Opinion/Letter: Don't ignore benefits of energy bill
Tom Cormons of Appalachian Voices (“Tide is turning on Dominion Energy,” The Daily Progress, Feb. 18) left out all the major customer benefits the Grid Transformation & Security Act of 2018 offers to Virginians.
He doesn’t mention that the proposed legislation supports an unprecedented expansion of renewable energy in Virginia, or that it calls for massive new investments in energy efficiency. He also ignores the $1 billion in customer savings it provides and the significant expansion of EnergyShare.
After months of stakeholder input led by a bipartisan coalition of legislators, the bill is supported by the League of Conversation Voters, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Virginia Energy Efficiency Council.
These organizations support the legislation because they see it as good public policy. The process isn’t always neat and tidy, but it is clear that support for this proposal includes a broad spectrum of stakeholders.
Most Virginians will welcome the tenfold increase in renewable energy this bill enables. That’s 5,000 megawatts of new solar and wind generation, enough to power 1.25 million homes.
Energy efficiency investments also get a boost, to the tune of about $870 million. This is coupled with a 10-year, $130 million expansion of the statewide energy assistance program, EnergyShare, which has helped our most vulnerable customers for more 35 years.
And customers will see at least $1 billion in savings over the next eight years. That’s $200 million in one-time customer credits and $125 million a year in an annual federal tax cut pass-through.
Billions of dollars in grid modernization investments, also not mentioned in the column, will be undertaken by Dominion Energy as a result of this legislation.
The 2015 rate freeze will be removed, and oversight by the State Corporation Commission returned.
When the facts are presented about the Grid Transformation & Security Act of 2018, it is clear why this proposal has such broad support. Yet the Feb. 18 op-ed by Mr. Cormons is curiously silent on these unprecedented investments in Virginia’s energy future.
David B. Botkins, Richmond
David Botkins is a spokesman for Dominion Energy.
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