Virginia Senate committee approved creating the Virginia Power Innovation Fund to develop alternate sources of energy

While people are shocked by their rising electric bills, a Virginia Senate committee voted on February 13 to create the Virginia Power Innovation Fund to find other ways to get energy. This bill, House Bill 2386, was introduced by Del. Israel O’Quinn (R-Washington Co.). It was meant to encourage “research and development of innovative energy technologies,” such as nuclear, hydrogen, geothermal, pumped storage hydropower, battery storage and manufacturing, and carbon capture and use.

But the next day, the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee, which is controlled by Democrats, voted 10 to 6 to take “nuclear” out of the language. At least for now, that second vote kills Governor Youngkin’s plan to build at least one small modular nuclear reactor in Southwest Virginia within the next ten years.

Sen. John Edwards (D-Roanoke), the last Democrat senator from a part of Southwest Virginia that was supposed to benefit from the research and development of nuclear-generated electricity, changed his mind by voting Yes on February 13 and then No on the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee.

Del. O’Quinn was upset that a Senate committee did not pass the bill. “The knee-jerk opposition to nuclear innovation is very short-sighted and puts Virginia behind the times in terms of energy diversification. Nuclear energy will have to be a bigger part of Virginia’s energy mix in the future. It makes no carbon dioxide and is very reliable.”

Last October, Governor Youngkin (R) asked the General Assembly to approve his “all of the above” Virginia Energy Plan so that there would be a steady supply of cheap energy in the future. A request for money to set up a Virginia Nuclear Innovation Hub was part of that Plan.

Some neighboring states, like Tennessee and North Carolina, are growing faster in terms of population and economy than Virginia. This makes it more important than ever to have reliable, cheap energy.

Sen. Steve Newman (R-Bedford Co.) tried to keep language in the bill that supported nuclear research and development. Part of his district is in Lynchburg, where there is already a growing nuclear industry. “As you know, Virginia is about to become the leader in the nuclear field. We have three companies in Lynchburg, and Tidewater is very important,” he said.

People disagree about whether or not nuclear energy can be called “Green Energy” or “Clean Energy.” On the one hand, the 1986 accident at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in what used to be the USSR shows how dangerous nuclear power is for the environment. On the other hand, this energy.gov page explains that nuclear energy does not use fossil fuels and does not release carbon dioxide.

The only Democrat to vote against taking “nuclear” out of the package was Sen. Majority Leader Dick Saslaw (D-Fairfax).

But Sen. Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax City) said why he was against it. “I look at it from a different point of view. This is money from the general fund, and these are big businesses that make money and can pay for research and development. If we do use money from taxpayers to pay for this fund, I think it’s important to focus on resources that are not only long-lasting but also good for the environment. I have nothing against nuclear power, but I think we should keep this fund much more focused right now.”

Concerning the words “sustainable” and “environmentally friendly,” windmills only make electricity when it’s windy, and as this article explains, some scientists blame off-shore windmills for the recent rise in the deaths of endangered Right Whales, of which only about 340 are left. Also, as this page explains, Virginia lost about 2,000 acres of farmland every week in 2021. There are many reasons for these losses, but a growing one is that farmland is being turned into large solar farms, and trees are being cut down to make room for solar panels. Once those big solar panels are put up, the valuable forests and farmland will be gone for good.

When Democrats ran the General Assembly, they made a plan to shut down Virginia’s coal-burning power plants that make electricity. Solar and wind power also have their drawbacks, so it’s not clear how Virginians will be guaranteed an affordable, reliable energy grid that can meet all of their home and business needs.

We asked Senators Edwards and Petersen for a statement about how they voted, but we haven’t heard back as of the time of publication.

This November, all 140 seats in the Virginia General Assembly will be up for vote.