Virginia could pay $500 million per year in higher electricity costs if Spanberger wins gov race
By
Kevin Mooney
|
October 4th, 2025
Virginia voters should know that if Abigail Spanberger becomes their next governor, they will be staring back at $500 million in higher electricity costs each year, according to a new report from the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy.
That’s because Spanberger, a former Democrat member of Congress, has pledged to have Virginia rejoin a carbon tax plan known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). Before she can do that, Spanberger must win the November gubernatorial election. Early voting in Virginia began on Sept. 19, and polls show Spanberger with a lead over Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, her Republican opponent. But unlike Spanberger, Earle-Sears has made it clear she is fully committed to keeping Virginia out of RGGI. Earle-Sears is also running on a platform of lowering living costs.
RGGI is a “cap and trade” climate initiative that includes 11 states in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions. Government regulators impose an upper limit or “cap” on the amount of carbon dioxide emissions that power plants are permitted to emit. The initiative also creates “allowances” within interstate auctions that may be traded back and forth among companies subjected to the emission caps. Companies that meet or exceed emissions targets may sell any excess allowances to companies that have not done so. This is where the carbon tax enters into the equation. Companies that buy allowances pass the cost of those allowances on to consumers with extra charges on their monthly energy bills. The Thomas Jefferson Institute bases its projections of rising energy costs on the most recent round of carbon taxes RGGI imposed on member states.
https://www.cfact.org/2025/10/04/virginia-could-pay-500-million-per-year-in-higher-electricity-costs-if-spanberger-wins-gov-race/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=virginia-could-pay-500-million-per-year-in-higher-electricity-costs-if-spanberger-wins-gov-race&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=virginia-could-pay-500-million-per-year-in-higher-electricity-costs-if-spanberger-wins-gov-race
