Appalachian Voices v. State Corporation Commission

The Virginia Supreme Court affirmed the State Corporation Commission’s (SCC’s) approval of Virginia Electric and Power Company’s (VEPCO’s) request for a rate-adjustment clause allowing it to recover the projected costs of purchasing allowances through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a multi-state cap-and-trade program for carbon dioxide emissions from electric utilities. The court rejected the environmental organization Appalachian Voices’ argument that the SCC failed to make the requisite findings that the costs were “necessary” to comply with RGGI regulations. Appalachian Voices contended that “only the lowest possible allowance costs” were necessary and that the SCC should have required VEPCO to execute a plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants. The court found that “[w]hile the argument has a persuasive tenor, there is no statutory or regulatory text supporting it.” The court said Appalachian Voices would have the opportunity to advocate for its “ideal, least-cost program” for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from VEPCO’s power plants in separate proceedings implementing the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which requires electric utilities to phase out carbon-emitting power plants and to procure renewable energy.