Having written about Dominion Power and renewable energy on this site before, there is simply no reason to let up.
Here’s the latest, including a solution for the General Assembly in the form of HB 657:
Virginia’s “voluntary” renewable portfolio standard is voluntary for utilities, but it’s mandatory for ratepayers. Utilities charge citizens for the energy they buy to meet the goals, and then they get to charge citizens again for their bonus under the law. The idea behind the law was to incentivize utilities to buy renewable energy, but utilities have treated it as an entitlement program for their shareholders and are doing the minimum possible to earn their profit.
Everyone thought the 2007 law setting up the renewable energy incentives would result in Virginia-made wind and solar energy. That hasn’t happened, and yet utilities are collecting their full bonus amounts just as if they had made a real effort.
Dominion Power ran advertisements in 2010 claiming they were building wind farms “to power Virginia’s energy future.” Those ads misled everyone into assuming they were doing just that. But they have built no wind farms in Virginia.
Dominion talks a good game about renewable energy, but the reality came out in its rate case this fall, when it had to reveal the energy sources it was using to meet Virginia’s renewable energy goals. Almost all of it consists of old conventional hydroelectric plants from dams. None of it comes from projects built after 2000, and none of it is wind or solar.
Legislators should support HB 657 (Rust), the RPS reform bill, in its current form, including the provisions for Virginia-made wind and solar energy. If the final bill does not incentivize wind and solar in Virginia, the RPS law should be repealed rather than charging ratepayers millions of dollars extra.
The Virginia-made requirement makes sure that the ratepayers who are paying for the renewable energy are getting the benefits of it. Building wind and solar energy in Virginia is important to create new jobs here for Virginia’s young people, to increase energy supply without adding air pollution, and to give Virginia a stake in these fast-growing industries.
Does anyone know of a good community blog about Oregon Hill? We need community organization to help coordinate litter clean up, get public drinking out of the street, and help to make our run down neighborhood somewhat-attractive.
This article is nice, but the author just cant let go of his corporate hate and has no clue about the subject matter he writes here. Major gaps in the authors knowledge include the total net benefits of wind and solar development and the regulatory accounting model used for separating ratepayer business from shareholder business.
Scott – do something to help Richmond much like MWV, Altria, and Dominion among others do. Stop your crying, get get out of the past. Be productive…go out and clean up some litter off of Pine street today. That would be much more productive than your ramblings on topics far too complex for you to properly address.
Ha. Looks like I hit a nerve here. Good!
I would like to see a response from you that addresses the points in my editorial. I would like to see what exactly you see as incorrect since you think I am so woefully ignorant that I should not even attampt to address these oh so big issues.
Otherwise, I suggest you stop your crying. Maybe you can join me in my daily walks around the neighborhood- and help pick up some more litter. If that is not enough, maybe you can start and maintain your own community news site.
I don’t think “James teepe” even lives in the neighborhood. He seems to be spouting the typical elitist Richmonder bullshit about what an awful place “our neighborhood” is.
Fuck off, “James teepe”. Our neighborhood is no worse off than parts of the Fan, Church Hill, or half a dozen other Richmond neighborhoods, and in fact, with two of the best restaurants in the city, we are doing better off than many parts of the city.
Just because you and other corporate shills covet our real estate is no reason we should put up with your bullshit.
Ha…who struck a nerve here? You know what they say, some of the best resteraunts are in the seediest parts of town…love both mamas and pescados…they do a great job. Scott burger, you lost your credibility a long time ago whining about corporate conspiracy theories. It just gets old, especially when you go way outside of your level of understanding. Stick with cleaning up the Hill. Try to get some of those yards and porches cleaned up…and the litter is just out of control. It is not unlike parts of other neighborhoods. Like the three block stretch of lombardy in the fan near the old bogarts. And the seedy stretch of unkept rentals on ellwood parallel to carytown in the museum district or wotb….but these spots are annomolyes in otherwise well kept highly desirable neighborhoods.
The hill real estate is far from coveted. The small portions with nice views have already been renovated and developed, and they were smart enough to provide direct access in and out without having to go through the main part of the hill. Think about it, that was planned.
Again, I would like to see a response from you that addresses the points in my editorial. I would like to see what exactly you see as incorrect.
Secondly, your credibility is shot. If you don’t even live in the neighborhood, and you are not willing to actually help the neighborhood, then I am inclined to agree with anonymous.
This post is about our neighbor Dominion Power. How about we clean that entity up?
I often feel like oregonhill.net is a wholly owned subsidary of the Huffington Post.
Denny, it’s not though.
As I have said before, this site’s editorial slant is purposely green, in contrast to much of the other local media.
And again, I am waiting for a response that addresses the points in my editorial.
Scott: I totally acknowledge we’ll never see eye to eye on many topics ranging from the how electricity should be produced or government’s role in society. I’d also like to state that I do appreciate you keeping up this website with local news and such (for example, fencing around Pleasants Park, lost pets, crime in our neighbor). But here is my main beef: you are using this website as your own vehicle too often to promote your own ideas and opinions. I read the other neighborhood websites and they don’t even come close to the extreme bias that is frequently posted here.
Denny, which part of my editorial is “extreme bias”? Really, I want to know.
Which part is not truthful?
Part of the editorial’s point is that we are ALL paying Dominion for this misleading RPS. That includes Oregon Hill residents.
If you expect me to apologize for running an informative editorial that other news sites will not run… well, my friend, that is not going to happen.
I wonder what Scott would do if Dominion planned to erect wind turbines on their parking lot to power their headquarters? Would he go against one of his previous blogs: Coal In Their Stocking- Dominion’s Permit Has Expired?
Wind power in Virginia is most viable off the coast of the Eastern Shore.
What if they built a very large, tall solor power tower in the parking lot?
Actually, the architect who designed their energy trading floor gave it a south-facing, sloping roof that would be perfect for solar panels. I think they could still be added, flush enough to the roof that they would not bloc any more view of the river.
Cheers for Scott’s extraordinary volunteer work on the OregonHill.net site. This site was not designed for employees of Dominion, and I’m sure that Dominion has many paid professionals who devote a great deal of time on their company’s web site for that interest group. The fact that Dominion headquarters is adjacent to Oregon Hill is ample reason for Dominion issues to be posted on this web site. I would not have the nerve to go on a web site of a community where I didn’t live and preach to them about what was appropriate to be on their community web site.
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