Youngkin joins “energy choice” coalition with other Republican governors

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin speaking to a crowd in Richmond on April 8, 2024. (Nathaniel Cline/Virginia Mercury)

Gov. Glenn Youngkin has joined a group of nine other Republican governors who are advocating for “energy choice,” intending to “minimize permitting and other regulatory barriers” and “limit expensive energy mandates,” among other goals. Some clean energy advocates said the term is a euphemism for the continued use of natural gas that pollutes the planet and drives climate change.

Called the “Governors’ Coalition for Energy Choice,” Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu announced the group in a press release Tuesday.

Youngkin’s press secretary, Christian Martinez, said the governor has “consistently called” for measures the group wants since releasing his energy plan that seeks “access to a reliable, affordable, increasingly clean, and growing supply of power.”

“The governor is encouraged by the broad support of Republican governors across the country leading the way, urging federal leaders to follow suit,” said Martinez.

The coalition includes Govs. Brian Kemp, of Georgia; Bill Lee, of Tennessee; Eric Holcomb, of Indiana; Governor Mark Gordon, of Wyoming; Sarah Huckabee Sanders, of Arkansas; Kristi Noem of South Dakota; and Kevin Stitt, of Oklahoma.

Amid “high costs of energy and accelerating energy cost inflation,” the group highlights a need for energy policy that is “focused on affordability, reliability, and good stewardship” to “foster economic opportunity and improve the lives of their citizens.”

Youngkin has touted similar messaging by advocating for his “All-of-the-Above” energy plan, which calls for continued natural gas usage, a re-evaluation of the Virginia Clean Economy Act — a 2020 landmark law that aims to decarbonize the state’s electric grid by 2050 — and using nuclear energy to provide reliable power.

He and Kemp also joined other Republican leaders in Louisiana in June to attack President Joe Biden’s climate policies, which are projected to prevent 21 billion tons of emissions and $5.6 trillion in environmental damages by investing in renewable energy technologies like solar, battery storage, offshore wind and nuclear.

Youngkin, 19 Republican governors bash Biden on energy policy

The Energy Information Agency, a federal government entity, said in its latest outlook that the costs for natural gas electricity generation sources entering service in 2027 is expected to be $39.94 per megawatt generated over the span of an hour. For solar, the rate is $33.83 per megawatt hour, $105.38 for offshore wind and $128.55 for battery storage, and $81.71 for nuclear.

But the need for electricity around the country and in Virginia is projected to skyrocket in coming years due to data center development, electrification of vehicles and increased use of technology, calling into question whether renewables can reliably provide enough power.

In its outlook, the EIA also projected that solar would be able to generate 28% of the energy it is capable of, what is known as a capacity factor, while natural gas has a capacity factor of 87%.

But tools are available to alleviate the shortfall of renewable energy’s production by getting it on the grid faster, which will also decrease reliance on fossil fuels that are exacerbating climate change, said Walton Shepherd, Virginia policy director for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Those tools include the recent Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rule 1920 to better coordinate transmission planning; technologies available to upgrade existing transmission lines; reforms underway to speed up approvals at PJM Interconnection, the regional grid Virginia is a member of; and savings created through energy efficiency by using less electricity in the first place.

“All of those solutions are there, readily at hand for Governor Youngkin to help everyone who’s working on this,” said Shepherd. “For Youngkin to stick his head in the sand and side with fossil fuel interests is something that will raise costs, not lower them.”

Also, the costs of renewable energy, which comes with the benefit of avoiding health issues, will  only improve, said Tim Cywinski, communications director for the Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club, by not relying on a volatile market like natural gas does, and by avoiding fossil fuel delivery fees.

“The more we put on the grid the cheaper it will become,” Cywinski said.