Last week, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam released the Commonwealth of Virginia’s 2018 Energy Plan. The plan identifies actions that will diversify Virginia’s energy portfolio over the next ten years, such as increasing renewables, expanding access to energy financing, enhancing storage options, and broadening electric vehicle access.
The 2018 plan recommends deploying 3 gigawatts (GW) of solar and onshore wind by 2022, installing 2GW of offshore wind by 2028, and Virginia utilities investing $115 million annually in energy efficiency programs. In addition, the plan recommends that the Governor establish a goal of reducing energy consumption in state buildings by 20%, and doubling the Commonwealth’s renewable energy procurement target to 16% by 2022.”
The Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy says that the plan "provides both a status update on Virginia’s current energy system and a set of recommendations that are both forward-looking and adaptive to enable the energy transformations that are underway. The intention of these recommendations is to support technological advances, create new business opportunities, and allow Virginia’s energy markets to grow."
To learn more about the process of making the plan, visit: https://www.dmme.virginia.gov/DE/VirginiaEnergyPlan.shtml.