Advanced Energy Perspectives

On Friday, August 5, Virginia’s State Corporation Commission (SCC) provided its stamp of approval for construction of the Costal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project – a 2.6 GW wind farm located 27 miles off Virginia Beach. For Virginia, the project is cause for excitement, for its jobs and cost savings benefits, as well as its key role in the Commonwealth’s clean energy future. But as it will also be the first offshore wind farm built and owned by a regulated utility, and carrying a big price tag, it calls for particular scrutiny. And in SCC’s review and final order, that’s what it got.

Since the start of this year’s legislative sessions, Advanced Energy Economy has been tracking energy legislation across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Congress through its online PowerSuite platform. PowerSuite provides policy tracking by policy professionals. In the process, we have identified several trends in how states are contemplating the future of their energy, transportation, and building sectors. The bills described in this post, which range from simply introduced to fully signed into law, by no means represent every bill in the country filed this year, but are rather indicative of the attention being devoted to each topic by lawmakers. What follows represents the top 10 state energy legislative issues of 2022.

A new trend is emerging as a growing number of governors and state legislatures are taking action to electrify their state-owned motor vehicles. By accelerating their own transition to clean transportation fleets, states are leading by example while saving taxpayer money, lowering maintenance requirements, reducing emissions, and contributing to energy independence.

On Saturday, March 12, the Virginia General Assembly (GA) adjourned its 2022 legislative session. Left unfinished were the Commonwealth’s biannual budget and a set of judicial appointments, necessitating a Special Session in the weeks ahead. Nonetheless, adjournment sine die at the end of the always frantic 60-day session marked the end of substantive legislative action. While the main focus was defense of the advanced energy progress made over the past two years, which was mostly successful, a couple of small but meaningful wins added to the total. And there was plenty of drama along the way.

When it comes to energy policy, all eyes have been on Washington, D.C., over the past year. Meanwhile, with far less attention, the states continue to lead the way in our energy transition. Between figuring out how to put to work funds from last year’s federal infrastructure bill, carrying out their own mandates for clean energy, and prepping for an electric transportation future, states will remain the primary venue for building an advanced energy economy in 2022. Here are some of the trends AEE will be watching – and engaging in – this year.