Energy Democracy for All

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Energy Democracy is local people having control of how their electricity is produced and distributed to ensure everyone has access to affordable and clean power.

Two decades into the 21st century, advances in solar panels, battery storage, modernized electric grids and other technologies are revolutionizing how our electricity can be produced and distributed. But large utility companies with monopoly control over the market — such as Duke Energy and Dominion Energy — are keeping us locked into using increasingly expensive polluting fuels like coal and fracked gas to generate our electricity.

At the same time, the increasing impacts of global climate change, including dangerous heat waves and severe storms, are taking a toll on countless communities, but especially disadvantaged communities and communities of color. And monopoly utility companies charge ever higher rates while they knowingly continue to worsen the climate crisis.

But a movement toward Energy Democracy is growing across Appalachia and throughout the country. Local individuals and groups are standing up to demand a seat at the table with decision makers to ensure we transition to a system that is affordable and fair, provides community wealth and jobs, and is built on clean, renewable energy.

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Why Energy Democracy?

Learn how monopoly control and a focus on profit have locked us in a pattern of polluting fossil fuels and ever higher rates

Tell Congress: Support new power plant regulations

Our legislators need to support the EPA’s new rules to slash power plant pollution

Latest News

Dominion Energy’s continued reliance on fossil fuels shows disregard for Virginia’s clean energy requirements

The plan fails to model investments in renewables at the level needed to move us to a zero-carbon grid and instead relies on retaining the company’s current fossil fuel fleet through 2039.

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Community speaks out after Moriah Energy Center issued air quality permit

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEOctober 11, 2024 CONTACTJuhi Modi, North…

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Chesterfield County residents pressure board of supervisors to hold hearing on Dominion Energy’s proposed methane gas plant

On a Thursday evening in early September, over 70 people crammed into a restaurant in Chesterfield County preparing for an Dominion Energy open house on its proposed methane gas plant at a hotel conference room about 100 yards away.

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The TVA needs oversight. Its board of directors should step up — only one has.

For years, communities across the Tennessee Valley have been calling on the Tennessee Valley Authority, the largest public power provider in the country, to be more transparent in its planning and decision-making processes — and now even a TVA board member has expressed concerns.

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A row of solar panels installed on a lawn.

Russell County Solar Open House invitation to community members

The Solar Workgroup of Southwest Virginia and Energy Right are hosting a solar open house for residents of Russell County and surrounding counties.

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Biden-Harris administration announces multi-billion dollar investment in clean energy for rural communities

Rural electric cooperatives in Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania are among the first round of 16 recipients of $7.3 billion in financing for clean energy initiatives through the Empowering Rural America, or New ERA, program.

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