Governor Tim Kaine joined Dominion CEO Thomas Farrell, Charlottesville Mayor Dave Norris and others today to launch a program using the smart grid and smart meters. The program, initiated by Dominion Virginia Power, will usher in advances in energy efficiency and provide customer and environmental benefits for the city of Charlottesville but must be complemented by a statewide commitment to energy efficiency. Continue reading
Elkton, VA wants clean coal. Who wants to tell them there ain't any?
On Monday, the town council of Elkton, Virignia submitted a request to Governor Kaine asking him to seek out state and federal funding for a proposed “clean” coal research facility outside the Shenandoah town. A short hop from Harrisonburg and James Madison University, the town hopes to harness the 100 or so jobs created by the project as a boost to the local economy.
Called the Elkton Energy Research Center, the facility would focus on developing two different types of carbon capture and sequestration, both of which are not yet commercially viable. Spearheaded by county democrats, hopes are that federal cash devoted to CCS tech will find its way to the town of only 2,000 residents situated along the south fork of the Shenandoah River. The proposal would require massive amounts of start-up cash from state and federal governments, approaching the $100 million mark.
Kaine announces executive order 82: Greening of State Government
At 2:00p.m. today, Governor Tim Kaine held a press conference in the Capitol complex’s Patrick Henry Building. Kaine used the meeting to announce the newest initiative underneath his Renew Virginia campaign: executive order #82, “Greening of State Government.” His announcement detailed a new (and mildly exciting) plan for encouraging gains in efficiency and conservation in state-owned buildings and by state employees. Applying primarily to state-level buildings, fleet vehicles and personnel, Kaine hopes that the initiative will show, “leadership that will inspire local governments,” to do the same.
Just when I thought things couldn't get worse in Virginia…
As the rest of the nation rejects coal plant after coal plant… Virginia is building one in SW and proposing another one three times the size in the Hampton Roads area.
As our neighbors in Maryland pass the strongest state legislation to regulate carbon emissions… Virginia’s own Rick Boucher is working to water down and nullify any impact a federal climate bill could have.
It’s a tough fight here in Virginia, and I will continue to fight every single day to promote sustainable energy policy for the commonwealth.
Amidst it all, I still remember things could be worse, we could be WEST VIRGINIA!
Our friends in West Virginia just declared coal the state rock.
Cross posted from our friends at Center for American Progress’s Blog:
Gov. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has made coal the official state rock of his state. According to the West Virgina Coal Association, the teen-aged daughter of a coal company employee “got the measure placed before the state legislature this year with the help of Sen. Truman Chafin (D-Mingo) and Del. Harry Keith White (D-Mingo).” On Wednesday, Manchin signed the resolution into law:
Bituminous coal is now West Virginia’s official state rock. Gov. Joe Manchin has signed a House of Delegates resolution making the designation based primarily on coal’s contribution to the state’s economy and history.
Despite $118 million in coal-mining annual income, West Virginia has the nation’s lowest median household income, worst educational services, worst social assistance, the highest population with disabilities, and nearly a quarter of West Virginia children in poverty.
Seems to me the best way to preserve the state rock is to keep it in the GROUND! Who’s with me?
Coal Plant Opponents Embrace Wise County Wind Plans
The Wise Energy for Virginia Coalition, the leading opponents of Dominion’s plans for a coal-fired power plant in Wise County, joined The Clinch Coalition today to announce their support for Dominion’s preliminary plans to build a wind farm in Wise County. Dominion has partnered with BP Energy to explore the potential of wind energy facilities in southwest Virginia. Continue reading
Miles to Go Before We Sleep….
First I want to offer my sincere CONGRATULATIONS to my colleagues and neighbors working in Maryland. Maryland is clearly leading the way and setting the example for what other states can be doing in the absence of federal climate legislation.
I’d like however to focus on Virginia, which by stark contrast is anything but a leader on this issue. As many may be aware, the Virginia General Assembly reconvened for it’s one day veto session last week. The only real way to sum up the results of that one day session is with one word… disappointing.
We had a real opportunity to move Virginia towards the a clean energy future that is already available and affordable, it just needed a little legislative help. Some of you may have followed me on twitter last week giving the play by play of what went down and I decided to sit and think on it over the weekend before voicing my complete disappointment in our elected officials.
There are some champions to be highlighted and thanked before I go on:
Senator Donald McEachin- introduced a comprehensive piece of legislation on energy efficiency that would have saved consumers money on the electricity bills in the long run and created 10,000 plus jobs for the commonwealth and contained a strong mandatory target. (SB 1447)
Senator Mark Herring- introduced key components of the above bill (a mandatory 19% Efficiency goal for utilities) (SB 1440)
Delegate Albert Pollard- introduced a bill that would give utilities the same rate of return for investments in efficiency that they currently see for investments in coal. This bill passed and is an important step towards a clean energy economy but it is just the first step.
Senator Chap Petersen- introduced bills with strong targets on efficiency. Senator Petersen was also a vocal champion for moving Virginia forward and embracing a clean energy future.
Governor Tim Kaine- yeah that’s right, Governor Kaine endorsed legislation that contained mandatory efficiency targets at the beginning of the session and amended the weakened bills that came out of the session to include a 19% efficiency target.
These are the five BIG thank yous I feel I have to give before moving on to lastweek’s veto session.
Unfortunately, none of the legislation was able to make it out of the General Assembly with a mandatory efficiency standard. Utilities, like Dominion were able to make that a scary idea, because according to them it’s impossible to control the behavior of rate payers, despite the fact that mandatory efficiency measures have been successful in other states like California and Vermont (note that Vermont is a mostly rural state with mountains). But Governor Kaine stepped in and amended the legislation that passed to include a 19% target. This is far from where we started at the beginning of the session but still would have been a step forward, and would have put us a better place to start next legislative session. In my eyes this was the least we could do this session and claim victory.
Well, we couldn’t do that.
We were unable to pass a voluntary efficiency standard! It passed in the Senate with a close vote but I will briefly thank the senators that voted for the amendment. Barker, Colgan, Deeds, Edwards, Herring, Houck, Howell, Locke, Lucas, Marsh, McEachin, Miller, J.C., Miller, Y.B., Northam, Petersen, Puckett, Puller, Reynolds, Saslaw, Ticer, Vogel, and Whipple all voted in support of the goal so thank you!
Then we went to the House. Delegate Pollard stood up and endorsed the Governor’s amendments to SB 1248 and was immediately countered by Delegate Hogan. Delegate Hogan that made false accusations in regards to the target, the most egregious being that Virginia already has a voluntary efficiency standard of 12% that we are not meeting so why set the bar higher. This is utterly absurd but stood uncontested. Virginia does not have a voluntary energy efficiency standard of any kind! We do however have a voluntary Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) of 12% but this is COMPLETELY different! I was shocked that no one contested this. He also threatened that efficiency is going to raise rates for consumers period. No mention of the fact that our current course will also raise rates and in fact will raise rates far more than efficiency. Delegate Pollard brought that issue up, but Hogan’s damage was done. The votes fluctuated a bit but ultimately the Gov’s amendments were defeated by 3 votes. 47-50 with 3 people abstaining. I’ve heard a lot of discussion that the ultimate demise was the result of a partisan battle in the House that was beyond our control. I find that hard to accept when I examined the vote count. There were Republicans voting for the amendments as well as Democrats voting against. Maybe it was a case of partisan politics I’ll list the vote count below and you can decide. The one thing I ask is if your Delegate voted against this simple amendment please give them a call and voice your disappointment that we were enable to push our cheapest fuel source here in Virignia…. Energy Efficiency.
It’s great that we got close, but we’ve certainly got our work cut out for us in Virginia next session.
YEAS–Alexander, Amundson, Armstrong, Athey, BaCote, Barlow, Bouchard, Brink, Bulova, Caputo, Dance, Ebbin, Eisenberg, Englin, Frederick, Hall, Herring, Howell, A.T., Hull, Lewis, Lingamfelter, Marsden, Marshall, R.G., Mathieson, McClellan, McQuinn, Melvin, Miller, P.J., Morrissey, Nichols, Plum, Poisson, Pollard, Rust, Scott, E.T., Scott, J.M., Shannon, Shuler, Sickles, Spruill, Toscano, Tyler, Valentine, Vanderhye, Ward, Ware, O., Watts–47.
NAYS–Abbitt, Albo, Bell, Bowling, Byron, Carrico, Cline, Cole, Cosgrove, Cox, Crockett-Stark, Fralin, Gilbert, Griffith, Hamilton, Hargrove, Hogan, Hugo, Iaquinto, Ingram, Janis, Joannou, Johnson, Jones, Kilgore, Knight, Landes, Lohr, Loupassi, Massie, May, Merricks, Miller, J.H., Morgan, Nixon, Nutter, O’Bannon, Oder, Orrock, Peace, Phillips, Pogge, Poindexter, Purkey, Putney, Saxman, Sherwood, Ware, R.L., Wright, Mr. Speaker–50.
ABSTENTIONS–0.
NOT VOTING–Gear, Marshall, D.W., Tata–3.
Virginia General Assembly defeats energy efficiency measures
As you saw if you tuned in to Lauren’s detailed twitter feed last night, the Virginia House of Delegates killed the Governor’s amendment to SB 1248 which would have re-instated a voluntary target for reducing Virginia’s energy use 19% by 2025 through energy efficiency measures. The vote was close: 47 in favor, 50 against. The amendment squeaked by in the Senate by a vote of 22-18.
In the other energy efficiency bill that landed on the Governor’s desk, Delegate Pollard’s bill HB2506, the General Assembly passed the Governor’s amendments which removed a bad portion of the bill giving authority to the Attorney General’s office to study energy efficiency programs implemented by the utilities and added a positive addition to require the SCC to consider energy efficiency and environmental protection when reviewing applications from small-scale industrial facilities for opting out of energy efficiency programs. The original language only looked at economic development as the sole point for opt out consideration. This bill passed the Senate 23-17 and the House 47-44.
Just to put things in perspective: Virginia currently ranks 45th in the country in percentage of utility revenues spent on efficiency – a total of just $84,000 statewide in 2006. In comparison, utilities in Alabama and Mississippi spent more than $400,000, and North Carolina energy providers spent $3.8 million.The bills passed this session do help move efficiency measures closer to being on a level playing field with new generation like coal-fired power plants. But the completely fail to set even a voluntary target, which is necessary to counter subsidies in Virginia for coal power.
It’s very unfortunate that the target was defeated but at least we now have some form of energy efficiency on the books. This gives us a foundation to work from next year to push even harder for stronger language. And the votes were close, which just goes to show that a statewide mobilization of grassroots efforts can be effective here in Virginia.
Press release here.
More detailed analysis coming soon.
Va. Lawmakers Kill Key Energy-Efficiency Target in One-Day Veto Session
In the one-day veto session yesterday, the General Assembly rejected a critical amendment from Gov. Tim Kaine on SB 1248 that would have set a voluntary goal of reducing energy use 19% by 2025, a primary recommendation of the Governor’s Commission on Climate Change. The Wise Energy for Virginia coalition and other clean-energy advocates strongly criticized lawmakers for rejecting the Governor’s amendment to the bill. The Senate narrowly passed the amendment by a 22-18 vote but the House rejected it by a 50-47 vote. Continue reading
Who Says Efficiency isn't Sexy?
Check out this awesome video about energy efficiency set to MIA’s “Paper Planes.”
Want to see some sexy efficiency at Mike Tidwell’s Takoma Park home? Register for the next Clean Energy Open House on April 18.
Clean Energy Open House
Come see solar panels! View electric, biodiesel, and hybrid cars firsthand! Eat solar-baked cookies and barbecued veggie burgers from a grill that burns corn kernels! Learn how to landscape your yard with native plants! Buy wind power certificates and energy-saving light bulbs! Test drive a tofu-powered lawn mower! And more! Sponsored by the Chesapeake Climate Action Network and Chesapeake Native Nursery. Free admission to all ages.
Register now>>
Driving Home Efficiency
This past Saturday I joined a dozen other hybrid owners on a gorgeous spring day to… Circle the Capitol in Richmond! Yes, you read that correctly, I woke up early and covered my friend’s Toyota Prius in streamers and balloons and battled downtown Richmond traffic and construction on Broad Street. I did this to send a message that was loud (horns were honked) and clear (in bold font across the side of each of our fuel efficient vehicles). We support Governor Kaine amending legislation that made it through the general assembly session to include the 19% efficiency target that his own Commission on Climate Change recommended this past fall.
Energy efficiency is the cleanest, quickest and cheapest way to meet Virginia’s energy needs. With federal legislation in the works to regulate carbon to stave off the most devastating effects of climate change, the Commonwealth can’t afford to miss this opportunity. Energy efficiency equals tens of thousands of jobs for our state, how much longer do we plan to wait?
