Category: Regulations, Gov’t Oversight
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Great Judges Can’t Fix Bad Energy Laws
By Steve Haner The General Assembly has now filled the two open seats at the State Corporation Commission (SCC), ending two years of gridlock. Unfortunately, the same legislators, on both sides of the aisle, are still working overtime to dictate and micromanage the state’s energy policy, reducing the discretion and authority of the independent, non-partisan…
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Two Excellent Nominees Emerge for SCC
By Steve Haner The new Democratic majority in the Virginia General Assembly is moving rapidly to fill the two State Corporation Commission vacancies with excellent, qualified choices. One is well known in Virginia and the second is new to our hallowed Capitol, but with a decade of energy law experience on the federal level. Former…
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Will Democrats Revisit Virginia Net Zero Laws?
By Steve Haner For the third year in a row, Democrats in the Virginia Senate have shot down an effort to divorce Virginia’s auto dealers from California’s impending mandates on electric vehicle sales. But before the predetermined vote went down, the new chair of the committee made a surprise announcement that he and his colleagues…
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Public Health Covid Rules Were Nothing But Voodoo
by Kerry Dougherty We tried to tell you. Those of us with common sense were attacked for it though. Back in 2020, when we were being accused of wanting to kill grandma because we knew the “rules” coming from our public health officials were — for lack of a better term — unconstitutional bullshit, we…
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As Dominion and APCO $oar, NOVEC Drops Rates
By Steve Haner The major “rural” electric cooperative serving very urban Northern Virginia is drastically lowering its rates as of this month, because the cost it is paying for bulk power purchases has dropped. The contrast with what is happening with Virginia’s two major investor-owned electric companies may be telling Virginia something if anybody wants…
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Rent Control Bill Introduced in Virginia
by Hans Bader A just-introduced Virginia bill, HB 192, would limit rent increases to “one percent over the Consumer Price Index” in places where the rental vacancy rate is “less than 10 percent,” if the “Consumer Price Index … is greater than five percent.” Virginia has a rental vacancy rate of about 4%, well below…
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Surprise Findings About Metro Derailment
by Bill Tracy In Northern Virginia on Friday, the National Transportation Safety Board released a scathing final report on the Washington area Metro’s derailment problem with its newer. 7000-Series railcars. The NTSB’s media presentation by Chair Jennifer Homendy can be found on YouTube. NTSB also faulted Metro’s safety culture. My prior layman’s understanding, from local…
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Hey Virginia: Hands Off Those Cake Pops
by Kerry Dougherty There’s a reason Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s approval rating in the latest Mason-Dixon Poll perches at a lofty 58 percent in this once-blue state, despite Republicans losing control of the legislature in November’s election. Youngkin gets it. On X, he wrote: “We’re going to fix this, Virginia will always be the best place…
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SCC Examiner Says No to Dominion Gas Plans
By Steve Haner A hearing examiner at the Virginia State Corporation Commission has recommended rejection of Dominion Virginia Energy’s plan to maintain and add to its fleet of fossil fuel generators. It failed to overcome the presumption in state law that all such plants must go away, she wrote. In her extensive report following the…
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Virginia’s Final (Maybe) RGGI Tax Grab: $97M
by Steve Haner Virginia has participated in its final (for a while anyway) Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative auction and the proceeds on the carbon tax set a new record, with Virginia collecting more than $97 million in one swoop. The total carbon tax take for the state is just under $828 million in three years.…
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Norfolk Hipsters & Lefties Try to Block a Military-Themed Brewery
by Kerry Dougherty Now is the time. If you believe that cities ought to be open for business, regardless of the viewpoints of the business owners, if you support the military and don’t consider flag-waving a provocative act, you might want to let Norfolk’s City Council hear from you. On December 12th it is scheduled…
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Stuck in the Secretary’s Office
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The Youngkin administration is sitting on regulations needed to implement important legislation enacted by the General Assembly in 2020. The delay constitutes a violation of that law. In its 2020 Special Session, the General Assembly expanded the grounds for decertifying law-enforcement and jail officers. The background of this legislation was described in…
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While Harrisonburg Slept, a Gadfly Arose
by Joe Fitzgerald Laura Dent is not a stupid person. She’s probably an honest person. But those aren’t qualifications enough to help run a city. You also have to know what’s going on. Frankly, she’s missed that boat a couple of times. Two issues I’ve written about repeatedly are uncontained school growth, which the Harrisonburg…
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Virginia Beach Nixes Kitty Hawk Wind Cables
by Steve Haner The political leaders of the City of Virginia Beach have informed an offshore wind developer that they oppose its plan to bring power cables ashore at Sandbridge Beach. No formal vote was taken on the application, however, according to media reports. The story appeared in The Virginian-Pilot and on local television station…
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Excess Profits Squeezed Out From Dominion Rates
By Steve Haner The long struggle to prevent Dominion Energy Virginia from earning excess profits in its base rates year after year appears to be over and consumers finally won. That is the main takeaway as the first general review of its base rates since the 2023 regulatory re-write is moving toward a quick settlement.…