letter to Senator Obenshain 4/2012

April 14, 2012

Senator Mark Obenshain

P.O. Box 555

Harrisonburg, VA 22803

Dear Senator Obenshain:

As supporters of clean energy in Virginia, we want to express our thanks for your voting record

on various bills to reform Virginia’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) this legislative session.

Thank you for voting for SB 382/HB 1166, the successful bill that creates basic reporting

requirements for utilities who request a renewable energy reward under Virginia’s voluntary

RPS. We are very happy that we will soon be able to learn more about the energy that utilities

are being rewarded for through our electricity bills.

We support the original vision of the RPS, which was to spur utilities to erect wind turbines and

solar panels in Virginia, creating jobs and homegrown clean energy. Instead, utilities are

receiving renewable energy rewards from ratepayers by buying credits for projects in other

states, many of them decades old. We need to strengthen the requirements of the RPS to make

sure companies have to build new renewable energy projects in Virginia to get these bonuses.

Therefore, we would also like to thank you for voting against SB 413/HB 1102, the bill that will

allow utilities to get RPS credit for research and development of renewable energy as though

they were actually generating energy. This bill further weakens the RPS, making it into even

more of a giveaway for electric utilities. While we are disappointed that this bill passed, we are

glad that you voted against it.

Please continue to work to make sure that electric utilities develop wind and solar power in

Virginia, spurring new job growth, rather than investing in fossil fuel industries that are on the

decline.

Sincerely,