Virginia green energy mandates—an ‘impending train wreck’
By
Kevin Mooney
|
July 13th, 2025
Youngkin offers up nuclear power as an innovative solution in the run-up to the November election
Gov. Glenn Youngkin, the Republican incumbent in Virginia, warns that the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) will drastically raise utility rates due to its overreliance on “green energy.” Unless the Virginia General Assembly steps in to lighten the regulatory load in the energy sector, an “impending train wreck” in the form of rising utility bills will remain in motion, according to a statement from the commonwealth’s energy director.
Youngkin points to the VCEA—enacted under his predecessor in 2020—as the primary culprit behind projected increases in utility bills. Known as the “Virginia Green New Deal,” the VCEA is laced with green energy mandates that are expected to become more costly in the absence of Youngkin’s veto pen.
The Virginia Power Grid Hangs in the Balance
But there’s still time for Virginia to cut a different path in line with Youngkin’s “all-of-the-above” approach to energy policy, which includes nuclear power. Glenn Davis, the Virginia Department of Energy director, points to the Commonwealth Fusion System’s (CFS) planned commercial fusion plant at the James River Industrial Park as a prime example of the kind of initiatives policymakers should pursue. The CFS plant is poised to become the first grid-scale commercial fusion power outfit of its kind anywhere in the world. In an exclusive statement to Restoration News, Davis said:
https://www.cfact.org/2025/07/13/virginia-green-energy-mandates-an-impending-train-wreck/
