Politics & Government

Renewable Energy in Virginia: 5 Things You Need to Know

Renewable energy is a vast, complicated topic. Here's what you need to know.

Renewable energy can be complicated and the reality is, for Virginians, electricity is relatively cheap compared to other states.

According to Dominion spokesman Jim Norvelle the average household in Virginia pays $110 per month for electricity.

In Maryland, a Baltimore Gas and Electric customer who uses 1,000 kWh per month will pay between $125 and $132 month, according to that company.

Find out what's happening in Chantillywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Other states are even higher. A spokesman for Connecticut Light and Power said the majority of customers in that state pay $163 per month for 1,000 kWh of electricity.

Dominion is Virginia's largest energy provider. Serving 2.5 million customers, Norvelle says about 6 million of Virginia's 8 million residents rely on Dominion power.

Find out what's happening in Chantillywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

So why bother with renewable sources when our energy needs are already met and we're getting a good deal for it?

Here are five things you need to know about renewable energy:

  1. The Virginia General Assembly has actually defined it for us: "'Renewable energy' means energy derived from sunlight, wind, falling water, biomass, sustainable or otherwise, (the definitions of which shall be liberally construed), energy from waste, municipal solid waste, wave motion, tides, and geothermal power, and does not include energy derived from coal, oil, natural gas or nuclear power. Renewable energy shall also include the proportion of the thermal or electric energy from a facility that results from the co-firing of biomass."
  2. The most expensive form of energy that can be converted into electricity is offshore wind. The United States have no offshore wind farms. Massachusetts is developing a project called Cape Wind. In Virginia, Norvelle said Dominion has been awarded for a $5 million grant from the Department of Energy to look at innovative ways to reduce the cost of offshore wind development by 25 percent. The company has also expressed an interest to lease an area off the coast of Virginia that could be developed into a wind farm
  3. The General Assembly has recommended that 15 percent of electricity in Virginia come from renewable energy sources by 2025. This is only a recommended benchmark. If providers meet that goal, they can receive bonuses, but they will not be penalized if they miss the goal. Many state legislatures, including Maryland and New Jersery, have created mandatory "renewable portfolio standards," that require electricity providers to generate a certain percentage of power through renewable sources. Currently, 4 percent of Dominion's electricity is generated from renewable sources. Critics of this policy believe that because this goal is not mandatory, developing renewable energy is not a priority for Virginia.
  4. Dominion — or any other electricty provider — can sell the renewable energy in the form of "renewable energy certificates." This means that even though renewable energy is generated in Virginia, it's not necessarily being used by Virginians. Jim Norvelle explains how it works. " In Virginia, we are allowed to use low cost renewable energy credits to meet the state’s voluntary renewable portfolio standard. One way that we keep the rates reasonsalbe, we purchase low cost RECs from out of the state for our use and meanwhile we can sell higher cost higher cost RECs that we generate at our facilities to other markets out of state and the cost benefit – the savings we get on the transactions – benefits our customers in Virginia by keeping rates reasonable."
  5. No state tax incentives exist in Virginia for homeowners to install solar panels. Last month, legislation that passed the General Assembly that would have made it illlegal for neighborhood associations to ban the installation of solar panels. 

 

 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Chantilly