Category: Business and Economy
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Two Virginia Wind Energy Grants Cancelled by Trump’s DOT
by Steve Haner President Donald Trump’s war on the offshore wind industry has finally reached Virginia with the cancellation of two U.S. Department of Transportation grants intended to help develop Hampton Roads as a hub for that now-endangered industry. The decision was announced Friday. There still has been no attempt, and not even any public…
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Data Industry Giants Split on Proposed Future Rates
By Steve Haner Dominion Energy Virginia’s proposed changes to how and how much it charges data centers for electricity appear to have divided the industry, based on testimony filed at the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC). The utility’s ideas are in general being supported — with some caveats — by the Office of the Attorney…
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The Inherent Conflict of Interest in Bargaining with Public-Sector Unions
by J. Kennerly Davis In the spring of 2020 — with Democrats controlling the Senate, the House of Delegates, and the Governor’s mansion – the General Assembly narrowly passed and Governor Northam signed HB-582, now set out in Section 40.1-57.2 of the Code of Virginia. That law, enacted during the widely disorienting onset of Covid,…
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A Trusted Source Crawls Out on a Political Limb
By Steve Haner One nice thing about detailed economic prognostication is that the predictions can later be checked and compared to reality. But the grim forecast for Virginia produced recently by the Weldon-Cooper Center for Public Service will have done its political damage long before the results are tallied. The predictions of job losses and…
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All Dominion’s Solar Plants Are Failing Their Energy Promises
by Steve Haner Every solar facility in Dominion Energy Virginia’s expanding fleet of silicone panels is failing to perform up to its initial energy promises, according to a State Corporation Commission staff analysis. In many cases the shortfalls are dramatic. The data popped up in testimony that is part of the utility’s application for a…
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Virginia’s Unaffiliated Numbers
And the limits of partisanship by Gordon C. Morse He’s at least consistent. And so is the press. Gov. Glenn Youngkin told General Assembly members last week that Virginia’s economy is as strong as ever and concerns that federal employment reductions (thanks to the Trump administration) would drag down Virginia’s overall fiscal condition were exaggerated.…
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Youngkin: Virginia In “An Extraordinary Position of Financial Strength”
By Steve Haner The Commonwealth of Virginia ended its last full fiscal year under Governor Glenn Youngkin with a large stash of ready cash, $1.7 billion, despite more than $7 billion in tax cuts and tax rebates over the past three years. That includes the $200 rebate income taxpayers will get before the November election.…
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SCC Raises Dominion Wind Price, Exempts PIPP Participants
by Steve Haner The four-part rate hike hitting Dominion Energy Virginia bills by September 1 is now five parts. The increase of more than $14 on a 1,000-kilowatt hour residential bill will now be just under $17 instead. The price we are paying for Dominion’s offshore wind project is also going up. The expected additional…
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Spanberger Support for Mandatory Union Jobs Not “Moderate”
By Chris Braunlich Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger wants voters to believe she’s a moderate. That’s understandable. At a time when the Democratic Party’s favorability is at 33 percent and with an avowed socialist as the party’s nominee in the most highly visible election in the nation, the smart money is for Democrats in Virginia…
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Bidding Up the Price of Buying Virginia’s Legislature
by Steve Haner As of the last round of campaign finance reports, Dominion Energy Virginia is smoking its political nemesis Clean Virginia in donation totals, with more than $11 million given compared to $3.2 million. At $14.3 million in combined donations, the two are well on their way to matching or exceeding the $23 million…
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SCC Faces Dueling Experts, Models on Future Energy Reliability
By Steve Haner The State Corporation Commission’s (SCC) decision on whether Dominion Energy can build a new natural gas-fired power plant will depend on which expert or set of experts it believes, and which of the many computer models that dominate the testimony it judges best predict Virginia’s energy future. Dominion has filed testimony…
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No, Spanberger Did Not “Embrace” Natural Gas, But Earle-Sears Does
By Steve Haner A recent headline indicated that Abigail Spanberger, Democratic nominee for Governor of Virginia, had “embraced” natural gas in an interview. A reading of the text left a very different conclusion, as in reality what she embraced was the anti-natural gas Virginia Clean Economy Act. Spanberger did tell Inside Climate News that natural gas…
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Four More Dominion Rate Hikes Hitting By Sept. 1
By Steve Haner The State Corporation Commission Friday approved two separate increases in Dominion Energy Virginia’s rates; one caused by the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) and the other related to regional transmission services. Combined they add more than $5 to a 1,000-kilowatt hour residential bill effective September 1. The VCEA driven increase is an…
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LCV Attack Ads: Three Swings, Three Misses
By Steve Haner The best defense has always been a good offense. With Virginia Democrats under some political pressure over their wind, solar and electric vehicle addictions (not enough pressure, in my opinion), Virginia’s environmental activists are counterattacking at Republicans who won’t drink their green Kool-Aid. The Virginia League of Conservation Voters has announced a…
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Restore the Battle Streamers
by Donald Smith Summertime in Washington, D.C., is NDAA Time. NDAA, as in the National Defense Authorization Act. The federal government dispensed with proper budget procedures a long time ago. Everything it does is now funded by continuing resolutions, omnibus bills, or other confounding mechanisms. The NDAA, though, always passes because it funds the Defense Department. Hence, crafty…