Bacon's Rebellion

  • The Baucom Resignation Could Set Off a Power Struggle at UVA

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    Ian Baucom

    Ian Baucom will step down as provost of the University of Virginia in March to become president of Middlebury College in Vermont. UVA will launch a national search for his replacement, the university announced today. His departure will likely set off a power struggle between President Jim Ryan and members of the Board of Visitors appointed by Governor Glenn Youngkin.

    As the chief academic officer of UVA, the provost is arguably the most important position in the university power structure second only to President Jim Ryan. Indeed, the provost may do more to set the cultural tone and strategic direction of the university than the president, much of whose time is tied up with fundraising.

    Ryan has asked Brie Gertler, deputy provost and senior vice provost for academic affairs, to serve as interim provost during the search process.

    Educated at Wake Forest University and Yale, Baucom taught at Duke University for 17 years before joining UVA in 2014 as dean of the College of Arts & Sciences where he oversaw the overhaul of the curriculum. Upon the departure of UVA’s previous provost Liz Magill for presidency of the University of Pennsylvania, he was Ryan’s choice for the No. 2 position and appointed in 2022 without controversy.

    (more…)

  • Bobby Scott Plays Hamlet: A Theatrical Review

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    James A. Bacon

    by Paul Goldman

    With apologies to Bobby Scott. Try as I might, I could get neither ChatGPT or Grok to render an image resembling the congressman. Some versions were of white dudes. And every image had a beard! — JAB

    Poor Denmark: As if the threat of losing Greenland to President Donald Trump isn’t enough. Now Hampton Roads Congressman Bobby Scott as Hamlet? Such are the indignations the Danish people must endure today. Bobby is clearly not whom William Shakespeare had in mind for the princely role in 1600. He is a tad old for the part. But I ask you, who better to play a prince than a member of Congress? They get the royal treatment for sure.

    There’s no denying that “to be or not to be” is the question hanging over Virginia’s gubernatorial race. Democratic Congressman Scott keeps saying he hasn’t ruled out running for governor in the Democratic primary. He has until late March to submit the required nomination materials.

    The real Bobby Scott

    Richard Burton’s Hamlet set the record with a 137-day run on Broadway. It’s fair to say Scott’s been at this a lot longer. This isn’t his first time he’s auditioned to play Hamlet. 

    Former Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger is understandably getting tired of Scott not making up his mind. Spanberger’s people are saying privately Scott is a wuss and knows Abigail would clean his clock in a primary fight. (I’ll discuss this later.)

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  • Bobby Scott Helped Free Notorious Cop Killer Peltier

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    Steve Haner

    By Steve Haner

    Rep. Robert Scott

    Congressman Robert “Bobby” Scott, a long serving Democrat from Newport News once in the Virginia Senate, joined several congressional colleagues late in 2024 to petition President Joe Biden on behalf of one of the most notorious of cop killers. Biden agreed and granted clemency to Leonard Peltier, popular with leftists around the world because he claimed he was acting on behalf of America’s oppressed indigenous peoples.

    What Scott did needs to be noted and reported because he continues to toy with the idea of running for governor as a Democrat, appealing to Democrats who fear Abigail Spanberger is not sufficiently true to The Cause. Well, she was smart enough not to sign this letter on Peltier’s behalf, so maybe they’re right about her.

    Scott’s action wasn’t reported in Virginia at the time of Peltier’s inclusion on Biden’s long list of pardons and commutations. Peltier’s release was the focus of a Wall Street Journal editorial today, which mentioned the letter from 36 members of Congress and then provided a link. Scott was the only Virginian who signed. It reads in part:

    Nearly 50 years ago, Mr. Peltier, a citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, was arrested and later convicted for his alleged involvement in the murder of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Since that time, Mr. Peltier has maintained his innocence, and serious concerns have been raised regarding the fairness of his trial and incarceration. Calls for his release have also received sweeping support from civil liberties and human rights organizations – including the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch; faith leaders and other respected voices – including Pope Francis, Saint Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, and Coretta Scott King; and even those previously involved in his prosecution.

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  • Bacon’s Birthday (Sir Francis’, That Is)

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    James A. Bacon

    Sir Francis Bacon

    It’s high time we begin celebrating the birthday, January 22, of the most consequential individual surnamed Bacon in history: Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626). A proponent of empiricism and skepticism in the pursuit of scientific inquiry, Bacon is widely regarded as the philosophical founder of the scientific revolution. As a member of parliament, according to Wikipedia, he became known as “a liberal-minded reformer, eager to amend and simplify the law. Though a friend of the crown, he opposed feudal privileges and dictatorial powers.” All in all, he was much to be admired and should be regarded as one of the great benefactors of mankind. (Hat tip to Paul Blumstein.)

    — JAB

  • Trump 2.0 Should Be Good for Virginia

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    James A. Bacon

    But will Virginians vote GOP in November ’25?

    by Ken Reid

    Donald Trump is back in office. Trump 2.0 has begun. Will this be good for Virginia and the country?

    As a free-market conservative and GOP activist and former elected official in Loudoun County, I believe it will be. However, Trump and the GOP Congress have to deliver on promises to lower inflation, tackle illegal immigration, crime and improve the U.S. standing in the world. 

    And, all those executive orders he signed in this first hours of his 2nd non-consecutive term, and future EO s, can be overturned when a new president takes over in four years. With a stroke of a pen Monday, Trump revoked 78 executive orders Joe Biden signed during his term.

    But Trump 2.0’s effort to cut the size of the federal government and workforce, while necessary, might not be good politics for the Virginia 2025 elections for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and House of Delegates.

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  • Dominion Sells Solar Power at a Loss Just to Earn the RECs

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    Steve Haner

    By Steve Haner

    To avoid the financial penalties included in the Virginia Clean Economy Act, Dominion Energy Virginia has sometimes sold solar energy at a loss to earn the related renewable energy credit. It has been paying the regional PJM wholesale energy market to accept the electrons, rather than PJM paying it for the power. 

    This practice of selling solar power even when the market value is negative is revealed in testimony on file at the State Corporation Commission, part of Dominion’s pending application to add additional solar and battery energy assets and to increase the monthly charge for them imposed on consumers. Dominion files an application for new assets annually to meet the renewable mandates in the VCEA.

    As previously explored, the key element of the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) is its requirement that a covered utility must meet certain renewable energy production targets, a renewable portfolio standard. If it does not do so with its own assets, it must either purchase outside renewable energy credits or pay a fine. The RPS target percentage of its annual electricity sales goes up year after year (26% now, 41% in 2030.)

    The sales of solar at a negative price was revealed in testimony filed by the environmental activist group Appalachian Voices, which has hired a former SCC expert now in the private sector. Gregory Abbott’s recommendation to the SCC is that Dominion’s stockholders, not its customers, cover the financial losses incurred. 

    I recommend that the Commission put Dominion on notice that, going forward, if the Company dispatches its solar units at negative hourly LMP energy prices that exceed the proxy value of RECs … or, alternatively, the deficiency payment, then the excess costs above the REC proxy value or deficiency payment will be recovered from shareholders instead of customers.

    The goal of this recommendation is not to punish shareholders but rather to properly incent Dominion to establish operational protocols and to develop the technical capabilities to overcome the operational constraints that are allowing this to happen.

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  • A Vindictive Bill that Invites Retaliation

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    I can’t decide which is more appalling. The fact that Delegate Alex Askew, D-Virginia Beach, would introduce a bill to revoke tax-exempt status for several Confederate heritage groups, or the fact that the measure won the support of 12 Democratic legislators to pass through the House Finance Committee.

    Playground bully. ChatGPT

    Both chambers of the General Assembly passed a similar bill last year, but Governor Glenn Youngkin vetoed it on the grounds that it was unnecessary and divisive.

    That’s putting it mildly.

    The bill is vindictive. It sets a terrible precedent for using the state tax code as a weapon in the culture wars. And it invites retaliation. Virginia Democrats apparently can’t imagine themselves ever being in the minority and having Republicans wield the tax code to bully them.

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  • Who’s the Biggest Electricity Importer in the Country? Not California

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    Virginia is the biggest importer of electricity in the United States, according to a U.S. Energy Information Administration report released last month. The Old Dominion has surpassed California as the biggest consumer of electricity from other states. Imports into the Land of Nuts and Fruits declined due to heavy investment in rooftop solar and energy efficiency, says the report. By contrast, imports into Virginia have soared between 2019 and 2023 due to growing commercial-sector demand, mainly data centers.

    The increase in demand is highly concentrated in Data Center Alley in Loudoun and Prince William counties. I’m all in favor of making Virginia the data-center capital of the world — but not if it means a tax bonanza for Loudoun and Prince William paid for by higher electricity rates for everyone else.

    The average retail price of electricity in Virginia in 2023 was 10.8 cents per kilowatt hour. Those weren’t the cheapest electrons in the country, but electric rates were lower than the national average of 12.7 cents per kWh. Lower rates make Virginia more economically competitive for manufacturing and give the commonwealth a cost-of-living advantage.

    Surely it is possible to design an electric tariff that meets the energy demands of the data centers without penalizing all Virginians with higher rates. The issues will be complex, so the legislature needs to get moving pronto.

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  • A Commonsense Bill for Math SOL Exams in Spanish

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    James A. Bacon

    by Todd Truitt

    Senator Barbara Favola

    The Senate Public Education Subcommittee advanced a commonsense bill negotiated Thursday by Senator Barbara Favola, D-Arlington, and the Youngkin administration, providing for math Standards of Learning (SOL) exams in Spanish for beginning English Learners, as most states provide.

    The bill addresses the alignment of Virginia’s new school ratings system with federal law, which includes the English, math and science SOLs scores of English Learners (EL) three semesters after arrival. Virginia previously used a de facto end run around this standard (as well as other more rigorous federal requirements), issuing school ratings under a separate state system that exempted ELs for 11 semesters.

    Recently arrived ELs’ lack of English proficiency creates the potential for misidentification of schools needing support if proper accommodations are not used, which these Spanish math SOLs address.

    Favola has taken a pragmatic approach to advancing her bill. Shortly after learning about the information below from Migration Policy Institute, she filed a budget amendment to fund such exams in Spanish for math and science for $300,000 per year.

    (more…)

  • Political Polarization and Data Centers

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    The Town Council of Warrenton has big regrets after issuing a special-use permit allowing Amazon to build a data center in the town. Council finds itself embroiled in litigation from a citizen lawsuit to block the Amazon project as well as a FOIA request to release thousands of emails and documents, according to the Fauquier Times.

    Council fired its old town counsel and hired former state senator Chap Petersen, an old-school New Deal Democrat who was ousted by the new generation of “progressive” Democrats. Judging by his recent autobiography, “Rebel,” this new role is just right for Petersen, who, though appalled by the progressives’ woke brand of “social justice,” still enjoys standing up for the little guy…. especially when the big guy is Dominion Energy.

    It is fascinating to watch the politics of data centers unfold. There is nothing inherently pro-Republican or pro-Democrat about building Artificial Intelligence-enabling data centers. But the tribalistic instincts driving polarization in our society seem to be pushing the parties into opposite camps.

    Data centers consume enormous amounts of electricity. A projected surge of demand for electricity in Virginia threatens to derail the push toward a zero-carbon electric grid. Dominion, which once endorsed that goal, now says it will need to build natural gas plants to offset the intermittency of wind and solar power. Therefore, progressives are aligning with the anti-data center protesters.

    (more…)

  • Bacon Bits: The Irresistible Impulse to Regulate

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    James A. Bacon

    If it moves, regulate it… Democrats and civil libertarians are gearing up to restrict the use of automated license plate readers (ALPRs) by law enforcement. A bill submitted by House Majority Leader Charniele Herring, D-Alexandria, would restrict police use of the readers to specific instances such as missing person cases, outstanding warrants, human trafficking or stolen vehicles, reports The Virginia Mercury. Law enforcement authorities say ALPRs also can help locate track down wanted individuals and produce evidence for use in courts. Dems raise privacy concerns and, of course, the potential for “disparate impacts on minority communities.” For such a simple device, ALPRs raise a lot of questions: What data is collected, how long is it retained, does it require a search warrant to access, and who gets to say where the devices are placed on public rights of way?

    If it flies, regulate it… Meanwhile, spooked by an incident in which a 25-year-old Chinese national flying a drone over Newport News Shipyard, Sen. Mamie E. Locke, D-Hampton, has submitted a bill that makes it a felony to knowingly fly a drone over defense contractors’ sites, reports The Virginian-Pilot. The FBI charged the Chinese student with four misdemeanors. Locke’s bill would impose more prison time. There is a gap between punishments allowed under current law and what’s needed to establish an “enhanced deterrent,” Locke opines. The ability to see the connection between punishment and deterrence is a refreshing perspective for Locke, a “progressive” critic of traditional law-enforcement theories.

    If it pulsates, regulate it… The wave of technology sweeping the nation offers endless opportunities for legislators to substitute their own judgment for those of citizens and businesspersons. Take, for example, Delegate Bonita Anthony, who has submitted a bill prohibiting landlords from using pricing algorithms to assist in rate setting. The bill would grant tenants an opportunity to file a written complaint with the Office of the Algorithmic Rent Pricing Ombudsman. You can’t make that up! Heaven forbid that landlords would automate their research into what’s occurring in the rental marketplace. Far better to have imperfect pricing based on ignorance of supply and demand!

  • Oh, Don’t Worry About the Law

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    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    It seems our incoming President is willing to disrupt millions of lives and families by rounding them up and deporting them because they violated a law when entering this country, but is willing to disregard a law, overwhelmingly passed by Congress and unanimously upheld by the Supreme Court, judged to be essential to the national security of the country. I suppose that means he will have his fingers crossed tomorrow when he takes that oath of office.

  • Yes, Deficiency Payments May Happen, Dominion Reports to SCC

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    Steve Haner

    By Steve Haner

    Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) in his State of the Commonwealth Address last week described the Virginia Clean Economy Act as a “quagmire.” Later that same day, the director of his Department of Energy warned that the state’s premier electric utility might soon begin making “deficiency payments,” in effect paying fines for failing to comply with VCEA.  

    In testimony to a Virginia Senate committee, Director Glenn Davis claimed Dominion Energy Virginia has “budgeted” up to $450 million to make such deficiency payments for 2025 and also forecasts deficiency payments in 2026 and 2027. Should such payments be made, the utility would just pass the cost along to its ratepayers.

    Deficiency payments in these earliest years of VCEA were not anticipated, but it may be true they are about to start. A deep dive into the company’s October 2024 VCEA compliance filing, pending at the State Corporation Commission, failed to turn up that specific number of $450 million. (Not all of the many hundreds of pages were examined.) However, there was this in one Dominion executive’s testimony:

    …it is possible the Company will have to start paying the deficiency payment as early as next year (2025) to satisfy its compliance for calendar year 2024.  The Company is currently one of the largest purchasers of RECs (renewable energy certificates) in PJM where the demand for RECs continues to increase. While the Company’s VCEA requirements are contributing to the increasing demand, REC supply is not increasing at the same pace.

    As a result, REC prices in PJM continue to increase and are currently $39 per REC for PJM Tier I. Further, beginning in 2025, 75% of the RECs the Company retires for RPS Program compliance must come from sources within the Commonwealth, which will greatly restrict the Company’s supply.

    Indeed, 2025 will be a key and difficult year for Dominion in seeking to comply with the 2020 green energy mandates, first because of the move to requiring 75% of RECs be from Virginia energy sources but also because the required target for using non-carbon emitting energy sources jumps to 26%. It could also be a year when energy demand exceeds the forecasts because of this cold winter and because of the exponential data center growth. 

    (more…)

  • One Man’s Fight for Transparency

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    James A. Bacon

    by Walter Smith

    The Virginia Freedom of Information Act (“Act” or “FOIA”) has wonderfully high aspirations, ensuring the people of the Commonwealth have “ready access to public records.” All public records are presumed open, unless an exemption is properly invoked. Any exemption shall be narrowly construed. All public bodies shall make reasonable efforts to reach an agreement with a requester concerning the production of the records requested. All of that warmth and fuzziness is contained in the short title and policy – 2.2-3700 – of the Act.

    All of Virginia’s public universities qualify as “public bodies,” subject to FOIA. Given the ties to the Commonwealth — the students, the alumni, the citizens, the Commonwealth itself and its monies — one might expect ready compliance with the Act. Surprisingly, one school in particular that brags about its “unequivocal” support for free expression and free inquiry hands over as few documents as it can, contrary to the broad aspirations expressed in 2.2-3700.

    My FOIA journey began in 2021, soon after the University of Virginia released its “free speech” statement. I was disappointed with it, thinking it lukewarm and empty of enforcement – a fig leaf resulting from the alumni outcry arising out of the poor handling of the F UVA Lawn door.

    To broadly summarize my experience, JMU, Va Tech and VCU have been cooperative, even helpful, going so far as to call me to explain why documents might not exist, or how the format isn’t exactly what I requested. Admittedly, these might only be 10 requests, while I have made hundreds of requests to UVA. UVA, however, seems determined to use every possible trick to avoid turning over documents requested. Even if I were to make all of my requests in bad faith (I haven’t), it would not obviate UVA’s duty to comply with the Act.

    (more…)

  • Bacon Meme of the Week

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    James A. Bacon

Now Available

Book cover of 'Dust Mites: A Second American Revolution' by James A. Bacon, featuring astronauts planting a flag with a blue and white emblem on a lunar landscape, with Earth visible in the background.
For sale on Amazon.com

The year: 2075. The American colonies on the Moon are getting restless under Washington’s tyrannical rule….

This second edition of “Dust Mites” has a snazzy new cover, includes helpful lunar maps, and is 5,000 words tighter than the original. The sequel, “Trogs,” is scheduled for publication this summer.

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Bacon’s Rebellion is Virginia’s leading politically non-aligned portal for news, opinions and analysis about state, regional and local public policy. Read more about us here.

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