Virginia’s View of Renewable Energy is Changing

HB 444 & SB 745 Have Been Signed

We’d like to start by extending a special thank you to Governor McAuliffe, Del. Loupassi and Sen. Wagner for supporting Renewable Energy in Virginia. Without your vision, Virginia would continue to fall behind in the renewable energy market. 

It takes seven miles to turn a battleship around, and Governor Terry McAuliffe has started re-routing the energy “battleship” in Virginia. On March 8, he signed Senate Bill 745 and House Bill 444, which require the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) to post on its website the names and telephone numbers of electric energy suppliers licensed to sell renewable electric energy in Virginia, as well as to provide links to the companies’ websites. The measures also require each Virginia investor-owned electric utility to include a notice in bills about this information on the SCC website at least once each calendar quarter.

It is great to see that Virginia leaders from both sides of the aisle understand how important changing the way the Commonwealth approaches energy is to business, agriculture and economic growth potential. Delegate G. Manoli Loupassi (R, Dist. 68) and Senator Frank Wagner (R Dist. 07), both of whom shared their thoughts about the importance of renewable energy for the Commonwealth with Powered by Facts in recent interviews, sponsored these bills.

Bipartisan support for changing the energy mix in Virginia is important from the business viewpoint of economic growth and job stimulation, as well as the individual ratepayer viewpoint of cheaper and more reliable choices. Unfortunately, the Commonwealth’s ranking is low compared to other states and actually dropped in solar market rankings from 29 to 30 in 2015, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.

Renewable Energy is Cheaper, Safer and More Reliable

We need to amplify our message so that legislators can’t help but act to improve the availability and funding of renewable energy in Virginia. 2016 is the year that we will turn this battleship around and change the way Virginia views Renewable Energy to ensure cheaper, safer and more reliable power to the commonwealth.