When Governor Spanberger was swept into office as the Governor of Virginia this year, addressing energy affordability was a core campaign pledge. Cost of living was an important issue for voters and she promised to deliver with Abigail’s Affordable Virginia Plan which detailed her goals to address the cost of healthcare, housing, and energy.
Spanberger was committed to both reducing consumer’s skyrocketing energy bills and having Virginia rejoin RGGI, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. RGGI is a carbon cap-and-trade program that taxes CO2 emissions from fossil fuel power plants. Power plants in the program must buy allowances for their emissions, and states use the auction proceeds for things like clean energy, efficiency, flood protection and bill assistance.
Governor Spanberger’s predecessor, Governor Glenn Youngkin, had withdrawn Virginia from membership in RGGI, calling it a hidden tax on energy consumption. He argued that the cost of carbon allowances was not penalizing big polluters as intended, but was instead being passed directly down to ratepayers and businesses. Because Virginian utility monopolies like Dominion Energy can legally pass cap-and-trade compliance costs straight to consumers, Youngkin argued that power producers lacked any genuine market incentive to actually lower their carbon emissions.
Membership in RGGI likely does have some impact on reducing in-state carbon emissions by making fossil fuel plants more expensive to operate and less competitive with subsidized renewable wind and solar energy. It certainly encourages the closure of coal fired power plants. When Virginia’s fossil fuel powered plants operate less frequently or shut down entirely, overall CO2 emissions are not always reduced, some are simply are moved across state lines to places like West Virginia which is heavily dependent on coal power. Virginia relies on neighboring states to generate as much as 36% of its electricity consumption. Imported power has additional costs from transmission and congestion prices. This has helped contribute to a 37% increase in the cost of Virginia electricity in the past five years.
There is quite a contrast between the two Governor’s views on the impact of RGGI regulations on Virginians utility bills. On June 30th, 2026 Governor Spanberger signed legislation to address high energy costs and to rejoin RGGI, claiming that the legislation would save Virginians money by investing in critical energy efficiency and flood prevention programs. Governor Spanberger’s comments when signing the bill, are illuminative. “This is a direct credit to ratepayers, and it is built into the budget we just passed. This program is designed to ensure that the monthly charge on utility bills that comes with rejoining RGGI is offset for Virginia families and small businesses. And I want to be clear: our projections indicate that this Consumer Credit will do just that, and then some.
There are even estimates that average monthly bills could drop by as much as $36 annually due to the new RGGI Credit.” RGGI investments are proven to save Virginians money, decrease long-term costs, and reduce environmental pollution. On average, every dollar spent on energy conservation reduces utility bills by $2 to $4, and every dollar invested in flood protection saves approximately $6 in future damage costs. Across the nationwide RGGI program, the $5.7 billion in auction proceeds invested in energy efficiency and clean energy programs to date are projected to yield $22.6 billion in total bill savings for consumers.
Governor Spanberger promised to reduce the cost of electricity but will add $5.7 billion to power bills by rejoining RGGI. 45% of the RGGI collections will be rebated to consumers, small business, and religious organizations but for this to decrease the average monthly power bill, not everyone will participate in the rebates. 55% of the RGGI collections will not directly go to consumers but will be transferred to a myriad of non-profits and community organizations for things such as flood protection, affordable housing, weatherization, and energy efficiency for low-income households. Raising electricity prices and also saving consumers money at the same time seems to be contradictory, at best.
It is said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Rejoining RGGI will not lower the overall cost of electricity, as promised, but will add billions to it. RGGI has decreased in-state CO2 emissions and increased emissions elsewhere such as West Virginia and Pennsylvania where there is significant fossil fuel energy generation. Imported electricity comes at an additional cost due to higher transmission and congestion fees.
Virginia residential electricity rates have increased 37.3% over the past five years and this is before the cost of rejoining RGGI appears on utility bills and the latest $1 billion Dominion Energy price increase.
It will be up to Virginia’s voters to determine whether or not Governor Spanberger and the Virginia General Assembly have delivered on their promise to reduce the cost of electricity and that the value of RGGI investments will provide additional, meaningful benefits to average consumers. Early polls are showing an erosion in confidence for the Governor.
This article originally appeared at Real Clear Energy