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RICHMOND, VA, June 7, 2023 – Today, Advanced Energy United, the national association of businesses working to achieve 100% clean energy and electrified transportation, expressed its disappointment in the Air Pollution Control Board’s decision to approve a regulatory repeal of Virginia’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (“RGGI”).

“This Initiative is working to reduce energy costs for Virginians, and withdrawing from it undermines the Commonwealth’s economy," said Kim Jemaine, Director at Advanced Energy United. “In the first two years of participation, RGGI generated $252 million for weatherization and energy efficiency projects, chiefly for low-income Virginians. RGGI has been particularly impactful for the over 200,000 low-income residents who pay a disproportionate amount of their income toward the cost of energy.”

New IRP not a “good faith decarbonization plan,” says national business group Advanced Energy United

[editor's note: this press release originally stated this was Dominion's first IRP since the VCEA was signed into law. It is Dominion's first IRP since the law went into effect.]

RICHMOND, VA, May 2, 2023 – This week, Dominion Energy Virginia filed its first Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) since the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA), Virginia’s landmark energy law, went into effect in July of 2020. Today, Advanced Energy United, the business association that supported passage of the VCEA, criticized Dominion’s new approach for meeting the law’s requirements.

“We have seen this play from Dominion before. Its latest resource plan is yet another example of this utility picking a forecast that suits its business interests,” said Kim Jemaine, director at Advanced Energy United (formerly AEE). “Dominion chooses a questionable energy load forecast as justification for cherry-picking preferred technologies, preserving existing fossil-fuel facilities, and calling for new investment in gas fired resources. In our view, Dominion has not developed a good faith decarbonization plan that fully aligns with the Virginia Clean Economy Act, Virginia’s landmark energy law.”

Energy News Network interviewed Kim Jemaine on Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin's new energy plan. Read snippets below and the full article here. 

Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin caused a stir early this month when he released an Energy Plan that doesn’t mention climate change in its 35 pages, an about-face from the carbon emissions-cutting pillars initiated by his Democratic predecessor.

RTO Insider examined Virginia's new energy plan, quoting Kim Jemaine on how it stifles the governor's goal of reliability, affordability, innovation, and competition. Read snippets below and the full article here. 

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) on Monday released an energy plan that focuses on developing still-untested carbon-free resources while calling into question the ability of current renewable technology to make up for lost capacity as the state shifts away from fossil fuels.

The Virginia Pilot detailed Gov. Glenn Youngkin's new energy plan, quoting Kim Jemaine on how it takes the Commonwealth off course. Read snippets below and the full article here.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin unveiled a new energy plan on Monday that he said calls for a flexible approach.

Loudoun Times Mirror detailed Virginia's new Energy Plan, quoting AEE's Kim Jemaine on how the updates run counter to the Governor's stated goals. Read snippets below and the full article here.

Plan calls for U-turn away from cleaner, cheaper energy future in Virginia, says business group

RICHMOND, VA, October 3, 2022 – Today, business association Virginia Advanced Energy Economy reviewed the new Energy Plan proposed by the Governor Youngkin Administration, and Kim Jemaine, Director at Virginia AEE, released the following statement:

The project is set to be the largest offshore wind farm in America and could cement Virginia as the nation’s leading wind power hub 

RICHMOND, August 5, 2022 — Business association Virginia Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) applauded  today’s State Corporation Commission decision greenlighting construction of the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. The project is set to be the largest offshore wind farm in North America and follows the landmark 2020 Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA), which included specific provisions to encourage the development of offshore wind, helping Virginia’s largest utility go 100% clean by 2045. 

Virginia Business reported on the SCC's approval of Virginia's offshore wind farm, quoting AEE's Harry Godfrey the project's economic impact. Read snippets below and the full article here.

The State Corporation Commission has approved Dominion Energy Inc.’s application for the proposed $9.8 billion Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project (CVOW), which calls for the construction of 176 wind turbines 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach.

Treating solar panels like pavement creates unnecessary project costs, new industry research paper shows

RICHMOND, July 13, 2022 — Business association Virginia Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) expressed disappointment about new regulatory guidance issued by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) today that fails to alleviate unnecessary regulatory burdens on the Virginia solar industry.

The guidance updates regulatory memos issued by Virginia’s DEQ in March that changed technical parameters of solar farm construction and maintenance. The DEQ memos claimed that because solar farms look similar to roads and parking lots on satellite imagery, solar farms should be regulated as such. Guidance released today outlined means for compliance, suggesting developers install unnecessary technology workarounds.

“Solar panels are not pavement, and solar farms are not parking lots,” said Kim Jemaine, Policy Director at Advanced Energy Economy (AEE). “Research conducted by both academic institutions and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory confirms that solar installations do not cause the kind of damaging runoff that paved surfaces do. These new regulations, which are not based on science, will hamstring a growing industry in Virginia for no valid reason.”