History

Derrick A. Max
December 23, 2025

President Trump’s decision to suspend Dominion Energy’s massive Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project is sure to stir up another gale of political fights across the Commonwealth. While some will hail it as a triumph for fiscal and national security; others will see it as an assault on clean energy....

Stephen D. Haner
December 18, 2025

Governor Glenn Youngkin has proposed that Virginia conform its tax rules to most of the changes in federal taxes adopted by Congress last summer, including recognizing a state tax deduction for tip income, overtime pay and interest payments on car loans. Those tax policy recommendations are part of the Republican’s...

Stephen D. Haner
December 10, 2025

The 2026 General Assembly is likely to amend the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) to greatly expand the construction of utility-scale batteries for our electric grid. Based on the current prices for Virginia battery installations, this may saddle ratepayers with $54 billion in new capital expenses over 20 years. The Commission...

Stephen D. Haner
December 3, 2025

The massive data centers behind a growing energy crunch in Virginia will begin to pay substantially more for electricity in Dominion Energy’s territory, but not until 2027. The State Corporation Commission’s (SCC) approval of a new rate structure for the largest users will probably only intensify debates about what their...

Stephen D. Haner
December 1, 2025

The State Corporation Commission (SCC) was able to approve Dominion Energy Virginia’s application for a needed natural gas generation facility because the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) includes a safety valve. If energy reliability is threatened, the prohibitions on natural gas at the heart of that law can be waived....

Jefferson Forum
November 24, 2025

Citing the high cost, the Virginia State Corporation Commission on Friday denied a request to add a battery project to the Appalachian Power Company grid. In the same decision, an out-of-state wind project for Appalachian was approved, but only if it qualifies for major federal tax credits to keep down the...

Stephen D. Haner
November 17, 2025

As a new Democratic Party trifecta looms in Virginia, a progressive policy group has floated a long list of old and new ways to soak Virginia’s upper-income residents through taxes in order to fund additional state spending. The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis doesn’t use the word “spending,” of course,...

Stephen D. Haner
November 7, 2025

The return of the political trifecta Democrats enjoyed during the 2020 and 2021 General Assembly sessions – now bolstered with a 64-36 majority in the House of Delegates – leaves the question of how to deal with Virginia’s energy issues entirely in their hands. Only if the Democrats suffer a...

Derrick A. Max
November 4, 2025

With election day now upon us, Virginia voters were short-changed this election cycle while Democracy is literally being threatened! Virginians were limited to one, short, poorly controlled debate for Governor, one equally short, but slightly more substantive debate for Attorney General, and zero debates for Lt. Governor – unless, of...

Christian Braunlich
October 25, 2025

You have to be pretty confident – no, read that “arrogant” – to tell 2.7 million Virginia voters that you’re willing to stick it to them. But that’s exactly what Virginia House and Senate Democratic leaders appear ready to do at 4:00 pm on Monday, all in the cause of...