Republicans are happy.
Democrats are happy.
Ratepayers will get a 6% reduction in bills.
Green energy advocates should be happy.
…and the State Corporation Commission renews its triennial oversight.
Of course, Dominion Energy — left in limbo after the Obama-era Paris Climate Agreement was first implemented and then removed by the Trump administration — is perhaps the most overjoyed and relieved about the settlement of government regulations, both federal and state. The Washington Post’s Gregory Schneider broke the story late Thursday:
The bill would once again subject Dominion to rate reviews by the State Corporation Commission, but would set those reviews every three years instead of every other year, as had been the state’s practice, according to two lawmakers who are co-sponsoring the House and Senate versions of the bill.
Utility customers would get rebates of about $140 million in overpayments that Dominion collected during the years of the rate freeze, said Sen. Richard Saslaw (D-Fairfax), who is co-sponsoring the senate version of the bill along with Sen. Frank Wagner (R-Virginia Beach).
Dominion customers would also see rates reduced by a total of $100 million a year in savings the utility projects from the recent federal overhaul of corporate taxes, Saslaw said. And Dominion would no longer receive the $25 million a year it had been granted in credits for converting four coal-fired plants into woodchip-burning facilities, he said.
With Dominion making the command decision to wind down those four plants, the credits become a moot point.
“The Grid Transformation & Security Act of 2018 has $1 billion in customer benefits, fully restores SCC oversight, and transforms the grid-system into a stronger, smarter, safer, and greener machine,” said David Botkins, spokesman for Dominion Energy. “Customer bills would drop 6 percent immediately and our Energy Share weatherization program that assists customers most in financial need would be funded through the year 2028.”
The fact that the 2018 Grid Security and Transformation Act was hammered out in a bi-partisan manner should be a warm introduction to how this General Assembly — with one-vote Republican margins in each chamber — intends to govern itself internally. Such a bill of consequence could not have been easily forged, and yet seamlessly it seems as if it will land on the governor’s desk with broad (or nearly broad) support from all parties involved. Again, from the WaPo:
Saslaw said he expects the bill to have broad support on both sides of the aisle. “I think everybody’s going to like it,” he said, “except maybe Sam Rasoul, because I didn’t put Dominion out of business.”
More to the point, if Dominion Energy’s ability to provide clean, sustainable, and affordable energy is the backbone of Virginia’s economic renaissance? Then this was a critical and bi-partisan step forward that should easily earn Governor Northam’s signature.
