A lawsuit calling Virginia’s withdrawal from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative illegal will proceed in Floyd County Circuit Court. Monday’s court date comes after state attempts to have the suit thrown out failed over the summer — though officials may try to get the case tossed again.
The Association of Energy Conservation Professionals, represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, is suing the Air Pollution Control Board, the state Department of Environmental Quality and DEQ director Mike Rolband.
AECP alleges those officials don’t have the authority to remove Virginia from the program, citing a 2020 act of the General Assembly ordering the state to join it. AECP also argues Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration failed to provide evidence to support their decision to leave RGGI, another requirement of state law.
RGGI is a 10-state initiative: Power producers and other parties in member states can purchase carbon allowances to cover emissions from electricity generation. The number of allowances is reduced over time, causing the cost of carbon to go up and encouraging producers to seek cheaper forms of energy generation.
But Youngkin disagrees. He’s consistently argued that RGGI is an ineffective tax. Costs to generate electricity, including the cost of carbon allowances, are paid for directly by ratepayers. And in Virginia, major power companies Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power are already required by state law to reduce their net carbon emissions to zero by 2045 and 2050, respectively.
A 2024 budget amendment would have ordered the Air Board to rejoin RGGI, but it was dropped in negotiations earlier this year.
Virginia received $827.7 million in revenues from 12 auctions to be spent on flood mitigation and energy efficiency projects. That’s more than most member states received, despite only participating in less than one-quarter of the 65 auctions to date.
The hearing is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Monday.
Disclosure: The Southern Environmental Law Center is a VPM sponsor.
