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Lately, every time I turn around, someone is asking me why their electric bill is so high. Some constituents have electric bills where the added fees are higher than their actual power usage costs. If you have wondered why in the past years your energy bills have been spiking, it is not only inflation to blame, but the Virginia Clean Economy Act. This law was signed in 2020 under a full Democrat-led General Assembly and signed by a Democratic Governor. There are so many problems with this law, but I will stick to three main issues: inefficient energy production, expensive investment, and the fact that these green incentives are not truly green.

I decided to take a closer look at my Dominion electric bill and there were charges on there for the following: Clean Energy Projects & PPAs, Renewable Energy Program, Coal Ash Closure, and Off-Shore Wind. By the time these so-called “non-bypassable” charges and taxes were added to my bill they accounted for over 25% of the total.

What is the Virginia Clean Economy Act?

What does the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) actually do? It mandates a switch of our entire electric grid to green energy by 2050. On top of this, it also establishes a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) requiring utilities to produce electricity from renewable sources, retire carbon-emitting facilities, and implement energy efficiency measures. What this essentially means is that our utility companies are required to retire their current modes of producing electricity for less efficient, more expensive forms of energy, and these are largely solar and wind farms.

Let’s start with inefficient energy production. Compared to other forms of energy production, solar and wind-powered farms are not able to hold a candle to oil and natural gas. If the United States were to flip a switch and convert all of its energy production to solar, it would need to be the size of Lake Michigan or 10,000 square miles.

This also does not take into account the duck effect of solar. The solar duck phenomenon refers to the sharp changes in electricity demand caused by widespread solar power use. During midday, solar panels produce lots of energy, greatly reducing the need for traditional power sources. But as the sun sets and people’s electricity use rises, solar generation drops off quickly, forcing other power plants to ramp up rapidly. When graphed, this creates a curve shaped like a duck, with a low midday “belly” and a steep evening “neck,” posing challenges for grid stability.

Unreliability and your electric bill

There is also similar unreliability when it comes to wind farms. Unpredictable turbines only produce power when the wind blows at the right speeds, which is not constant. Second, energy losses happen when electricity travels long distances from often-remote wind farms to cities. Third, capacity factors, meaning the actual output compared to the maximum possible output, for wind are relatively low, usually around 30–40 percent, meaning turbines are not producing electricity most of the time. Finally, maintenance and wear on turbines, especially offshore, can be costly and complicated, reducing long-term efficiency.

What happens when we have an unforeseen event where we need to produce more electricity than expected, such as a high heat day or an especially cold day? Wind and solar simply are not able to produce in a way that the grid needs to instantly add power to fill the needs. This leaves our grid vulnerable to bad actors. If you remember, two years ago, Russian hackers were able to attack our grid and shut it down. Now, imagine if we had only one or two sources of energy and did not have a diverse profile of energy production.

If these problems were not glaring enough, we have to talk about the investment it is taking for our power companies to invest in solar. To build the wind farms off our beautiful beaches, it will cost 10 billion dollars to the power company, and to build a 1MW solar farm, it costs 1 million dollars. There are two ways that these companies will pay for these expensive mandates. Either they will demand the state invest your tax dollars, meaning your taxes will increase, or they will pass the cost of these investments on to your power bill. The latter is what we are currently seeing. This, combined with inefficiencies in the current technology, means that we will have to build a lot of these farms before they become viable for energy companies to make them profitable. Until then, they will keep passing on the expense to you, the ratepayer, making your bill higher and higher each time.

Another round next week

That said, there is much more to say about this topic, so stay tuned for Part 2. Next week, I will explain how these green incentives are not truly green and how much worse it will be if the Democrats are able to take back the House and the Governor’s Mansion.

My staff and I are always here to assist you with any issues or concerns. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if we can be of service. You can reach us at 434.374.5129 or by email at senatormulchi@senate.virginia.gov