Energy choice advocates commend lawmakers for offering solutions to address rising energy demand, projected bill increases and shortfalls in capacity
RICHMOND, VA (January 22, 2025) –– 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.
A 2021 survey found that 77 percent of participating Virginia energy customers prefer to have a choice in their electric supply. More than 80 percent of respondents prefer renewable energy to power their homes. The idea of a more competitive clean energy choice has customers and advocates excited about the opportunity to be a part of reducing carbon emissions.
“It will stop us from using fossil fuels as much, moving us swiftly along to net zero,” said James Heyer of Chesapeake.
Virginia businesses, environmental groups and organizations representing more than 5,000 customers have joined the Virginia Customers for Energy Choice Coalition. This diverse coalition supports using Virginia’s existing retail electricity laws to respond to the growing energy demand and clean energy needs in Virginia.
Without retail energy, the state would need to build new power generation to meet the growing demand. Virginia’s largest utility company has projected new generation, transmission and storage costs to exceed $100 billion. Such costs will ultimately be passed down to consumers.
Virginia was recently ranked the number one state for energy imports, with 36 percent of all electricity supply imported from other states. Because of a current lack of in-state power generation capability, Virginia utilities are forced to shop for electricity from the wholesale energy market to meet energy demands. The legislative bills that have been introduced this session will expand a competitive market that allows customers to shop and procure their own electricity.
There are 22 states that allow some form of competition with the utility whereby some or all customers can shop for the supply portion of their electric bill. Virginia is one of the partial competition states where the utilities still own their generation assets and some customers can shop. In comparison to the other states, Virginia has some of the most onerous restrictions and hurdles the few customers that can shop must overcome
“These legislative leaders have identified solutions to prioritize customers, embrace existing markets, and encourage development to position the state for a vibrant, clean energy future for both residents and businesses,” said Ercoli. “We commend them for that.”
The eight bills introduced are:
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.
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.
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).
This bill loosens restrictions that bar commercial and industrial customers from shopping for their own energy using a competitive energy supplier.
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.
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.
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.
This bill loosens restrictions that bar commercial and industrial customers from shopping for their own energy using a competitive energy supplier.