Category Archives: Regulation

Did Assembly Trim Dominion Bills $7-$14? No.

Posted on September 11, 2023 by | 12 comments

The SCC’s breakdown of Dominion’s energy price for a home using 1,000 kwh.  Click for clear view.

by Steve Haner

When the Virginia General Assembly passed a complicated electricity regulation change a few months ago, the Richmond Times-Dispatch parroted as fact this Dominion Energy Virginia claim in a front-page paragraph:

The compromise on electric bills — in legislation that passed nearly unanimously — would bring an immediate $6 to $7 cut in a benchmark 1,000 kilowatt-hour monthly bill, which now stands at $137.

Bacon’s Rebellion promised to check on that. Did that benchmark bill drop “immediately” to $130 or $131? Was there an even bigger drop as others had promised, including even Governor Glenn Youngkin (R), who still claims on his website that he “delivered savings on power bills of $14 per month?”

The State Corporation Commission made a presentation to legislators last week that included the September 1 “typical” bill, broken down by individual elements. The table reported a total cost for 1,000 kilowatt hours as $134.17. That is three dollars lower than the cost cited in the Times-Dispatch article above. Continue reading →

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Posted in Business and Economy, Energy, General Assembly, Regulation, Utilities

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Legislature Moves To Fill Power Vacuum It Created

Posted on September 5, 2023 by | 20 comments

State Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, new Chairman of the Commission on Electric Utility Regulation (Image: Virginia Star)

By Steve Haner

State Senator Scott Surovell, D-Mount Vernon, showed today that he had something which the State Corporation Commission now lacks – a quorum.  Surovell and the other legislators will gather in Richmond tomorrow to address the state budget but are expected once again to fail to fill the two vacancies on that vital regulatory body.

Surovell, however, was chosen this afternoon to chair the newly reconstituted Commission on Electric Utility Regulation (CEUR), a legislative oversight panel that has not met since December 2017 despite several tumultuous years of change in Virginia’s energy sector. The meeting lasted just a few minutes beyond one hour and never discussed the huge problem the legislators have created by refusing to elect new SCC regulators. Continue reading →

20 Comments

Posted in Energy, General Assembly, Regulation, Utilities

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TJI To SCC: Keep Dominion Gas Plants

Posted on September 5, 2023 by | 26 comments

The following has been submitted to the State Corporation Commission via the public comment portal it has established for Dominion Energy Virginia’s pending 2023 Integrated Resource Plan.  It was drafted by Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy Senior Fellow Stephen D. Haner.

Dominion Energy Virginia is acting reasonably and prudently by planning to maintain most of its natural gas generation and perhaps some of its coal generation for the foreseeable future, despite narrow votes in the Virginia General Assembly in favor of eliminating their use.

That is the only aspect of the pending Integrated Resource Plan review (PUR-2023-00066) on which the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy is offering an opinion.  However, the opinion is strongly reinforced by data put on the case record by the State Corporation Commission’s own professional staff and cited below. Continue reading →

26 Comments

Posted in Energy, Environment, Regulation, Utilities

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The Virginia State Budget and the Rising Costs of Registered Nurses

Posted on September 4, 2023 by | 7 comments

by James C. Sherlock

I was asked yesterday by a reader about the relationship between nursing homes, rising registered nurse salaries and the new Virginia budget agreement.

Good questions. Virginia’s workforce includes nearly 70,000 registered nurses.

The state pays its workers, but it also pays its Medicaid share for private sector nurses. Pay for private sector workers is based upon market conditions. The market wage for registered nurses nationwide increased dramatically during COVID.

Perhaps the only good thing to come out of that mess was that registered nurses, of whom Virginia has 11% fewer than demand calculated by the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, got very large pay and bonus raises, and the new wage points appear to have stuck.

If the laws of economics work here, that will over time increase the number of nurses if we can educate and train them in the required numbers.

The latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for all states show that the median wage for an RN in Virginia was $79,700 a year. In Northern Virginia portion of the D.C. metro area, the median was $92,800.  The underlying data are a couple of years old.

Wages and bonuses can vary a lot among Virginia hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies, nursing school staff and government employees, and are higher or lower depending on specialty. The private sector offers $10,000 to  $20,000 signing bonuses paid out after the first year.

Employers of course must pay payroll taxes and other expenses related to employees, and thus their costs will generally exceed $100,000 per RN.

Virginia RNs are still underpaid compared to national figures. The mean annual wage for America’s 3 million registered nurses in May was $89,010 compared to Virginia’s $79,900.

The federal Centers for Medicare/Medicaid Services, aware of some of the questionable business models of bad actors in the nursing home industry, published last week a proposed rule to both increase the minimum number of RNs in nursing facilities and to require all nursing facilities to reveal every year how much of the Medicare and Medicaid payouts go to salaries and related expenses.

So, Medicare and Medicaid costs will go up yet again. Continue reading →

7 Comments

Posted in Budgets, Change Management, Federal, Finance (government), General Assembly, Governance, Government Oversight, Government workers and pensions, Health Care, Labor & workforce, Long Term Care and Nursing Homes, Medicaid, Regulation

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Virginia Has an Opportunity to Take the Lead in Nursing Home Technology Insertion to Improve Care with Existing Staff

Posted on September 3, 2023 by | 21 comments

by James C. Sherlock

A pending new federal rule defining strong nursing home staffing minimums has finally accomplished something that I thought unlikely in my lifetime.

It has in a single stroke aligned the interests of patients and their loved ones, nurses, nursing homes, state and federal governments, and taxpayers in finding ways to make existing nursing home staffs more efficient and effective.

That alignment brings the miracle of the loaves and fishes to mind.

It takes some explaining.

  1. The value of the new regulations to patients and loved ones and nurses is clear. Better quality of care for patients and better working conditions — less stress and better job satisfaction — for the nurses.
  2. The nursing homes and their lobbyists oppose the new rule, but it appears that it will happen. They face a significant shortage of registered nurses in Virginia and competition for nurses from hospitals with deeper pockets. So, they very much want to somehow reduce the new minimum federal requirements.
  3. The state and federal governments, and thus the taxpayers, will inevitably see demands for Medicare and Medicaid payment increases to pay for the new staff. So, it would benefit taxpayers and the national debt to reduce those ratios as long as the desired levels of care could be maintained.

One answer to address all of those interests is extensive automation of processes in which nurses are involved. Just some of the requirements:

  • Integrate electronic health records (EHR) and nurse support apps for real-time data entry on mobile devices;
  • Remotely pre-screen, prioritize and automate alert and alarm workflows;
  • Alert to medication administration requirements and help prevent medication errors;
  • Enable nurses to notify the appropriate responders to crises with one click on a mobile device.

Continue reading →

21 Comments

Posted in Change Management, Government Oversight, Health Care, Labor & workforce, Long Term Care and Nursing Homes, Regulation, Test and evaluation

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Politicians Back Interest-Heavy Fuel Debt Payoff

Posted on September 1, 2023 by | 21 comments

Better yet, how about ten years from now? With a decade of interest added on, of course.

By Steve Haner

Several Virginia legislators have encouraged the State Corporation Commission to allow Dominion Energy Virginia to convert a $1.3 billion unpaid fuel debt into a ten-year revenue stream for the utility, adding up to $370 million in additional costs onto its customers.

The SCC will open a hearing Tuesday on the utility’s pending application to convert the unpaid fuel costs for the past three years into a bond. A public comment period on the application just ended, and four legislators and the Virginia Chamber of Commerce filed letters supporting Dominion’s request. The 2023 General Assembly created the bonding option during session as part of an omnibus regulatory change.

The issue is simple. Dominion failed to foresee the explosion in fuel costs caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the generalized wave of inflation. A year ago the SCC approved a plan to cover the first batch of those unpredicted costs that accrued through June 2022, with a three-year payoff schedule.

But the second year of unexpected fuel expenses added almost $700 million more to the unpaid balance by June 2023. Years two and three of the original payment schedule and the new additional costs combine to the total of about $1.275 billion, not including interest. And the interest is what this is all about, with the trade-off being smaller installment payments but a decade of interest charges. Continue reading →

21 Comments

Posted in Consumer protection, Energy, General Assembly, Regulation, Utilities

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Democrats Cannot Hide From Vote to Ban Gas Cars

Posted on August 30, 2023 by | 108 comments

By Steve Haner

Yes, Virginia, the Democrats are coming for your gasoline and diesel powered cars. The only way to decouple Virginia from the California Air Resources Board’s relentless drive toward electric vehicles only on new car lots is to change the political landscape in Richmond and reverse a 2021 bill.

A Republican candidate for Virginia Senate used the illustration above to challenge his opponent, current Delegate Danica Roem (D-Manassas), now seeking a seat in the less numerous body. The blog Blue Virginia rushed to Roem’s defense. Here is the full link to the article so you can get the link and the tenor of the message all in one. Continue reading →

108 Comments

Posted in Business and Economy, Elections, Energy, Environment, General Assembly, Regulation

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Dominion Plan to Maintain Gas Attacked at SCC

Posted on August 21, 2023 by | 31 comments

Percentage of Virginians reporting difficulty in paying for electricity, including those setting their thermostats to uncomfortable levels. From expert testimony filed by the University of Michigan’s Justin Schott, based on census data. Click for larger view.

By Steve Haner

First published this morning by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy.

The front line in the war against fossil fuels in Virginia has now shifted back to the State Corporation Commission, and as usual only one side has fielded an army and brought heavy weapons to the battlefield.  Those who might defend the continued use of coal and natural gas are missing in action.   Continue reading →

31 Comments

Posted in Business and Economy, Energy, Environment, Regulation, Resilience, Utilities

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Why Dominion Stays Calm in Wind Industry Storm

Posted on August 7, 2023 by | 45 comments

By Steve Haner

First published by Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy.  There is some overlap with a post from last week by another author,  but with a slightly different focus.  

With growing  turmoil in the offshore wind industry finally being reported, it would be nice to turn the clock back a year and revisit the State Corporation Commission’s failed 2022 effort to impose a real performance standard on Dominion Energy Virginia’s $10 billion, 176-turbine project.  No such luck, Virginia. Continue reading →

45 Comments

Posted in Energy, Environment, General Assembly, Regulation, Utilities

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One Hand Applauds for Dominion “Bill Relief”

Posted on July 6, 2023 by | 6 comments

by Steve Haner

Dominion Energy Virginia’s customers still owe it $1.26 billion for fuel they have already used, as of the end of June.  The utility is going to give us either seven or ten years to pay off that debt, but at a total cost of over $1.54 billion if we take seven years or almost $1.7 billion if we take the full decade.

The difference, of course, is interest, a return on investment (profit) for the lender, almost $300 million on the seven year plan or $400 million on the ten year plan.  And that initial $1.26 billion already includes some interest.  It was clear from the beginning that extending this debt out like a credit card balance would produce a profit for the lender. Continue reading →

6 Comments

Posted in Business and Economy, Energy, General Assembly, Regulation, Utilities

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Check Out Which New Virginia Laws Go Into Effect July 1st

Posted on June 30, 2023 by | 11 comments

by The Republican Standard staff

The Virginia General Assembly passed several small bills due to the split between the Republican-led House of Delegates and the Democratic-controlled Virginia State Senate. Yet the areas where they did find co-operation could matter to many Virginians as we head into Fourth of July weekend.

Enhanced Penalties for Fentanyl Manufacturing or Distribution
Reeves SB1188 Senate 35-5 House 50-42
Provides that any person who knowingly and intentionally manufactures or knowingly and intentionally distributes a weapon of terrorism when such person knows that such weapon of terrorism is, or contains, any mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl is guilty of a Class 4 felony.

Universal Occupational License Recognition
McDougle SB1213 Senate 40-0 House 99-0
Establishes criteria for an individual licensed, certified, or having work experience in another state to apply to a regulatory board within the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation and be issued an occupational license or government certification if certain conditions are met.

Police Chiefs May Enact Local Curfews during Disturbances
Norment SB1455 Senate 27-12 House 53-45
Enables the chief law-enforcement officer of a locality to enact a curfew under certain circumstances during a civil disturbance.

Making Sure Every District has a Legislator
Suetterlein SB944 Senate 39-0 House 99-0
Requires special elections to fill a vacancy in the membership of the General Assembly be held within 30 days of the vacancy if the vacancy occurs or will occur between December 10 and March 10 which coincides with time right before and during the General Assembly session. Continue reading →

11 Comments

Posted in Business and Economy, Courts and law, Crime , corrections and law enforcement, Economic development, Elections, Finance (government), General Assembly, Governance, Government Oversight, Government workers and pensions, Law enforcement, Politics, Regulation, Uncategorized, Virginia Law

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Clean Virginia Win is Bad News for Gas Consumers

Posted on June 22, 2023 by | 17 comments

By Steve Haner

Renewable energy donor Clean Virginia Fund was the biggest winner in Tuesday’s Democratic primaries, going head to head against Dominion Energy Virginia in several nomination contests and often winning.  Senior incumbent Democrats with strong Green New Deal voting records went down to defeat, because good wasn’t good enough. Continue reading →

17 Comments

Posted in Elections, Energy, Environment, General Assembly, Money in politics, Regulation, Utilities

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RGGI Reg Repealed, But RGGI Tax Returns to Bills

Posted on June 8, 2023 by | 39 comments

The states currently in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative tax compact.  Put an X through Virginia as of January 2024? Pennsylvania remains covered with a question mark.

by Steve Haner

Virginia’s Air Pollution Control Board voted Wednesday to remove Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, keeping Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin’s promise to eliminate the related carbon tax that has been imposed on electricity ratepayers under RGGI since January 2021.

The bad news is the tax itself won’t disappear until at the earliest September 2024.  Collection from customers has been delayed.  A separate bill surcharge to collect the tax, imposed and then removed by Dominion Energy Virginia, is likely to be imposed again as of September 1 of this year.  A State Corporation Commission hearing examiner has recommended approval of Dominion’s petition to collect another $350 million or so from its customers.

The surcharge is still being calculated, as there remains some dispute over what the full costs are.  The warmer than normal winter reduced electricity demand and required fewer RGGI credits.  The surcharge should settle somewhere above $4 per 1,000 kilowatt hours of usage.  In effect, as the hearing examiner notes, Dominion is seeking to collect 17 months of RGGI allowance costs in just 12 months. Continue reading →

39 Comments

Posted in Energy, Environment, Regulation, Taxes

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First Lawsuit Over Whales and Wind Dismissed

Posted on May 25, 2023 by | 30 comments

Vineyard Wind 1, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. Click for larger view.

By Steve Haner

A federal district judge in Massachusetts has rejected an effort to stop an offshore wind project near Nantucket Island on the basis of danger to whales, apparently the first court test of similar claims being raised against wind turbine proposals along the U.S. eastern seaboard, including here in Virginia.

On May 17, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani granted a motion for summary judgement to the federal agency that approved the Vineyard Wind One project. With a planned 84 turbines, the project is about half the size of Dominion Energy Virginia’s planned project off Virginia Beach. Both are just the first phases of larger planned buildouts. Continue reading →

30 Comments

Posted in Energy, Environment, Regulation, Utilities

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Dominion Seeks Permit to Harass 100s of Whales

Posted on May 23, 2023 by | 18 comments

Click for larger view. BOEM map of Right Whale density noting offshore wind lease areas. Dominion’s CVOW and Avangrid’s Kitty Hawk Wind are the southernmost mapped.

By David Wojick

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is taking public comments on a massive proposal to harass large numbers of whales and other marine mammals off Virginia by building a huge offshore wind complex. There is supposed to be an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed harassment, but it is not there with the proposal.

We are told it is elsewhere, but after searching we find that it simply does not exist. Like a shell game where the pea has been palmed, there is nothing to be found. Continue reading →

18 Comments

Posted in Energy, Environment, Regulation, Utilities

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