SCC Warns Dominion’s Energy Plan Will Cost Customers an Extra $30 in Monthly Bills
Dominion Slows Its Carbon Emissions Reduction Rate to 1% Per Year
June 27, 2019
The State Corporation Commission (SCC) approved Dominion Energy’s revised Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) today, but it issued a warning that the utility’s long-term energy plan will cause customer bills to increase by nearly $30 a month in the next four years.
The approval of Dominion’s IRP comes after months of controversy. In March, the SCC rejected the filing for the first time ever because it failed to be “reasonable and in the public interest.” In April, SCC staff filed motions demanding Dominion explain an $8.14 billion discrepancy between what it told government regulators it planned to spend and what it told investors two weeks later.
The approved IRP details $25.4 billion in long-term spending to be paid for by Virginia customers, nearly $6 billion of which was dictated by the General Assembly through new legislation in 2018. The SCC further noted that the $29.37 monthly bill increase “does not include the monthly bill impact of several billion dollars of costs for the 2019 coal ash removal legislation that will be recovered from customers.”
In response, Clean Virginia Executive Director Brennan Gilmore said,
“Dominion Energy’s Integrated Resource Plan sets a new dismal standard for Virginia’s energy market and worsens conditions for anyone in the Commonwealth who is not a Dominion executive.
Virginians already pay the 11th highest energy bills in the nation, according to federal statistics. It is unconscionable that our bills will increase again while states with more consumer-friendly policies see energy bills decrease. Thanks to the close relationship between Dominion Energy and our General Assembly, Virginians will once again be forced to shoulder the full cost of Dominion’s projects and, as captive consumers, have no say in the matter.
The negative impacts of Dominion’s plan will be felt across our Commonwealth. Virginia Beach is already experiencing sea level rise at a faster rate than anywhere else on the East Coast, yet Dominion’s plans to reduce its carbon emissions have skidded to a near-halt. Moreover, Virginia is already missing out on hundreds of thousands of clean energy jobs thanks to the antiquated barriers Dominion has erected in the clean energy market. This plan does nothing to rectify that problem.
The SCC claims Dominion’s plan only met the minimum requirements — that is not good enough. It’s time to reform Virginia’s energy market to make way for lower energy bills, a cleaner climate, and a thriving green job economy.”
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Clean Virginia is an independent advocacy organization working to advance clean governance, clean energy, and clean competition by fighting monopoly utility corruption in Virginia politics.
Contact:
Cassady Craighill, [email protected], 828-817-3328