Earlier this year, Dominion Energy committed to $870 million in proposed energy efficiency programs as part of their 2018 Grid Transformation and Securitization Act (GTSA). Stakeholders and Dominion representatives agreed that the company would develop and implement effective energy efficiency measures to help lower consumer bills and reduce demand on the overall system. Now, Dominion […]
Electricity Burden and the Myth of Virginia’s Rate UtopiaThe Affordable Clean Energy Project (ACEP) of Virginia Poverty Law Center has a new interactive map that provides a visual representation of Virginia’s households electricity burden, further dispelling the myth of Virginia’s “rate utopia.” On average Virginia households experience an already higher than average electricity burden of 3.1%, compared to a national average of 2.7%. “Electricity […]
Is the “Refund Freeze” going to thaw?After two years of defending rate freeze, Dominion says it’s ‘time to transition away’ from the controversial 2015 law So, victory may be at hand in the bipartisan effort to repeal this law. However, we still expect a difficult fight ahead of us to have those excessive profits returned to Virginia’s energy consumers. A recent […]
New VPLC Study Released: The Myth of Virginia’s Rate UtopiaReport Release Today VPLC’s Affordable Clean Energy Project released its first report “The Myth of Virginia’s Rate Utopia: A Comparison of Rates, Bill, and Riders” This report grapples with the disconnect between Virginia’s low electric rates, but the feeling many people have of high electric bills. We created this report to help ourselves and […]
Electric Rate and Review Freeze – Not Such a Clearly Positive PictureDominion’s recent OpEd, “Why Dominion’s electric rate freeze in Virginia is good for residents” doesn’t provide a full picture of how the freeze is affecting electricity bills in Virginia. The Virginia Poverty Law Center is concerned that Dominion’s “rate freeze” has the potential to hit Virginia’s most economically vulnerable consumers the hardest. An electricity […]
End the Refund and Review FreezeVPLC is joining with a bipartisan group of legislators asking Governor McAuliffe to overturn 2015 legislation that is harming Virginia’s electricity consumers. The Virginia General Assembly passed legislation in 2015 (SB 1349) that fixed the base rates charged by public utilities, Appalachian Power and Dominion, to its Virginia customers and prohibits the State Corporation Commission […]
ENERGY EFFICIENCY: What is it and Why does it matter?ENERGY EFFICIENCY: WHAT IS IT AND WHY DOES IT MATTER? By Ben Greenberg, Affordable Clean Energy Project The Virginia Poverty Law Center (VPLC) initiated its Affordable Clean Energy Project in 2016. The purpose of the project is to give a voice to low-income Virginians on the impacts of energy costs and the need for energy […]
VPLC Joins the Fray Over Energy Costs and Energy Efficiency; Join in with us!Last week the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC), responding to a legislative mandate from the 2016 session of the Virginia General Assembly, conducted a public hearing on the important issue of energy efficiency programs in the Commonwealth and the costs and savings that can be achieved through such programs. The Virginia Poverty Law Center (VPLC) […]
Add your name to push for Clean Affordable and Efficient Energy for All!Join the thousands of people who have come together with us to as for affordable, clean energy to be a priority Now is the time to bring equality to Virginia’s electricity. Low-income single and multi-family households—and minority families—pay much more for energy as a percentage of overall income than average households, according to a […]