State-Level Climate Policies Boosting Local Climate Action

While the Charlottesville Climate Collaborative’s focus is climate action and policy advancement at the local level, approximately 50 climate policies have been introduced in Virginia’s 2020 General Assembly which could have a significant impact on local climate emissions. Let’s take a closer look at some of the most exciting proposals.

Cleaning the Grid and Making our Communities More Efficient

The key climate priority in this year’s session is expected to be the Commonwealth’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative or RGGI. RGGI uses a market-based approach, by setting an annual cap on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and auctioning emissions allowances to facilities across each state. States can decide how best to use proceeds generated from the auctions, and studies have shown that the most cost-effective use of proceeds is investment in energy efficiency programs. Overall, since RGGI’s launch in 2009, carbon dioxide emissions have dropped 35% in participating states while their economies have dynamically grown[1]. If Virginia’s legislature chooses to enable the state’s participation in 2020, the Commonwealth will become the first southern state to join the nine other states currently participating in RGGI.

When combined with RGGI, establishing mandatory targets for energy efficiency and renewable energy could rapidly accelerate climate action. Mandatory and more ambitious versions of an Energy Efficiency Resource Standard (EERS) and a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) are both being advanced by multi-sector approaches in the 2020 General Assembly.

Removing Restrictions to Clean Energy

Many proposals also address current obstacles to the advancement of clean energy in Virginia. Net metering is an electricity billing mechanism which allows consumers who generate some or all of their own electricity to export generation surpluses to the grid and reduce their future electric bills, allowing them to use their produced electricity anytime rather than only when generated. This is particularly impactful for intermittent renewable energy sources like solar, as most solar customers produce more electricity than they consume in a day. Currently, the aggregated amount of renewable energy that can be net metered in a utility's service territory is capped at 1% of the utility’s previous year’s peak-load.

Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) are financial agreements between a customer and a third-party developer (an incumbent utility or not), where the customer purchases electricity from an energy system that is owned by the third party[2]. PPAs are the primary financing mechanism for schools and counties to fund their renewable energy projects, such as Fairfax County’s recently announced outstanding solar PPA installation on municipal facilities, schools, and park sites[3]. Virginia currently limits renewable energy projects installed within Dominion Energy’s territory using third-party PPAs at a combined cap of 50 MW[4], enough solar energy to power only 6,500 homes[5]. As the cap jas been recently reached in Dominion’s territory, it is important that it is raised or eliminated so that localities and businesses can consider PPAs as a way to advance their clean energy and emission reduction goals.

Comprehensive Approaches

On December 19th, Sen. McClellan, Del. Sullivan, Del. Carroll Foy and a diverse coalition of advocacy groups and businesses unveiled the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA). VCEA is a comprehensive proposal which addresses energy efficiency, energy equity, and distributed energy. It would implement RGGI and require 66% of its revenues to be allocated towards energy efficiency programs. VCEA would also establish that 50% of the program’s revenue should be directed specifically for low-income individuals, who tend to bear the heaviest burden of high energy bills. The measure would establish a mandatory renewable portfolio standard (RPS) that would require every electric utility to increase the share of renewables in their power mix by approximately 3% per year. Consequently, Virginia would have at least 41% of its electricity being produced by renewable sources by 2030 and 100% by 2050. 

VCEA also proposes the removal or alleviation of existing restrictions for net-metering and power purchase agreements for renewable energy projects, finally unleashing the Commonwealth’s distributed energy capacity.

Another comprehensive measure, the Virginia Green New Deal Act (GND), was introduced by Del. Rasoul. As the bill’s patron stated: it is not merely an environmental plan; rather it includes economic, social, and environmental justice. GND would establish a moratorium on approval for a variety of fossil-fuel related infrastructure investments and require that at least 80% of the electricity sold in calendar years 2028 through 2035 be generated from clean energy resources and 100% clean electricity by 2036 and beyond. GND would also require the adoption of a comprehensive Climate Action Plan that addresses all aspects of climate change, including mitigation, adaptation, resiliency, and assistance in the transition to a clean energy economy.

Making 2020 a Year of Climate Action

C3 is thrilled with the quality of these climate-related bills introduced in Virginia’s 2020 General Assembly, and we are excited to see the momentum of a diverse and growing climate movement. If approved, many of these proposals would go a long way in vaulting Virginia into the top tier of American states tackling climate change. This is an exciting and promising time for climate action in Virginia, and we are grateful to our community and fellow advocates who are helping to make 2020 a Year of Climate Action.

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Footnotes and Credits:

1 Ceres., op. cit.

2 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.). Solar Power Purchase Agreements. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/greenpower/solar-power-purchase-agreements

3 Althen, A. (2019, December 10). Fairfax County Awards Solar Power Purchase Agreement Contracts, Launches Large-Scale Renewable Energy Initiative. Retrieved from Fairfax County, Virginia: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/environment-energy-coordination/cleanenergy/news/fairfax-county-awards-solar-power-purchase-agreement

4 Lazaro Jr., R. (2019, November 12). Robert W. Lazaro Jr. column: Now is the time to increase solar PPAs in Virginia. Retrieved from Richmond Times Dispatch: https://www.richmond.com/opinion/columnists/robert-w-lazaro-jr-column-now-is-the-time-to/article_63349f8a-cac1-5ad2-a16d-8ff756a098d6.html

5 Lazaro Jr., op. cit.

Photo credit: Skip Plitt - C'ville Photography