News Stories

Excerpts from REAL Press Release:
{***} “Energy choice advocates commend lawmakers for offering solutions to address rising energy demand, projected bill increases and shortfalls in capacity.” {***}

“The Virginia legislative session has kicked off with a flurry of bills introduced to provide energy customers with more options to better serve their electricity needs. Eight bills have been sponsored to expand energy choice, deliver cleaner energy plans, and provide competitive rates that reduce costs for customers. These consumer-focused solutions come at a time when Virginia is faced with the challenge of meeting immense energy demands, rising costs and 100% carbon-free electricity goals.”

“Virginia has an energy problem with demand expected to double in the next decade,” said Chris Ercoli, president and CEO of the Retail Energy Advancement League (REAL). “Consumer-tailored solutions are needed to ensure energy reliability and to protect Virginians from the financial burdens of new power generation. The legislators sponsoring these bills understand the challenges their constituents are facing and are taking action to help expand resources that can better help serve the Commonwealth.”

“Current regulations limit retail energy choices in Virginia. Within the eight bills, there is legislation to expand opportunities for energy-intensive users, such as data centers, to procure their own energy and help relieve the challenges facing state utilities as they work to supply growing demand. There is also legislation for residential customers to shop for a 100% renewable energy plan offered by a competitive service provider, and a bill to provide more competitively priced options to Appalachian Power customers.”

“Our power bills make us choose between food or electricity for heat,” said energy choice advocate James Powers of Chilhowie. 

The eight bills introduced are:

House Bill 1672 –– Patron: Del. Michael Jones
This bill allows customers to enroll with a competitive energy provider if they choose a 100% clean energy plan that is backed by zero carbon energy sources. 

House Bill 2281 –– Patron: Del. Joseph McNamara
This bill permits municipalities to aggregate the electric energy load of residential, commercial, and industrial retail customers within its boundaries so competitive energy providers may bid to serve those customers at a lower rate than the utility price.

House Bill 2436 –– Patron: Del. Michael Webert
This bill changes the written notice requirement for a retail customer of electric energy to return to service by an incumbent electric utility from five years to one year (the average in other states is 15 days). 

House Bill 2528 –– Patron: Del. Alfonso Lopez
This bill loosens restrictions that bar commercial and industrial customers from shopping for their own energy using a competitive energy supplier. 

House Bill 2547 –– Patron: Del. Sam Rasoul
This bill provides, for retail competition for the purchase and sale of electric energy, that when two or more individual nonresidential retail customers of electric energy within the Commonwealth petition the State Corporation Commission for permission to aggregate or combine their demands to become qualified to purchase electric energy from a retail supplier.

Senate Bill 1216 –– Patron: Sen. Stella Pekarsky
This bill allows customers to enroll with a competitive energy provider if they choose a 100% clean energy plan that is backed by zero carbon energy sources. 

Senate Bill 1281 –– Patron: Sen. Travis Hackworth, Co-Patron: Sen. Todd Pillion
This bill authorizes APCO customers with bills that exceed 125 percent of the statewide average during the most recent calendar year to purchase electric energy from any supplier of electric energy licensed to sell retail electric energy within the Commonwealth.

Senate Bill 1485 –– Patron: Sen. Kannan Srinivasan
This bill loosens restrictions that bar commercial and industrial customers from shopping for their own energy using a competitive energy supplier.