Virginia’s Energy Future

According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics American manufacturing jobs have dropped from an all-time high in 1979 of 19.6 million to 12.8 million in 2019.  

Since taking office on January 20^th, President Trump has brought in almost 3 trillion dollars of investment into the future of the United States according to Investing.com.  One of President Trump’s highest priorities is to bring high paying, high quality manufacturing jobs back to America.  Another high priority is to expand America’s commitment to the future with major advancements in Artificial Intelligence.  Every state in the union is going to be in competition for their part of these massive investments in our future.  

While Virginia has been a leader in technology, this leadership could swiftly slip away.  

As part of President Trump’s commitment to American manufacturing, he plans on reinvigorating America’s historic role as a leader in ship building.  Newport News is one of the largest ship building ports in the country, but its position could drop if the next governor does not address a serious problem in the Commonwealth.

Most people who live in Virginia do not realize that Virginia is a net importer of energy.  On average Virginia imports 6,254 megawatts of electrical energy per hour, and this rate will increase in the coming years. Virginia purchases most of its excess electricity needs from Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and West Virginia.  This means Virginia does not have control over its own electrical grid and electrical costs right now.  

Other states are already addressing the need for massive increases in the need for electricity output.  Even as this article is being written, West Virginia is working to pass legislation to allow data centers to build their own micro-grids to power their systems.  Pennsylvania is upgrading older coal plants and even the Three Mile Island nuclear plant to bring them back online.  

Virginia’s standing as a leader in Data Center construction and innovation could become a thing of the past without a tremendous increase in its abilities to meet its growing electrical needs.  Loudoun and Prince William Counties are in the middle of divisive arguments over how to obtain the electricity needed to power new data centers.  Massive overhead powerlines running from Pennsylvania and West Virginia, through some of the last pristine farmlands in Northern Virginia will be needed to power data centers already on the books for construction, because Virginia cannot supply its own power needs.

The next governor of Virginia must have a specific plan of action ready to go on day one to meet this serious challenge to our future.  Governor Youngkin had an energy plan for Virginia, but much of that never made it out of committee in the democrat-controlled legislature.  

If Abigail Spanberger wins the governorship, will she return Virginia to the failed policies of the last Democrat Ralph Northam?  Under the Northam regime Virginia abdicated its responsibility for managing its energy infrastructure to the unelected California Air Resources Board.  This connection was broken by Attorney General Jason Miyares but could be re-established with a democrat in the governor’s mansion or as Attorney General.  

If the democrats win the governorship, the attorney general’s office and the house of delegates, Virginia will go the way of California.  They will bring back EV mandates, that by 2035 require every hard-working Virginian to purchase a more expensive electric car and upgrade the electrical system in their homes to power these cars.  Home electrical charging stations can run anywhere from $1200 to well over $5000 depending on the age of the home.  This EV mandate will tax the Virginia’s overworked electrical infrastructure even more.  

Spending on manufacturing expansion will by-pass Virginia for states with reliable electrical grids based on proven technologies such as coal, natural gas and even nuclear.  As energy exporting states such as West Virginia, North Carolina and even Pennsylvania become more enticing to manufacturing expansion, their power grids will have less and less energy available to export to net importers like Virginia.  This will drive up costs more, making Virginia less attractive to new investment.  Even existing Virginia companies will find it more enticing to move to states with reliable, low-cost power grids, decreasing the Virginia tax base further.  

Virginians must stand up and demand a comprehensive energy plan from every candidate in the coming November election!  These plans must be based on proven, reliable, American resourced technologies, and not unproven “pie in the sky” technologies like offshore wind and massive solar farms.  Despite being promoted as ‘green,’ wind and solar technologies — mostly supplied by foreign industries — have been proven to cause greater and more lasting environmental damage than American-developed coal and natural gas.   

Virginia must reverse the course of being an energy importer or it will be like California, New York and Illinois, watching its companies and its future flee to states with the vision to prepare for the new golden age of manufacturing and artificial intelligence.