Henry Waxman just put a big "decoupling" provision in the House stimulus bill, an amendment that would require states seeking federal money to revamp the way their utilities operate. Right now, utilities profit based on how much electricity they sell, giving them scant incentive to promote conservation. But under various decoupling schemes, utilities would have financial incentives to boost efficiency—and sell less electricity. California's seemingly slashed energy waste under this arrangement...How will Virginia and our dominant power public utility, Dominion Resources, respond if Waxman's decoupling requirement becomes law? Dominion's defenders sometimes argue that the company has no choice but to push for new coal-burning plants, because the regulations do not reward energy efficiency. I've always believed that Dominion Resources could have any sort of regulatory regime it wants, since it essentially writes its own regulations through its intensive lobbying efforts in Richmond, and the leverage it thus exerts over opaquely named State Corporation Commission.
Of course, tying federal stimulus funding to decoupling might finally wake up the state assembly and the regulators! Worth watching!
A note on the foolish inconsistency of the fossil lobby: they oppose Waxman's decoupling proposal on the grounds that it represents Federal interference in state regulatory affairs. Hang on a dogone minute! Aren't these the very same people who supported Bush's position that California should not be able to set its own automobile emission standards? (A position now being overturned by Obama's administration.)
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