AEE Applauds Passage of Legislation to Expand Investment in Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in Virginia
RICHMOND, March 1, 2018 – Today, Virginia Advanced Energy Economy (Virginia AEE) expressed its continued support for legislation that will allow Virginia’s utilities to expand investment in advanced energy technologies while restoring State Corporation Commission oversight of electric utility rates. Virginia AEE was one of 10 stakeholder groups included in discussions convened by Governor Ralph Northam around the content of the bill. With passage of HB 1558 in the Senate today, both legislative vehicles – HB 1558 and SB 966 – have cleared each legislative chamber. They should be presented to Gov. Northam for his signature in the coming days.
“This legislation marks a significant step forward for the Commonwealth,” said Harrison Godfrey, Executive Director of the business group Virginia Advanced Energy Economy. “It gives advanced energy a central role in Virginia’s energy future. It triples energy efficiency investment, saving money for families and businesses. It also ramps up Dominion’s clean energy investments, delivering an additional 2,000 MWs of renewable energy four years faster than proposed by the utility. By bringing a total of 5,000 megawatts of new wind and solar online over the next 10 years – enough clean energy to power 1.2 million homes – and supporting $1 billion in energy efficiency improvements, this bill makes a landmark investment in technologies that will make Virginia’s electric grid secure, clean, and affordable.”
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About AEE and Virginia AEE
In Virginia, Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) operates as Virginia Advanced Energy Economy (Virginia AEE), a group of businesses that are making the energy we use secure, clean, and affordable. Virginia AEE seeks to drive the development of advanced energy to boost the state’s economy and competitiveness by working to remove policy barriers, identify market growth opportunities, encourage market-based policies, establish public and private partnerships, and serve as the voice for companies innovating in the advanced energy sector.