Virginians deserve affordable energy.
We just took a big step in bringing down your power bill.
The General Assembly adjourned this weekend, and I’m pleased to report that we wrapped up our work with a deal to put money back in your pocket. It’s a deal that’s been years in the making.
For far too long, Virginians have been overpaying on our power bills — among the highest in the country.
It’s no secret why: the electric companies wrote their own rules in Richmond. Utilities have long been the biggest donors to both parties, and over time, legislators cozy with the power companies have drafted laws that pad utility profits while Virginians foot the bill. Since 2009, the State Corporation Commission estimates that Dominion Energy has overcharged customers by more than $1.9 billion.
Consumer advocates have been sounding the alarm for years.
But political willpower to make it right was in short supply until 2019, when Democrats flipped the House with a new wave of legislators committed to clean energy and clean governing. We’ve since built a bipartisan coalition bent on documenting, refunding, and reforming Dominion’s overcharges for the long haul. Until recently, most of our proposals died in the Senate, where Democrats and Republicans remained allied with Dominion.
But this year we found a partner in Governor Glenn Youngkin, who endorsed rate reform in the Energy Plan he published last fall. (I was the lone Democrat willing to publicly praise his plan for those provisions, despite my concerns with the rest. We’ve waited too long for Governors to get on board to let party politics slow us down.)
And Saturday we got it done. The deal we passed this weekend will give the State Corporation Commission full authority to reset fair electric rates in 2025.
You can read all the nitty gritty here. It’s a deal that spells billions in savings for Virginia power customers in the years to come. We still have a long way to go in securing energy that’s affordable, reliable, and clean for all Virginians, but in a season marked by partisan division, Saturday’s deal is a clear reminder we can still make progress on problems that once seemed impossible. It starts with electing leaders who are willing to try.
For now, I’m glad to be back in Charlottesville, home to many of the advocates who have steered this work for years.
Special thanks are due to Appalachian Voices, Clean Virginia, the Southern Environmental Law Center, Virginia Organizing, and our partners statewide. I hope you’ll join me in celebrating their expertise, patience, and persistence.
