By Steve Haner

Democrat Jay Jones and Republican Jason Miyares have now both accepted more than $1 million each in campaign contributions from major players in Virginia’s energy wars.  The job they both seek, Attorney General of Virginia, includes a duty to stand firm on behalf of Virginia’s energy consumers against the elephants in the room at the State Corporation Commission.

Do you feel protected?

Jones had passed the $1 million mark in contributions from the environmental activist group Clean Virginia by the time of a previous contributions summary, which was complete through the end of June.  The former state delegate from Norfolk remains at a similar level, $1.11 million, now that the Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP) data includes donations through the end of August. 

Miyares, the incumbent attorney general and former state delegate, received additional money from Dominion Energy Virginia in the most recent report, and his total from the utility is now $1.25 million.  To that must be added another $125,000 given to his political action committee since 2024, bringing his total to $1.375 million for the cycle. In the four years since his last election, the two accounts combined have received more than $2 million.

Dominion’s key energy role as a monopoly electricity provider clearly creates potential conflicts with the interest of consumers.  In recent years, Clean Virginia has moved from merely making political contributions into the regulatory arena, and it now brings its own attorneys and expert witnesses to energy cases at the State Corporation Commission. It had a small army of lobbyists at the last session.

Clean Virginia is just as capable of being at cross purposes with consumers as Dominion is.  A consumer counsel who owes it his election has a problem.

For those keeping tabs, with the publication of the through-August reports, Dominion’s donation total (2024-25) is now just over $13 million and Clean Virginia’s is $4.2 million.  More money can certainly show up before November’s election.  The three-to-one edge for Dominion was not the pattern in prior cycles and may not hold. 

Democratic Speaker of the House Don Scott of Portsmouth is the big winner from Dominion for the cycle.  Between his own campaign committee and his leadership political action committee, he has received $1.75 million.  Do not let any Democrat anywhere claim to be untouched by Dominion’s generosity, because control of the House of Delegates is just as important to all of them as the Governor’s Mansion.

Of the candidates for governor, Democrat Abigail Spanberger has received $665,000 from Clean Virginia and Republican Winsome Earle-Sears has received $260,000 from Dominion.  Clean Virginia has donated $150,000 to Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Gazala Hashmi, and Republican lieutenant governor candidate John Reid has received $50,000 from Dominion.  Who is “consumer counsel” is what matters most to both Dominion and Clean Virginia.  This is telling us something loud and clear.  

The Virginia League of Conservation Voters is like Clean Virginia in the positions it takes at the General Assembly and at the State Corporation Commission.  It has donated $182,000 to its preferred “consumer counsel,” Jones, and has given $852,000 to Spanberger, more than Clean Virginia has.  It has given Hashmi $127,000 so far.

Sonjia Smith of Charlottesville, wife of Clean Virginia benefactor Michael Bills, is the big backer of Hashmi, a total of $525,000 by the end of August. She threw in another $50,000 for Jones.  VPAP describes her as a “non-wage earner.”   Accurate, but not very useful for those who don’t know the back story. 

In the comparable cycle of 2016-17, Dominion donated a total of only $1.6 million to all candidates at all levels.  Clean Virginia didn’t exist, and in its first cycle tracked on VPAP (2018-19, not a governor’s race) gave just $373,000.  The trendline is obvious. 

This is an old story and seemingly outrages no one.  Bills to limit campaign contributions, even if only aimed at regulated companies, have not passed and will not pass with this kind of money sloshing around.  Suggestions to give the job of speaking for consumers at the SCC to somebody other than a politician taking huge sums from case participants don’t even generate proposed bills.