Governor Spanberger Signs Legislation to Address High Energy Costs & Rejoin RGGI

RICHMOND, VA - Governor Abigail Spanberger today signed a package of legislation - including bipartisan bills from her Affordable Virginia Agenda - to address high energy costs for Virginians, meet rising energy demand across the Commonwealth, and take steps to make sure data centers do not drive up costs for families.

In Richmond, Governor Spanberger signed legislation into law to lower peak prices for Virginians by setting goals to increase energy storage and reduce heating and energy costs for families who need it most. The Governor also signed legislation to protect Virginia ratepayers from shouldering the cost of new energy infrastructure investments by data centers and other high load energy customers. Earlier this week, Governor Spanberger and the General Assembly finalized a first-of-its-kind statewide energy consumption tax on data centers in Virginia's biennium budget.

"Today is a good day. Virginia is moving forward - for our environment, for our families, and for the Commonwealth we are building together," said Governor Abigail Spanberger. "We're investing in energy that is cleaner, more affordable, more reliable, and homegrown. This matters right now as Virginia families continue to feel the brunt of the skyrocketing energy costs driven by the President's reckless policies."

Governor Spanberger continued, "We are also positioning Virginia as a national leader in the ongoing conversation about the future of the data center industry. In addition to the bills we're signing today, we are setting stricter emissions standards on data center backup generators and giving localities new tools to assess the impact of data center projects on homes, schools, and farmland. And through the budget we just passed, Virginia is implementing a first-of-its-kind energy consumption tax I proposed earlier this spring. This is one part of making data centers pay their fair share of the energy they use."

Additionally, Governor Spanberger signed legislation to rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative - saving Virginians money by investing in critical energy efficiency and flood prevention programs. In her remarks at the event, the Governor highlighted the RGGI credit for residential customers and small businesses included in Virginia's biennium state budget.

Governor Spanberger added, "This is a direct credit to ratepayers, and it is built into the budget we just passed. This program is designed to ensure that the monthly charge on utility bills that comes with rejoining RGGI is offset for Virginia families and small businesses. And I want to be clear: our projections indicate that this Consumer Credit will do just that, and then some. There are even estimates that average monthly bills could drop by as much as $36 annually due to the new RGGI Credit."

RGGI investments are proven to save Virginians money, decrease long-term costs, and reduce environmental pollution. On average, every dollar spent on energy conservation reduces utility bills by $2 to $4, and every dollar invested in flood protection saves approximately $6 in future damage costs. Across the nationwide RGGI program, the $5.7 billion in auction proceeds invested in energy efficiency and clean energy programs to date are projected to yield $22.6 billion in total bill savings for consumers.

At the bill signing ceremony, Governor Spanberger was joined by Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources David Bulova, Chief Energy Officer Josephus Allmond, and bill patrons from the General Assembly.

"The RGGI-supported Community Flood Preparedness Fund is critical to ensuring that Virginia tackles resiliency head on," said Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources David Bulova. "Flooding is Virginia's most frequent and costly natural hazard. For every dollar we spend on flood preparedness, we save six dollars in future flood response."

"We have built guardrails into this legislation to ensure that the revenue generated from our participation in RGGI is returned to the people of Virginia," said Chief Energy Officer Josephus Allmond. "The RGGI Credit will insulate our families and small businesses while still leaving record levels of investment into energy efficiency and resilience funding. We are using this program to lower the burden on those who need it most."

Governor Spanberger signed the following legislation to address high energy costs for Virginians, meet rising energy demand across the Commonwealth, and take steps to make sure data centers do not drive up costs for Virginia families:

• HB2 (Delegate Betsy Carr), SB72 (Senator Kannan Srinivasan) - Reducing heating and energy costs for the most vulnerable Virginians.
• HB284 (Delegate Michael Feggans), SB371 (Senator Jeremy McPike) - Requiring Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power to develop voluntary demand flexibility programs for high energy demand customers. Passed with bipartisan support.
• HB397 (Delegate Charniele Herring) - Lowering long-term energy costs by directing Virginia to rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
• HB434 (Delegate Destiny LeVere Bolling), SB621 (Senator Kannan Srinivasan) - Optimizing grid utilization to get more out of the current distribution system. Passed with bipartisan support.
• HB628 (Delegate Katrina Callsen), SB175 (Senator Schuyler VanValkenburg) - Expanding small-scale solar across the Commonwealth by raising the carveout for projects on rooftops, schools, churches, parking lots, landfills, and brownfields. Passed with bipartisan support.
• HB892 (Delegate Irene Shin) - Improving forecasting of power usage to avoid overestimates that cause higher prices.
• HB895 (Delegate Rip Sullivan), SB448 (Senator Lamont Bagby) - Increasing the deployment of energy storage to lower peak prices for ratepayers. Passed with bipartisan support.
• HB1191 (Delegate Irene Shin) - Permitting high energy use customers to invest in new energy infrastructure while protecting ratepayers from increased costs. Passed unanimously.
• HB1256 (Delegate Irene Shin) - Evaluating how to best protect ratepayers from paying excessive costs due to market spikes in fuel costs. Passed unanimously.
• HB1360 (Delegate Irene Shin) - Requiring investor-owned utilities to provide greater transparency on coal and oil generating units in rate proceedings. Passed unanimously.