$6.5 billion. That’s how much Dominion Energy estimates it will cost Virginia ratepayers if the state signs up with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a cap-and-trade program designed to reduce CO2 emissions. The utility said it would have to shutter four coal-fired power plants and replace their generating capacity with additional solar, natural gas, and/or possibly a pump-storage facility in Tazewell County, reports the Daily Press. The figure exceeds the $3.3-$5.9 billion previously estimated by State Corporation Commission staff, and conflicts with arguments by others that under the RGGI electric bills actually would go down.
Thirty percent. That is the percentage of police-involved-shooting incidents that local police and sheriffs departments failed to report to the Virginia State Police for compilation on its annual Crime in Virginia reports, concludes the (Lynchburg) News & Advance in an investigation of the data since mid-2016. (In the 2018 Crime in Virginia report, state police listed 28 state-involved shootings.) Law enforcement officials attributed the missing data to routine errors and confusion over recent changes in reporting requirements. Civil rights advocates want to expand the data reported to include the age, race, and gender of the victim.
14,000 acres. That’s how much farm and forest the Virginia Farmland Preservation Fund (VFPF) has conserved since 2008. The Fund surpassed the 100th-tract mark this summer, an event that Gov. Ralph Northam celebrated with a visit to Messick’s Farm Market in Fauquier County last week, reports the Culpeper Star-Exponent. The governor touted the value role of conservation in promoting agriculture, tourism, and forestry, Virginia’s three largest industries. The VFPF has helped 16 local governments finance purchase-of-development rights for 102 easements on 13,917 acres. The purchases cost $32.8 million. The preservation fund provided $11.9 million; the rest came from local government and other sources.
