of Virginia Beach, pitched by the company, some lawmakers and business groups as key to positioning Virginia as a hub for an industry on the cusp of a boom. But with hearings […]
Not a great time to roll out Dominion’s pricey solar tariff
Well, that didn’t take long. A few weeks after I wrote about rising natural gas prices, Dominion Energy Virginia asked the SCC for permission to raise the price of electricity by about $9 per month for the average residential customers, citing higher fuel costs. Virginia law allows utilities to pass through its fuel costs to […]
Wildlife officials: Leave the fawns alone
Spring is in full swing, and that means Virginians might be tempted to aid white-tailed deer fawns that appear to have been abandoned. Don’t do it, the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources says. “Concerned people sometimes pick up animals that they think are orphaned. Most such ‘orphans’ that good-intentioned citizens ‘rescue’ every spring should have […]
Shareholders ask Dominion for report on risk of stranded natural gas assets
NORFOLK — After a shareholder vote Wednesday, Dominion Energy will issue a report on how it is responding to the risk of stranded natural gas assets as the global response to climate change intensifies. “The risks are very high right now when it comes to climate change,” said Freeda Cathcart, the Virginia shareholder who put […]
Groups say they’ll sue Justice coal company over cleanup failures at Wise County mines
Three environmental groups announced Tuesday that they plan to sue one of the coal companies owned by West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice over its failure to clean up three mines in Wise County. On May 10, Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards, Appalachian Voices and the Sierra Club sent Justice notification that his A&G Coal Corporation “is […]
Amid global energy price spikes, Dominion customers’ bills could rise between 12 and 20 percent
Dominion customers could see their monthly bill rise by between 12 and 20 percent due to rising fuel costs linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation and the ongoing war in Ukraine, according to company filings with the State Corporation Commission Thursday. The electric utility, Virginia’s largest, is asking state regulators to approve an increase in […]