About Us
The mission of the Affordable Energy Coalition is to lower energy costs and rapidly transition our state to an affordable and clean energy system that prioritizes the interests of everyday Virginians.
Many Virginia families experience the energy burden, meaning they pay an unaffordable percentage (6% and above) of their income on their monthly energy bills. The EBC was formed to address this issue, first coming together in 2020 around a major piece of energy reform legislation. The Fair Energy Bills Act (HB 1132) was a bipartisan bill to restore regulators’ ability to review and set a fair and reasonable profit level for the largest electric providers in Virginia, Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power Company. If the bill had passed, Virginians would have received hundreds of millions of dollars in refunds from Dominion Energy after the utility overcharged customers by over $1.1 billion above its profit level. The bill was supported by a unique alliance of environmental, low-income, and consumer advocate nonprofit organizations that would become the Affordable Energy Coalition, in addition to the Office of the Attorney General, former Governor Ralph Northam’s administration, the Virginia Manufacturers Association, and others in the business community. Despite its broad base of support, a Senate committee fell short of passing the bill by only one vote.
During the 2023 legislative session, the Affordable Energy Coalition saw a major success for ratepayers with the unanimous passage of the Affordable Energy Act (SB 1321/HB 1604). This bill wrestored critical oversight abilities to the State Corporation Commission to fairly regulate and set rates for Virginia's investor-owned utilities.
The Affordable Energy Coalition has several key priorities for the 2024 legislative session:
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Creating more affordable and expansive shared solar programs
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Exploring alternative regulatory structures and tools to promote reliability, affordability and sustainability
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Preventing utility disconnections for Virginia's most vulnerable households during extreme weather and periods of crisis
Additional resources on the energy burden:
What is the energy burden?
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