Affordability is more than a political buzzword. It’s at the core of everything that the Spanberger administration and General Assembly are working toward in 2026 as they seek to deliver results for Virginians.

And cutting Virginia’s burdensome energy bills is a key component of this agenda.

Before going into the details of how Democrats are addressing this issue, it’s important to acknowledge how we got here.

For the past four years, the Youngkin administration stood in the way of affordable, clean energy solutions in Virginia. The Trump administration has made things astronomically worse. Under his watch energy bills have risen by 13% — nearly five times the pace of normal inflation.

This is due to flawed policies that block clean energy projects, mandate increased reliance on volatile fossil fuels such as liquified methane gas while also exporting more of these same resources overseas, and keep antiquated uneconomical gas and coal-fired power plants online well past their usable life — policies our former governor cheered on from the sidelines even as they hurt Virginia in the form of cancelled projects, killed jobs and higher bills.

At the same time, Big Tech and the artificial intelligence industry continue to build more and more energy-hungry data centers, straining our grid and passing on the cost of infrastructure to ratepayers.

All of this adds up to higher energy bills for us here in Virginia, while big corporations and the fossil fuel industry benefit.

There is a better way.

Clean, renewable energy is our cheapest way to keep the lights on. These aren’t energy sources that have to be pulled out of the ground, refined, packaged, shipped and sold to a distributor before they can be used; they’re readily deployable, infinite sources of power that can meet our daily power needs at a lower cost.

This is why state lawmakers, working with the Spanberger administration, are advancing policy solutions to bring more reliable, cheap, clean energy online here in the commonwealth.

Solutions include legislation to make it easier and cheaper to deploy clean solar energy on more rooftops, industrial sites and disturbed sites such as landfills and parking lots, by cutting red tape and bringing more competition into the mix.

Lawmakers are working to get Virginia back into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative so that we can invest in cost-saving energy efficiency programs and help communities protect against dangerous flooding, all while holding polluters accountable by putting a price on their emissions.

Our former governor took Virginia out of RGGI, with the end result being higher energy bills, dirtier air and fewer resources to keep communities safe.

Lawmakers are also working to make good on their promises to make sure that data centers are paying their fair share when it comes to energy infrastructure, following years of Virginians footing the bill for those costs along with billions of dollars of tax subsidies.

Legislation to address this issue includes shifting some of the regulatory oversight to the state level, where energy regulators would be able to weigh in on whether large data centers impact ratepayers and energy reliability, and making sure that costs incurred with feeding these energy-hungry facilities aren’t borne by Virginia ratepayers.

The affordability crisis won’t go away after one legislative session — it will take time, commitment and political will. But by championing these measures now, lawmakers are sending a clear signal that they’re committed to addressing this serious issue and laying the groundwork we need to start righting the ship in Virginia toward a clean, affordable energy future.

Michael Town is executive director of the Virginia League of Conservation Voters, located in Richmond. Email him at info@valcv.org.

https://www.dailypress.com/2026/02/07/column-investments-in-clean-energy-will-aid-affordability/