In her first speech as governor, Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger said her affordability agenda includes rejoining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).
“This is about cost savings,” Governor Spanberger said. “Withdrawing from RGGI did not lower energy costs. We have seen them rise.”
The evidence, however, points to the opposite. States with RGGI membership and other green mandates pay more for electricity costs compared to non-RGGI states.
RGGI is a cap-and-trade program that launched in 2005. It’s billed as a regional carbon market geared towards cutting greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). But it acts as a carbon tax, discouraging individuals and businesses from engaging in carbon-intensive goods and services. Eight years after RGGI was established, RGGI states experienced a 64% increase in electricity rates compared to non-RGGI states. Virginia residents were paying an additional $54/year RGGI fee until the Youngkin administration formally exited RGGI in 2023.
A recent Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory electricity report notes that state programs, including RGGI (or cap-and-trade programs), “can impact prices.” RGGI states often boast renewable portfolio standards (RPS) that mandate a portion of their electric grids be renewable. This study reveals that Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states “with relatively lower-quality wind and solar resources have often tended to experience larger price impacts.” But the same study found that more load growth from data centers, being blamed for rising electricity rates in Virginia and beyond, won’t “necessarily increase prices over the medium- to longer-term.” The study adds, “Emerging evidence from 2025 suggests near-term impacts that can be either positive or negative; medium- to longer-term effects are uncertain.”
As I recently noted here at Independent Women, states with climate mandates see, on average, higher electricity prices compared to states without them. States, under the Federal Power Act, have exclusive power to “regulate the electricity generated and sold within their borders.”
Despite having below-average electricity prices, Virginia’s climate law—not data centers or RGGI withdrawal—increased utility bills across the last five years.
The Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA), a climate law passed in 2020 to mandate a 100% transition to renewable energy by 2050, explains why energy bills are steadily rising in the Commonwealth. The climate law’s website claimed it will deliver $3,500 in savings for the average Virginia household through 2050. But the State Corporation Commission, a state entity regulating Virginia utilities, estimated in 2020 that Virginia ratepayers will see a $800 annual increase in utility bills—or $24,000 total increase across 30 years—to meet the demands of Virginia’s Green New Deal. Even the Democratic majority in the General Assembly conceded last year that VCEA should be revisited and “re-examined.”
Last fall, the SCC mentioned the growing cost of compliance for VCEA. Former Governor Glenn Youngkin noted in December that the SCC approved a $135 per year annual hike, or $11.24/month, for Dominion Energy residential customers, effective in 2026. Since 2021, monthly Virginia bills have risen 30% from $120–$125 (in 2021) to $160–$170 (in 2025).
RGGI also doesn’t deliver on its emissions-reduction goals. In 2019, the Congressional Research Service found that states that participate in RGGI had a “negligible” impact on “directly reducing the global accumulation of [greenhouse gas] GHG emissions in the atmosphere.” In fact, non-RGGI states add more renewable energy power sources compared to RGGI states.
Governor Spanberger should, instead, follow the lead of her fellow Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania. In November, he signed a budget proposal that removed his state from RGGI participation. While campaigning for office, Governor Shapiro was skeptical of the cap-and-trade program.
To meet rising electricity demand in Virginia, Governor Spanberger should reconsider re-entry into RGGI to deliver affordability.
To learn more about RGGI, go HERE.