City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: NOVEMBER 6, 2019
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: MARK B. JINKS, CITY MANAGER /s/
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Consideration of Submitting Public Comments to the State Corporation Commission in Case PUR-2019-00094 (Rider TRG).
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ISSUE: Opposing Dominion Energy's insufficient renewable energy generation program.
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council support submission of public comments as detailed in this memorandum to the State Corporation Commission (SCC) in Case PUR-2019-00094 (Rider TRG) recommending the SCC deny Dominion Energy's application for Rider TRG.
DISCUSSION: On May 31, 2019 Dominion Energy filed an application with the State Corporation Commission (SCC) seeking approval to implement a "renewable energy" program called Rider TRG ("Total Renewable Generation") for its customers. Purportedly, the Rider TRG program will provide interested customers with a 100% renewable energy electricity supply sourced from Virginia renewable energy electricity generation facilities. Unfortunately, while this might have been be a welcomed opportunity from Dominion Energy customers who have interest in supporting development and expansion of a "greener" grid to meet their climate change action goals, the program falls short of its claims for largely three reasons that are not consistent with the City's vision, values, and adopted Environmental Action Plan 2040.
First, the "renewable energy" being considered in the Rider TRG program falls far short of a conventional definition of renewable energy resources. While the program will include solar and hydroelectric electricity generation facilities, it will also include biomass power plants and a coal-fired power plant that co-fires using a minimal amount of biomass resources. Unfortunately, such co-fired coal/biomass power plants qualify as "renewable energy" according to an expansive and generous statutory definition...
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