Author: Steve Haner
-
The Clean Virginia Pecksniffs (Look It Up) are Back
by Steve Haner The following popped up in my inbox about two weeks ago when I was badly distracted by the canals and stroopwafels and bicycle frenzy of Amsterdam. But it would be wrong to just delete it without having a bit of fun. The italicized text below is from our friends at Clean Virginia.…
-
Choosing Between Reid and Youngkin, I Choose Youngkin
By Steve Haner The only thing wrong with the interaction between John Reid and Governor Glenn Youngkin, addressing valid questions about his viability as a candidate for lieutenant governor, is when it happened. It should have happened last year, while Reid was just a potential candidate, before he had quit his day job to run, and…
-
Who Reid Faces in November Remains TBD
By Steve Haner One silver lining for John Reid in this ongoing political tragicomedy is that his name identification must be through the roof. But the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor will never get a second chance to make a first impression for most voters. On the other hand, the six Democrats who remain as…
-
“Green” Mandates, Profit Demands Drive Dominion Price Hikes
By Steve Haner The pending price increase for electricity from Dominion Energy Virginia is higher than the 14% jump reported by the news media, which basically parroted company releases. Should all of Dominion’s current rate applications at the State Corporation Commission be approved, residents and businesses will pay about 20% more. The 1,000-kilowatt hour monthly bill…
-
New Tariffs Will Damage Virginia’s Economy
By Derrick Max, No one can say we weren’t warned. During his debate with then Vice President Kamala Harris, President Donald Trump clearly stated, “other countries are going to finally, after 75 years, pay us back for all that we’ve done for the world, and the tariff will be substantial…” Promises made, promises kept. Unfortunately.…
-
PJM Capacity Auction Costs Coming to Your Dominion Bill
By Steve Haner Dominion Energy Virginia has asked to increase the amount it charges customers for fuel by more than 50%, in part because the cost of that fuel has proven stubbornly high and in part because it now wants to charge us for its out-of-state capacity contracts using the same account as fuel. The…
-
Youngkin Veto of AI Bill Praised by Louisiana Group
Reprinted from the Pelican Tech & Innovation Center Artificial intelligence (AI) is progressing rapidly and powering solutions previously unimaginable. At the same time, AI legislation is on the rise and a patchwork of state restrictions looms over the momentum of innovators and US leadership. This Monday, HB 2094, the High-Risk Artificial Intelligence Developer and Deployer Act, was…
-
Tax on Money Almost Revived, But Got One Year Reprieve
In this tumultuous market environment, alternative investments are proving popular. But the 2025 Virginia General Assembly came very close to foolishly returning the sales tax on some of the most popular: physical gold and silver and legal tender coins. Ending this tax on money ten years ago was the subject of one of my earliest…
-
One Last Effort to Let Some Escape from School Failure
By Derrick Max, To say that there is a crisis in Virginia’s education system would be a gross understatement. As the Thomas Jefferson Institute’s Hannah Schmid recently wrote: This terrible performance is despite the extra $7 billion in direct aid to public education that Governor Glenn Youngkin has approved since the pandemic — a 50%…
-
Taking a Knife to the Democrats’ Green Energy Dream
By Steve Haner Wielding irony like a razor-sharp butcher’s knife, Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) has proposed a series of amendments on bills intended to mandate renewable energy that basically reverse the impact and do just the opposite. One amendment would even repeal the 2020 Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA), which is central to Virginia Democratic…
-
Two Energy Updates: RGGI and an Offshore Wind Reversal
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative held its latest auction for carbon emission allowances last week and produced a price of $19.76 per ton. Because Virginia is no longer a participant, that probably saved electric utility customers another $100 million. The March 2025 price, in reality a tax on the use of hydrocarbon fuels, was lower…
-
Unless Targeted, Extra Math Funds Will Be Wasted
by Chris Braunlich, Writing in the blog Bacon’s Rebellion, Arlington parent and self-described “Obama Democrat” Todd Truitt has come out swinging against a Virginia budget amendment to spend $12 million extra “to improve student performance in mathematics.” His argument? Without Governor’s amendments, these extra funds won’t help math outcomes and will probably hurt. Mr. Truitt’s…
-
Dominion’s IRP Becoming Moot as Federal Rules Pivot
by Steve Haner The expanded use of natural gas as a fuel for electricity is the key debate in Dominion Energy Virginia’s integrated resource plan pending before the State Corporation Commission. Not waiting for the decision in that case to come later this year, the utility has now filed an application to start building the…
-
The Social Cost of Free Lunch
By Derrick Max After failing to pass legislation last year that would have made breakfast and lunch free for all public school students regardless of income (at a staggering cost of $201.5 million), state Senator Danika Roem, D-Manassas,) pared down that bill to focus solely on funding a universal free school breakfast program this session. Fortunately, the…
-
A Good Week for FERC and America’s Energy Reliability
by Steve Haner The new chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission used the Trump Administration’s order to have agency employees report their activities as a chance to show off. Late last week the chairman issued a four-page letter of accomplishments on behalf of his staff, a list that might be a good month, not…