Virginia’s path to a zero-carbon future

How is Virginia cutting carbon?

Climate change requires that we cut carbon now — and Virginia is taking action. Undoubtedly the boldest climate legislation to come out of the South, the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) set the Commonwealth on a new clean energy path that charted the course toward a zero-carbon electricity grid by 2050. The legislation accelerates the retirement of fossil-fuel power plants, expands solar and offshore wind installations, establishes a statewide energy efficiency standard, and increases rooftop solar by 600 percent.

Virginia lawmakers recently acted in the best interest of the state’s residents when they approved the Affordable Energy Act, removing restrictions preventing the State Corporation Commission (SCC) from lowering electric utility rates when the SCC determines customers will be overcharged. The move restoring the SCC’s regulatory abilities means Virginians could pay less for energy.

The Southern Environmental Law Center was central to developing and building support for each of the VCEA’s policy provisions and the Affordable Energy Act, and we’re advocating before the SCC and in other venues to make sure they’re properly implemented.

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The Clean Economy Act benefits all Virginians

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But the VCEA is far from the only way Virginia is working to cut carbon. In 2020, the General Assembly passed a law requiring Virginia to participate in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a program that reduces air pollution from power plants. Virginia was the first Southern state to join RGGI, though nearby states have benefitted from this program for over a decade.

By requiring utilities to pay for each ton of carbon dioxide they emit when they burn fossil fuels, states participating in RGGI have cut carbon dioxide emissions 90 percent faster than the rest of the country. And Virginia saw similar reductions by joining RGGI—in the first three years, carbon dioxide emissions from Virginia power plants fell over 22 percent.

Unfortunately, in 2023 the Commonwealth pulled out of RGGI. SELC and our client, the Association of Energy Conservation Professionals, are moving forward with a lawsuit alleging that state agencies do not have the authority to end Virginia’s participation in RGGI and trying to get our state back on track.

Charting a sustainable path for data center development in Virginia

– Op-Ed by Nate Benforado, Senior Attorney

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SELC is fighting for clean energy equity in Virginia

Cutting carbon can create a more equitable playing field for all Virginians.

Virginia’s participation in RGGI did not only improve public health by reducing air pollution; thanks to the requirement that utilities pay for each ton of carbon dioxide they emit when they burn fossil fuels, participation in RGGI brought in hundreds of millions of dollars for the Virginians most vulnerable to climate change.

About half of the proceeds were devoted to communities in danger of flooding — not just on the coasts, but along Virginia’s rivers and on Main Streets through the Commonwealth. The other half funded upgrades to inefficient housing to cut low-income families’ energy bills, as well as to fund new energy-efficient affordable housing. From the coasts to the coalfields, investments like these already made a measurable difference for Virginians who have historically borne the brunt of climate change. And with fossil-fuel plants disproportionately concentrated in low-income and communities of color, cutting carbon also is an urgent matter of environmental justice.