Virginia SCC report makes shocking finding: electric bills have increased in the past 5 years

A new report by the Virginia Corporation Commission led to a shocking finding: electric bills in Virginia have increased since the commonwealth’s “experiment” with deregulating utility companies five years ago.[1]

Thus, government regulation of Virginia’s utilities (i.e., taxpayer subsidies and government protection of large power distributors) have allowed these companies to stifle competition, raise rates, and disregard calls for renewable forms of energy.

The State Corporation Commission has approved close to $1.3 billion of additional revenue for Dominion Virginia Power alone since 2007. According to one source, “The effect has been to boost the monthtly bill of a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month by a total of $16.63 to $107.23, for an 18 percent increase since 2007.”[2] For Dominion, thanks should be given to Virginia’s taxpayers during this holiday season!
In defense of its corporate welfare policies, the commission noted that rates charged by Dominion Virginia Power are below the national average. The commission will have to excuse me if I am not totally satisfied by this response. The commission is essentially saying, “Don’t worry about the arbitrarily high utility rates, they’re still below the national average.”

But the real kicker is not Dominion’s outrageous profits at the expense of Virginians, it’s the profits that Dominion has made combined with their bold attempts to subvert, avoid, and ignore calls for greater amounts of renewable energy in Virginia.
In essence, Dominion Virginia Power is being subsidized by Virginians while it also chooses to ignore their requests for renewable energy as a greater proportion of Dominion’s energy portfolio.

Consequently, Dominion, and its customers, will be behind the curve when renewable energy finally takes off in America. Welcome to Virginia, a business friendly state, indeed.[3]
[1] http://www.newsleader.com/article/20121122/NEWS01/311220003/1002/rss?nclick_check=1
[2] http://www.newsleader.com/article/20121122/NEWS01/311220003/1002/rss?nclick_check=1
[3] http://www.cnbc.com/id/47818860/Texas_Is_America_s_Top_State_for_Business_2012