Just like fixing the economy was an impossible task under the Obama administration, it seems as if fixing Virginia’s antiquated energy grid — closing coal plants, shifting to clean energy, undergrounding wires and lowering rates — is being billed an impossible task as well.
Dominion Energy is hitting the airwaves with its argument as for why the bi-partisan solution dubbed the Grid Transformation and Security Act is the best path forward after Virginia’s 2015 effort to comply with the now-defunct Paris Climate Agreement… and our friends at Blue Virginia are apoplectic (at best):
Check out the latest episode of “Shit Dominion Energy Does That Should Be Illegal,” in this case the state-“regulated” monopoly utility using ratepayers’ money to spread its b.s. propaganda to…ratepayers! How convenient! Oh, and to make matters even better, Dominion Energy is urging ratepayers to call their elected officials and urge them to vote for a Dominion-written monstrosity that will screw over those same ratepayers! Talk about cha-putz-va, as State Sen. Tommy Norment (R) might say – LOL. In all seriousness, though, I strongly urge everyone to take this ad as motivation to call their state Delegate and/or Senator and demand that they VOTE NOT on the Orwellian-named “Grid Transformation and Security [for Dominion’s top executives and shareholders] Act.” Screw this!
Yes — that was all one paragraph.
Yet the comparisons to Obama-era economies and present-day economies are worth raising. Just as we were told that 2% GDP growth was the theoretical maximum just a short 18 months ago (today the Atlanta Fed is predicting a scorching 5.4% GDP boost in the first quarter), so too is the premise that improving our energy infrastructure will be the backbone that helps bring that economic growth to Virginia’s stagnant economy: the Port of Virginia, the Golden Crescent (Washington to Richmond to Hampton Roads), as well as the spokes of the wheel surrounding this hub, including the Valley, Southwest Virginia, and neighboring North Carolina.
The question here is how to pay for a clean energy future that meets the demands of future anticipated economic growth.
Economists know this. What progressives are more worried about is the fact that Virginia’s economy might grow despite the cries from progressives to save (and replant) a few trees — thus losing a potential boogeyman.
Case in point? Two editorials, one from The Virginian-Pilot and the other from the Lynchburg News & Advance cautioning readers to expect too much from the Dominion-brokered legislation. To wit, we will start with the Pilot:
The company is annually the most generous corporate campaign donor in the commonwealth and, as a result, it exerts significant influence in the General Assembly. That understandably fuels the public’s concern, since state lawmakers organize the regulatory structure by which utilities such as Dominion operate.
Such behavior gives the impression that the company operates under a different set of rules and that lawmakers are more concerned about Dominion shareholders than residential customers.
Translation: Dominion does a lot for charity, but all of that is nefarious… because, you know, Dominion and all that.
But in 2015, the company successfully lobbied lawmakers for another change: Citing the instability of the landscape due to the federal Clean Power Plan, Dominion sought a suspension of SCC reviews in exchange for a seven-year rate freeze for customers.
The bill won passage and was signed by Gov. Terry McAuliffe, only to come under legal challenge. Last year, the SCC issued a report stating that customers would have seen lower bills were it not for the rate freeze.
Yet let’s be absolutely clear about the catalyst for this: the Obama-era Paris Climate Agreement. At the time of its passage, the 2015 agreement won laudatory praise from Democrats (and Terry McAuliffe) as the path forward to a clean energy future.
So here’s the rub. Dominion has already committed itself to this path, and it cannot be easily reversed. At the same time, Dominion isn’t going to “make coal great again” and fire up a bunch of outdated coal plant facilities (even though the scrubbers exist for carbon capture) — that is the depth of their commitment to clean energy, even if much of it is financially baked in thanks to the Paris Climate Accord’s aftereffects.
The question here is how to pay for a clean energy future that meets the demands of future anticipated economic growth. To this end, the editors of the Pilot are skeptical indeed:
But customers, and many lawmakers, are skeptical, given recent experience. They reason, perhaps correctly, that this is yet another instance of Dominion doing what’s best for Dominion under the guise of doing what’s best for the commonwealth.
…and yet there is truth to that. Economic growth requires several bare minimums: good roads, an educated workforce, work patterns that make sense (see: northern Virginia), and cheap and reliable utilities. This last one makes Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power a critical and necessary component of any economic renaissance in the commonwealth — not a monopoly, just a basic fact.
The editors at the Pilot boil down the argument simply: (1) that the bi-partisan legislation has a lot of very good points and objectives that make absolute sense, but that (2) the complexity of the agreement begs the question as to how — and if — Virginia ratepayers and taxpayers will be left with a hot potato or two.
Likewise, the editors over at the News & Advance simplify the argument far more succinctly than we do here:
The Trump administration announced it would begin dismantling the Clean Power Plan in October 2017, effectively removing any cloud of a financial Armageddon from the nation’s electric utilities. But in Virginia, Dominion and APCo’s rates remain frozen at 2015 levels, and on top of that, the State Corporation Commission, which regulates the industry, has virtually no ability under the 2015 law to order lower rates or offer rebates to customers.
Dominion, APCo and the rest of Virginia’s electric providers continue to bill customers at the 2015 rates, though experts contend rates would be much lower today taking into account cheaper, bountiful natural gas and a much larger role of renewables such as wind and solar. Financial analysts who follow the industry say the utilities, especially Dominion, are socking away billions of dollars to pay for costs of implementing an environmental plan that’s as dead as the proverbial doornail.
Reason why both firms are socking away the cash? To pay for an Obama-era Paris Climate Agreement that no longer exists thank to President Trump’s rescinding of the handshake agreement.
So what to do with the resources to finish implementing a clean energy plan? That’s precisely what Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power are trying to cement in place — that if they do move forward with a modernization effort, the rules won’t change midway through the game (again).
Then there’s Jeff Schapiro over at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, who actually feels… I can’t believe it, sorry for Dominion:
Coin flip as to whether or not the RTD’s video rendering works — but you can watch it here. The case still maintains itself — Dominion has a one-shot opportunity to upgrade Virginia’s economy with a tough, reliable energy grid that is both secure and affordable.
Schapiro’s argument — that Wall Street is watching — matters a great deal. The better the Dominion stock value; the better it can take out low-interest bonds necessary to pay for desperately needed infrastructure upgrades. The cheaper the infrastructure; the better ROI ratepayers receive when they get their energy bills.
Of course, the argument is cloaked a bit — who doesn’t appreciate Schapiro’s sharp pen? — but in situ such is the argument.
None of this goodwill placates the environmentalist left whose sole purpose is to gain power by attacking institutions. As an entity that has state oversight, Dominion just happens to be one of those vital institutions — not solely because it provides the energy backbone needed for a Virginia economic renaissance in a post-sequestration age, but because the environmentalists have a dual agenda.
It’s not just about saving trees, but for groups such as the Sierra Club and League of Conservation Voters, rather it is about driving up the cost of doing business — which ostensibly not only “saves trees” by strangling households’ energy bills, but increases the cost of energy overall.
Guess who benefits from such a policy (and why).
Those truly concerned about the environment should be rooting for a solution, not opposing the current bi-partisan effort. Likewise, those claiming to have ratepayers’ interests at heart should be cheering the bi-partisan legislation forward, not throwing sand in the gears. As in most things, politics is about the adjudication of power… and it should not shock a soul that most Virginians just want the lights to turn on and off without costing $500/mo to do it.
At the moment, there are three parties committed to this effort: energy companies, Republicans, and Democrats. The real question ought to be why on earth are others opposing it?
