2022 Virginia Energy Plan Comments

To effectively address climate change and environmental justice, the 2022 Virginia Energy Plan must contain the following provisions, organized by topic.

Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

• Keep fossil fuels in the ground.  Do not permit any new fossil fuel infrastructure projects and stop ones that have not been completed.
• Expand energy efficiency programs.
• Preserve natural carbon sinks such as mature, diverse forests, wetlands, salt marshes, swamps from electrical generation and infrastructure.
• Promote Regenerative Agriculture and Agrivoltaics.
• Incentivize electrification in all sectors:
  • Transportation – public and private fleets; commercial vehicles such as trucks and vans.
    • Develop EV fast charging infrastructure in all communities, urban, suburban, rural.
    • Require EV charging readiness in commercial and multi-family buildings through VA Building Code for new construction and renovation
  • Heating and cooling for residential and commercial buildings
  • Cooking for residential and commercial buildings
• Grid Modernization to support utility scale solar
• Microgrids to support distributed solar gardens/electricity Coops
• Do not extend permits for nuclear power plants
• Declassify the following renewable energy sources
  • Biomass
  • Renewable natural gas
  • nuclear
• Do not pursue carbon capture technology.  Instead, preserve natural carbon sinks listed above.

Just Transition

• Provide renewable energy (solar, wind-onshore & offshore, geothermal, water) job training/apprenticeships in fossil fuel extraction communities and climate change impacted communities in the areas such as:
  • Manufacturing
  • Design
  • Installation
  • Maintenance
  • Energy audits
  • Weatherization
  • Energy efficiency
• Require renewable energy jobs to be Union jobs, especially for Coastal Offshore Wind
• Require offshore wind facilities to be built with US manufactured components
• Support RGGI

Consumer Protection

• Lower the energy bill for all Virginians
• Implement programs to eliminate Energy Burden
• Regulate Dominion Power’s base rate to exclude the cost of project development
• Limit the number of RACs/riders that Dominion can have to inflate electricity bills
• Regulate Dominion to prevent overcharging customers