I attended the Listening Session on July 30 in Roanoke and it became obvious and the beginning of the Public Hearing session (as listed on the agenda) that VDMME was not prepared to document and record the comments made at the hearing.  It is unclear if the comments were recorded or documented as the VDMME said he would see if he could record the comments made on his cell phone.

This lack of commitment of VDMME to record and document the comments made by the public suggests that these hearings are merely requirements of the process and not instrumental or important to the process.  At worst, these meetings have been misrepresented to the public.

It is laudable that written comments are posted to the Townhall website.  The absence of public comments made at public hearings is disconcerting to say the least.

That said, it is important to note that our current electric grid has changed very little since the 1930s and is as old and outdated as the 1938 Natural Gas Act.  The Virginia Energy Plan must be committed to modernizing our electric grid in order to create a two-way, democratic energy system that facilitates the ability of communities and energy users to participate in creating small-scale, resilient and dependable energy systems.  Customers must be given choices that allow them to make decisions that allow them to be effective and efficient energy producers and energy consumers.  They must be free to participate in and benefit from the energy production that serves them.

Small scale systems help protect both small-scale energy producers and energy consumers from extreme weather events and the vulnerability of large systems to hacking, cyber-attacks, outages, brownouts and monopolistic, noncompetitive pricing policies.

The Virginia Energy Plan should lay the foundation that removes limits to the size of independent energy generation systems to facilitate community microgrid installations that can serve large businesses, business parks, communities, neighborhoods, developments and groups of individuals.

Microgrids should be able to operate independently or in “island” mode from the central grid.  Smartgrids should allow new energy sources and loads to be added without additional configurations.  They should allow microgrid links to the central grid so that they can draw or supply power as needed from the larger system.

Microgrids allow the point of power generation to be decentralized.  Mini-utility grids can contain all the basics of the grid, from power generating sources to controllers, energy storage devices, and loads, but at a much smaller scale.

The future of energy generation in Virginia must focus primarily on technologies and processes that do not require the extraction and burning of carbon resources.   It should not require large amounts of water that is either boiled to power steam turbines or used for cooling of heat sources whether they be carbon-rich resources or unstable nuclear isotopes.  They should be essentially fuel-less so that the unstable and unsustainable price of fuels no longer factors into the cost of energy. 

Currently there are a handful of biomass incinerators that require large inputs of wood fuel to generate electricity.  These burn mostly whole trees with the direct cost of more fuel volume, more particulate pollution, more hazardous waste, and more carbon emissions per unit of energy generated than any other form of carbon burning for electricity. 

The scientific reality is that burning biomass is not carbon neutral, is not renewable and incentivizes unsustainable forest practices.  Biomass incineration should not be considered as fulfilling any renewable portfolio standards.

In Virginia, each and all of the biomass incinerators are located in communities that are economically disadvantaged.  They disproportionately impact minority and low-income communities.  The Virginia City Hybrid Center in Wise County, and biomass incinerators in South Boston, Hopewell, Altavista and South Hampton all fit this profile.  Residents of these communities face increased levels of air and water pollution, particulate emissions and waste and the medical and economic consequences that result from these environmental injustices.

On July 11, 2018, Dominion Energy/Virginia Electric and Power Company filed an application with the Virginia State Corporation Commission for an increase and a revision of rate adjustments for the Altavista, Hopewell and Southhampton Power Stations for the rate year commencing April 1, 2019.  A total revenue requirement of $54,189,000 was requested for the 2019 rate year. An application was also filed to increase and revise rate adjustments for the Greenville County Power Station to $121,362,000.  Other adjustments include $58,682,000 for Bear Garden Generating Station, $219,966,000 for the Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center, and $107,113,000 for the Warren County Power Station.  These would amount to a $17.40 increase the yearly bills customers who consume 1,000 kilowatt hours per month.

These are the type of rate increases that are typical for monopolys who are guaranteed 9-10% profits with no incentives to reduce costs or to reduce rates of return where there is no competition.  Virginia needs to create an environment where competition can create incentives for energy providers and energy system producers to reduce costs.  Virginia needs to make possible small-scale lease of energy systems and lease-to-own business models that can make larger energy providers more efficient in their production and pricing structures.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Virginia must do much, much more to create additional positive incentives for energy conservation that can make available increased energy supply without increasing energy production.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment.

Ernest Reed

Supervisor, Central District, Nelson County

971 Rainbow Ridge Road

Faber, VA. 22938