Category Archives: politics

Dominion Power and HB 657

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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 If the final bill does not incentivize wind and solar in Virginia, the RPS law should be repealed rather than charging ratepayers millions of dollars extra.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.

Coal In Their Stocking- Dominion’s Permit Has Expired

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Speaking of Special Use Permits, local citizen watchdog C.Wayne Taylor has been just as concerned about the latest flurry of riverfront planning as Oregon Hill neighbors.

He has started asking some very pertinent questions and has come to the conclusion that, despite what local officials may or may not say, Dominion Resources’ riverfront SUP has legally expired:

In 2001, City Council approved a special use permit for the Dominion Resources headquarters on Tredegar Street. The permit increased the maximum allowed building heights within a sloping “envelope” that extended from 60 feet above ground level to 160 feet above ground level.
Under the terms of the permit, it would automatically expire if certain conditions were not met. The city maintains that the conditions were met and that the permit is “still valid.”
The facts indicate that the permit expired. The property owner failed to meet the deadline for using the special use permit. The development that occurred on the property complied with the zoning regulations and did not require the special use permit.

Look for Dominion to try to quietly go behind the scenes and change things to their advantage. After all, this is what they do. And continue to do.

And don’t look for the local corporate media to cover it, after all, this is what they they won’t do. Why is it up to this little neighborhood community news site to mention the local connection to the MF Global story, where a former United States Congressperson and Governor “doesn’t know” where over a billion dollars went?

Citizens, remain vigilant!

Vote On Tuesday

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Voting now in the 10th District, on Tuesday Oregon Hill will help decide between challenger David Bernard and incumbent John Watkins for State Senate. James River Maven offers more information on this race, with a provocative post entitled “Who Owns John Watkins”.

Although there has been some talk of moving the voting place for the precinct, it will remain at the Landmark Theater. For more voter information, contact the Virginia State Board of Elections. See you at the polls this Tuesday.

Candidate Bernard Canvassing This Saturday

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About the time that the neighborhood clean-up will be wrapping up this Saturday, Virginia Senate candidate David Bernard and volunteers will be visiting the neighborhood, going door to door and asking for residents’ votes.

To learn more about Bernard’s platform or volunteer, go to his website David Bernard for Senate.

Oregon Hill will be voting in the State Senate District 10 for the first time after being redistricted this past spring. The incumbent is Sen. John Watkins, who Bernard is challenging.

Expect Occupy Richmond

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The mainstream corporate media has been downplaying the Occupy Wall Street protests until very recently when the marching has expanded to include more of New York and more people who are not traditionally part of these street protests. I have seen reports of airline pilots and Marines joining the movement. I know some Richmonders, ones who usually are not into public protest, who have gone to NYC on the Chinatown bus to be part of this.

At any rate, spurred on by the theme of resistance to corporate rule and greed, now there is yet even more expansion and there is an Occupy Richmond, including their own article in the news.

What does this have to do with the neighborhood? Well, for one thing there is talk of local protests close by, taking place October 15 around the Federal Reserve.

From this morning’s Times Dispatch article:

According to its Facebook page, Occupy Richmond seeks to “collectively voice our disapproval of the intermeshing of government and corrupted capitalism. We unite as 99 percent of the American population.”

“The middle class is disappearing,” said Alexandria Vasquez, a Richmond organizer and a graduate student of sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Vasquez said young people are led to believe that “if they get their education, they’ll get that prized job. That’s not the case. They’re going to be graduating and fighting for a job making $7.25 an hour.”

Vasquez, 23, said the local movement plans to hold a meeting Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at Monroe Park to discuss plans for the Oct. 15 demonstration.

She said they plan to cooperate with Richmond police. “We want to actually work with them,” said Vasquez, who is president of Students for Social Action, a student group at VCU. “This is going to be a peaceful protest.”

VCU To Host Saturday Forum on Teacher Merit Pay

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From press release:

VCU TO HOST OCTOBER 1 FORUM ON MERIT PAY AND TEACHER EVALUATION

There is a heated debate raging across the country about reforms to change the way teachers are paid. Some reformers have argued that the key to keeping the best teachers in the profession is to reward them for their excellence with merit pay. Critics argue that merit pay relies too strongly on standardized tests results that do not validly indicate who is a better teacher than others. The Virginia Department of Education is currently partnering with a small number of districts around the state to test out different merit pay systems.

A forum will be held Saturday, Oct. 1, noon-2 p.m., in the Virginia Commonwealth University Student Commons, Virginia Rooms C and D, 907 Floyd Ave., in Richmond, to bring together a number of speakers who represent diverse opinions regarding this reform. The goal of the forum is to provide a democratic space where these views can be shared, and where the public can join the dialogue.

Panelists will include:

· Kitty Boitnott, Virginia Education Association President
· Gabriel Reich, VCU School of Education Assistant Professor
· Tichi Pinkney Eppes, Greater Richmond Education Reform Alliance
· Stephanie Hooks, Richmond Public Schools
· Mary Tedrow, National Board Certified Teacher
· Martin Reardon, VCU School of Education Associate Professor

The forum is sponsored by Richmond Teachers for Social Justice, South Atlantic Philosophy of Education Society, VCU School of Education and the Student Virginia Education Association.

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Flying Brick Presents: Suffled How it Gush: A North American Anarchist in the Balkans

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From Facebook event page:

War and revolution in the Middle East have recently shadowed their neighbors to the west, but the denizens of the Balkans are in the midst of a new wave of their own struggles. As its people continue to suffocate between the brutalities of global capitalism and murderous power-plays of regional demagogues, anarchists and others struggle to build a new world on top of the old. Join author Shon Meckfessel, just back from the Balkans’ own Arab Spring, in a reading and spirited discussion Tuesday September 20 at 7pm at The Flying Brick Library.

Continue reading →

Defend Feeding In Public Parks

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For the most part I have tried to stay above the fray in regard to this past year’s Monroe Park controversy. As I have stated before, I appreciate neighbors’ efforts with the Monroe Park Advisory Council. Most City residents would like to see a cleaner park with better features (On a side note, others have tried to say the exact opposite in regard to the park and this neighborhood as some sort of elitist way to justify more encroachment by VCU and corporate entities). They understand the need to keep the existing trees and make Monroe Park a welcoming oasis in the surrounding concrete.

While I have sympathy for the Keep Monroe Park Open Campaign and I do support Food Not Bombs mission, (especially in the face of how many wars now?), I personally think that its not necessarily the end of the world for the local homeless or the public in general that the park be temporarily closed for needed renovations. With all due respect to the history of the homeless issue in Richmond, there are other public parks in the City (and there should be more public space created overall). I have tried to steer the controversy towards compromise, but in the end that’s where I stand.

However, I also stand with Food Not Bombs for the overall right to feed people in a public park (while taking personal responsibility for trash and safety). I am very troubled by what I am hearing from Florida where activists are being arrested for feeding the homeless. This country is headed for even worst times if this is what it has come to : making it illegal to nourish a fellow human being in need in an OPEN public park. I urge Richmond to fully consider what is at stake. I hope that we will not see this sort of fascism here and I hope that Food Not Bombs feels free to return to Monroe Park (or any other public park that they so choose) after renovations are completed.

Oregon Hill Speaks Up In Favor Of Passenger Rail

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At last night’s Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association meeting, residents voted in favor of sending a letter to the Commonwealth Transportation Board asking them to support funding for Virginia’s passenger trains.

Here is some background on the issue from Virginians For High Speed Rail:

Dear Supporters,

We have launched our latest web-form to ask the Virginia Commonwealth Transportation Board to support the funding currently in their draft six-year transportation plan to maintain our current Amtrak Northeast Regional Service and future expansion to Norfolk.

This funding is vital to the continued operation of the regional trains that serve Alexandria, Manassas, Burke, Woodbridge, Culpeper, Fredericksburg, Charlottesville, Ashland, Richmond, Williamsburg, Newport News, Lynchburg, with future stops in Norfolk and eventually Roanoke.

Please help us encourage the CTB to fully fund passenger rail over the next six years!

To view and sign the message go to www.vhsr.com/action/sixyearplan

Sincerely,

Danny Plaugher

Follow us on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/VAHSR
Follow us on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/VHSR
Make a tax-deductible contribution at www.VHSR.com/donate

Its worth noting that OHNA’s support and this current issue are about maintaining and improving our current passenger rail, not necessarily more expensive high speed rail.