April 24, 2020

Dear Governor Northam and Virginia Legislators:

April 12th’s signing of the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) compelled us to write our concerns with
this underwhelming piece of legislation that we believe only puts pen to paper what industry already
committed to doing. Although the VCEA increases Virginia’s off-shore wind and solar capacity a
significant amount relative to the state’s previous standards, the VCEA is nowhere near the benchmarks
recommended by climate experts while still placing a heavy burden on ratepayers and vulnerable
communities.

We, the signed organizations, on behalf of our tens of thousands of members urge you to enact
significantly stronger climate and energy legislation than the VCEA in 2021. ​We demand you pass and
sign into law bills that commit the state to a 100% clean renewable energy grid by 2035, put a
moratorium on all new fossil-fuel infrastructure, enact stronger worker and environmental justice (EJ)
protections, establish ​aggressive ​ratepayer protections, and address how to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions from transportation to zero. For the reasons listed below, our organizations will continue to
fight for better climate legislation and hope that legislators will seek to correct many of the flaws in the
VCEA.

1) The VCEA’s commitment to 100% “clean” renewable energy by 2050 is misleading and does not
accomplish the energy benchmarks set by climate experts.

To follow the timeline set by experts to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, Virginia must
transition its grid to 100% by 2035. The VCEA’s inadequate timeline only promises a deceivingly poor
100% “clean” renewable energy grid due mostly to the bill’s convoluted definition of “Total electric
energy” and what counts as a renewable energy “eligible source” in setting the state’s RPS goals.

Unfortunately, the bill creates carve outs for energy produced by nuclear and “zero-carbon” electric
generating facilities. Nuclear energy is neither considered clean nor renewable because uranium mining
results in radioactive pollution and is a non-renewable source. The vague “zero-carbon” language used
throughout the bill gives utilities the choice to use small gas plants with faulty carbon-capture systems in
the future which fail to address stronger greenhouse gases like methane. The VCEA also allows dirty
energy options like landfill gas and biomass to count as renewables. All these loopholes and
industry-friendly carve outs really diminish the bill’s impact..

Additionally, the VCEA’s RPS standards only apply to Phase I and Phase II utilities, also known as
Appalachian Power Company (AppCo) and Dominion Energy. The bill then excludes fossil-fuel power
plants operated by cooperatives, independent power producers, industrial utilities, and municipally-owned
utilities from RPS requirements. The proposed C4GT power plant, for instance, which would be one of
the largest plants in the state, is not required by the law to achieve the RPS goals. Under the VCEA’s
current definitions of who is mandated to achieve RPS goals, it would currently leave out 6,676 MW
produced by 56 plants.1

2) The VCEA doesn’t meaningfully stop the fossil-fuel industry from continuing its buildout
severely undermining any renewable energy goals set forth by the state.

VCEA’s supporters claim the bill enacts a “de-facto moratorium” when in reality it just only suspends
Dominion and AppCo from building fossil-fuel plants until a state report is submitted in 2022 at the latest.
Nothing in this suspension, however, stops Dominion and AppCo from expanding or building new
pipelines, like the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, and compressor stations, which will both emit methane and
carbon dioxide. Additionally, non-Dominion and AppCo fossil-fuel power plants and other projects can
still be approved during this two-year “pause.” This means C4GT, Chickahominy Power Station, and the
Virginia Natural Gas Header Improvement Project can continue with business as usual.

3) The VCEA puts its less than 100% renewable energy transition on the backs of ratepayers.

Under the VCEA, when Dominion Energy or AppCo fail to meet RPS standards they are penalized. The
bill, however, gives Dominion Energy and AppCo the power to recover these penalties from ratepayers on
top of the costs related to achieving RPS goals with the expansion of renewable energy programs. ​ ​The
VCEA also makes ratepayers pay for energy efficiency programs but guarantees Dominion and AppCo
can profit off of these programs through rate adjustment clauses (RACs). RACs allow utilities to charge
certain costs to ratepayers on top of base rates which already include a “fair rate of return,” for utilities.
The Re-Regulation Act which established RACs allows utilities to recover certain costs through RACs
and base rates, meaning utilities are guaranteed to recover all these costs on top of a fair rate of return.2
Despite establishing the energy-efficiency program costs could be recovered almost in full from RACs,
there is nothing in the VCEA explicitly stating that energy savings from these programs are guaranteed to
go back to rate-payers.

The ratepayer protections VCEA supporters reference often simply keeps the same rigged system that
allowed Dominion to overcharge ratepayers by 2.3 billion.3 VCEA advocates say the costs mandated by
the bill won’t be charged if the State Corporation Commission deems them to be “unreasonable or
imprudent.” This language puts the onus on a weakened SCC, leaving it up to the agency to prove
Dominion and AppCo’s plans are a bad deal instead of having the companies prove their plans are a fair
deal. When looking at the VCEA’s provisions that define what can be recovered by ratepayers, the bill
will allow AppCo and Dominion to recover almost all costs associated with this renewable transition.
Many experts felt this relinquishing of control over renewables also empowered major corporations like
Dominion to drive energy policy in Virginia for next 30 years.

1
U.S. Energy Information Administration. (2019). ​Form EIA-860 detailed data with previous form data (EIA-860A/860B)​ Available from U.S.
EIA website: ​https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia860/
2
​GreeneHurlocker, PLC (2017, November). ​Principles of Electric Utility in Virginia​. ​ ​https://www.greenehurlocker.com/Principles.pdf
3
Clean Virginia.(2020) ​The Dominion Scam​. Retrieved from: ​https://www.cleanvirginia.org/the-dominion-scam/
4) The VCEA signs up the state for an ineffective pay-to-pollute scheme that fails to address the
climate crisis at hand.

Supporters of the VCEA argue its provision to sign the state into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
(RGGI) would incentivize non-Dominion and AppCo companies to adopt more renewable energy goals.
However, these supporters neglect to acknowledge the disappointing and immoral results from other
states that have been in the RGGI pay-to-pollute scheme for years. Food & Water Watch, a national
environmental non-profit, did an analysis on the locations of the power plants that participated in RGGI
and their CO2 emissions. The findings indicate the placement of power plants participating in RGGI
were disproportionately located in poorer, less-educated neighborhoods and in communities of color.
Furthermore, neighborhoods that still experienced CO2 emission increases under RGGI have lower
median household incomes and higher proportions of people of color than areas that saw CO2 emission
decreases. These findings, then, indicate that RGGI will most likely increase the burden of pollution that
already disproportionately affects the poor and people of color.4

Just as troubling, RGGI and similar cap and trade systems have not been proven to work effectively to
lower CO2 emissions due to the programs’ inherent design flaws that promote unrestricted trade. Through
mechanisms like the cost containment reserve (CCR), which can be used to essentially raise the cap on
carbon, and extremely low pricing for pollution allowances, RGGI is ineffective at incentivizing
companies to significantly reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.5

RGGI proponents argue that it has led to a decrease in CO2 emissions in existing states, however there is
no indication that RGGI itself has driven these reductions. Much of the purported RGGI emissions
reductions were more likely attributable to the 2008 recession than to the program itself since it went into
effect in 2009— when economic activity and pollution declined steeply.6 Additionally, with the
COVID-19 outbreak drastically slowing economic activity, this will result in a reduction of CO2
emissions which RGGI advocates will misleadingly attribute to this ineffective carbon-market scheme.
Finally, and perhaps most troublingly, RGGI neglects to account for other greenhouse gas emissions like
methane from natural gas, one of the biggest drivers of climate change. As such RGGI’s contributions to
solving the climate crisis are grossly overstated.

5) The VCEA lacks the strong environmental justice and worker provisions we need to ensure that
this 100% clean renewable energy transition benefits all Virginians.

The VCEA provides no transition assistance to fossil-fuel workers nor sets a comprehensive plan for
bolstering EJ communities impacted by fossil fuels. While the bill has a passing mention of hiring local
labor and from “historically economically disadvantaged” communities, the VCEA does not have
concrete provisions around project labor agreements to ensure strong protections for workers that need

4
Food and Water Watch. (2019, November) ​Cap and Trade: More Pollution for the Poor and People of Color.​ Retrieved from
https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/insight/cap-and-trade-more-pollution-poor-and-people-color
5
​Ramseur, J. L. (2016, April). The regional greenhouse gas initiative: lessons learned and issues for congress. Library of Congress, Congressional
Research Service.
6
Food & Water Watch analysis of RGGI data “Summary Level Emissions Report.” and RGGI data “Historical Emissions Data.” Updated
November 18, 2009. Accessed February 2017.
training, and workforce development, and scholarship programs as they enter the renewable energy
sector. Although the VCEA advocates tout that RGGI funding will be allocated to EJ communities, this
would add insult to injury. Allowing this pay-to-pollute scheme that will further harm EJ communities to
seem morally acceptable by offering a financial consolation prize distracts legislators from the inherent
injustice RGGI fosters.

In conclusion, the passage of the VCEA allows legislators to subtly skirt around the real consequences of
the climate crisis. Failing to recognize and fix the inherent flaws in the VCEA would be reckless.
To become the South’s true climate leader, Virginia must adopt a bolder more ambitious plan that
commits the state to a 100% clean renewable energy grid by 2035, puts a moratorium on all new
fossil-fuel infrastructure, enacts stronger worker and EJ protections like transition assistance to fossil-fuel
workers and tangible training programs, and strengthens protections for ratepayers who will carry the
burden and risk of moving Virginia to renewable energy under the current industry-friendly energy
system.

Sincerely,

Food & Water Action

People Demanding Action
Virginia Poor People’s Campaign
Virginia Justice Democrats
Indivisible Virginia
Our Revolution Arlington
Our Revolution Falls Church
Friends of Augusta
Friends of Buckingham
Center for Common Ground
Sustainable Loudoun
Virginia Pipelines Resisters
Greater Prince William Climate Action Network
350 Fairfax
350 Loudoun
Protect Our Commonwealth
Preserve Salem
Concern for the New Generation in Buckingham
Protect Our Water in Nelson County
Virginia Community Rights Network
Buckingham: We the People