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Virginia Republicans fear clean energy penalties will fall on ratepayers

Virginia House Republican Minority Leader Todd Gilbert and Delegates Terry Kilgore, Robert Bloxom and Tony Wilt discuss future deficiency payments related to the Virginia Clean Economy Act.
Brad Kutner
/
Radio IQ
Virginia House Republican Minority Leader Todd Gilbert and Delegates Terry Kilgore, Robert Bloxom and Tony Wilt discuss future deficiency payments related to the Virginia Clean Economy Act.

When the legislature passed the Virginia Clean Economy Act in 2020 it was designed with both carrot and stick to get the state on board with green energy. But some Republicans are now worried about the stick in the form of deficiency payments they say are hanging over ratepayers.

In an effort to get Virginia power providers on board with green energy the state set certain benchmarks for clean power production.

If providers failed to meet those goals penalties could be incurred. Now Scott County Republican Delegate Terry Kilgore says his constituents could bear the brunt of those costs as the company passes them on to ratepayers - he’s got a bill to nix the penalties.

“If their bills go any higher, there are folks in my region who are not able to pay them now, they’re definitely not able to pay them in the future,” Kilgore told the press Thursday afternoon.

But Fairfax Delegate Rip Sullivan, one of the clean economy act authors, said future penalty payments aren’t guaranteed, and as new projects go online those penalties could be avoided.

“No utility has had to pay a deficiency payment yet because we’ve been making great progress on renewable energy in Virginia, and I hope we continue to do so,” Sullivan told Radio IQ.

Still, Killgore and other Republicans worry a log jam of projects has slowed green energy growth, and the first deficiency payment could be right around the corner. One idea, floated by Rockingham County Republican Senator Mark Obenshain at a hearing for a similar bill last week, suggested the fees could be put on utility shareholders, not the rate payers.

Former delegate-turned-lobbyist Greg Habeeb agreed.

“If deficiency payments are incurred, maybe Dominion and Appalachian Power should carry those and not pass them on to ratepayers," Habeeb told a Senate Committee hearing the similar bill from Senator Bill Stanley. "That’s a policy decision you can make.”

No bills passing those costs on to shareholders were submitted this session.

Senator Stanley’s bill was killed last week. Kilgore’s effort, heard late Thursday, faced the same fate.

This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.

Brad Kutner is Radio IQ's reporter in Richmond.