Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
 
Agency
Department of Environmental Quality
 
Board
Air Pollution Control Board
 
chapter
Regulation for Emissions Trading [9 VAC 5 ‑ 140]
Action Repeal CO 2 Budget Trading Program as required by Executive Order 9 (Revision A22)
Stage NOIRA
Comment Period Ended on 10/26/2022
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10/11/22  11:47 am
Commenter: Nicole Keller

RGGI is good for Virginia
 

RGGI is a good deal for Virginians and is critical for helping us meet our RPS goals, which are required by law.  The cost RGGI imposes on ratepayers is marginal, especially compared with the cost of NOT participating in RGGI and failing to realize our RPS goals. Furthermore, RGGI is projected to ultimately help Virginia's SAVE on our electricity bills.

Furthermore, the method Gov. Youngkin wants to use to pull VA out of RGGI is unlawful.  This is going to end up costing Virginia a LOT as Youngkin brings the state into a drawn-out legal battle over something that's already working for Virginians.  He needs to drop this course of action immediately, especially if he actually cares at all about the costs Virginia taxpayers shoulder. 

Remember, RGGI has already generated hundreds of thousands of dollars for community resilience and energy programs.  Youngkin has not, and will not, offer any replacements for those funds if we pull out of RGGI.

The bottom line is that Youngkin hates RGGI because it was a Democratic win and it prevents a lot of dollars going into the pockets of the energy executives that donate to him, because RGGI requires all money generated from the program to be reinvested directly into community resilience projects.  That's really what's at the core of his motivation, let's be honest.

CommentID: 188898