The future of the Virginia Clean Economy Act is on the ballot this fall — popping up as a top issue in several battleground districts.
Republican incumbent Delegate Chris Obenshain of Montgomery County says it's time to repeal the Virginia Clean Economy Act. It was passed back in 2020 with bipartisan support, but that was before the crush of data centers created skyrocketing demand for power.
"A lot of the folks who were there at the time warned at the time that this was going to raise prices, and it was going to raise the cost to consumers," Obenshain says. "And what we've seen is that's happened, and not only has it raised the cost to consumers but it's also made it very hard for Virginia to generate the power that it needs to power its new economy."
His opponent in this New River Valley battleground district is Democratic challenger Lily Franklin, who says the Clean Economy Act gave too much unchecked power to the utilities.
"We need to stop rewarding the monopolies for just building out expensive infrastructure," Franklin says. "That was one of the biggest points in the VCEA is that wind energy is incredibly expensive, and there are a lot of other solutions that deliver affordable, clean, reliable power without racking up tons of profit at our expense."
And this is not just a campaign issue. Democratic leaders in the House of Delegates are signaling that they will consider changes to the act in the next session of the General Assembly.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
