Category: Blog

$268,656,969,377

Looks like a lot of money, right? Again, that’s two hundred and sixty-eight billion, six hundred and fifty-six million, nine hundred and sixty-nine thousand, three hundred and seventy-seven dollars. No one in their right mind would walk away from the table and leave that much behind, right?

Actually, it represents the money that the U.S. economy has lost by not adopting smart energy policies suggested by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) in 2001 as of 1pm last Thursday.

Given the state of Virginia’s economy — with our potential $4 billion deficit — you’d think our leaders would jump at the chance to save Virginia taxpayers money through smart energy policies. Think again.

Last night, the Virginia General Assembly missed an extraordinary opportunity by voting to kill the only mandatory efficiency bill in the GA this year – Senate Bill 1447.

We all know that investments in energy efficiency are the quickest, cleanest and most cost effective way to meet our rising energy demands here in Virginia. An independent study done by the ACEEE found that with a little help from our leaders in Richmond, the Commonwealth had the potential to stabilize its rising energy demands, avoid the need for costly new generation and provide thousands of jobs. Investments in efficiency cost 3 cents per kilowatt hour versus the 12 cents per kilowatt hour required to build a coal-fired power plant. I may not be good at math but upon first inspection 3 is less than 12. This bill could have saved Virginians approximately $15 billion on electricity bills by 2025.

SB 1447 was the only bill that would definitively put Virginia on the path towards a clean energy economy. It was the strongest piece of efficiency legislation before the committee, and it would have made the Commonwealth an efficiency leader both among our neighboring states and across the country.

Senator McEachin’s strong bill died in committee last night — by one vote. ONE VOTE?!?!?! Guess who voted to skip this amazing opportunity?

Senator Saslaw.

State Senator Dick Saslaw (D-35), the Senate Majority leader and Chair of the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee, cast the deciding vote against the bill. In fact, he was the only Democratic on the committee to vote to kill the bill.

This man represents parts of Fairfax County, a district that overwhelmingly voted for change when they elected President Barack Obama by almost 70 percent in some areas. So why, one might ask, is this man voting against policies that would usher in real change for Virginia?

I can think of 85,000 reasons.

Dominion Virginia Power donated $85,000 to Senator Saslaw’s campaign between 2004 and 2009. Dominion, the largest utility in Virginia and one of the largest in the U.S., is profiting hand over fist from Virginia’s long-term addiction to coal. This is an addiction that Senator Saslaw helped solidify into state law, and an addiction that can only be defined as self destructive. So destructive, in fact, that instead of jump-starting our economy as investments in efficiency would, investing in coal actually shrinks the economy. By the state’s own estimates, building Dominion’s proposed coal-fired power plant in Wise County will actually contract Virginia’s economy by 1500 jobs.

As consumers are getting hit with ballooning electricity bills and the economic crisis continues to slam Virginia hard, Senator McEachin’s bill would have made electricity bills go down while also ensuring that Virginia could meet its growing energy demands without constructing any new costly power plants.

Isn’t it time our elected leaders start representing their constituents and stop representing the interests of Dominion Virginia Power? What do you think Virginia?

Want to tell Sen. Saslaw how you feel? Here’s his number: 804-698-7535.

Get involved in our Virginia campaign>>