Press Releases
Thousands call on Gov. Northam to protect Virginia waters from fracked-gas pipelines
Richmond, Va. — Citizens representing Virginia landowners, the faith community, scientists, people of color, water protectors and clean energy advocates today called on Governor Ralph Northam to protect Virginia’s waters by taking immediate action on the proposed Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast pipelines. The action comes the morning after Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality approved…
Read MoreContest announced for home weatherization in the N.C. High Country
Contact: Rebecca Bauer, North Carolina Energy Savings Outreach Associate, 828-262-1500, becca@appvoices.org Boone, N.C. — High Country residents are invited to enter the “2018 High Country Home Energy Makeover Contest” for a chance to win up to $2,500 in home repairs that improve energy efficiency, make their home more comfortable and reduce monthly energy bills. The…
Read MoreCitizens, public interest group denounce TVA’s proposed new fee
Chattanooga, TN – Nearly 40 people attended today’s Tennessee Valley Authority Board meeting to speak out against TVA’s plans to change the way it charges local power companies for energy. Many speakers argued that the “New Pricing Paradigm,” as TVA has called it, would result in a disproportionate burden for shouldering TVA’s costs on low-income…
Read MoreDominion Energy-backed bill faces historic opposition in Va. House of Delegates
Statement from Tom Cormons, Appalachian Voices Executive Director, on passage today by the Virginia House of Delegates of electric rate bill HB 1558: This version has been updated as of 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, February 12. “The bill that passed today contains a blank check to Dominion to bury power lines using our money without regulatory…
Read MoreVirginia Delegates face a choice on Tuesday: Dominion Energy or Virginia families
CONTACT: Tom Cormons, Executive Director, tom@appvoices.org, (434) 981-6506 The Virginia House of Delegates this evening narrowly rejected a measure that would have protected Virginians from having to pay as much as $50 billion in the coming years to Dominion Energy to bury electric power lines. The measure was an amendment proposed by Delegate Sam Rasoul…
Read MoreVa. utility regulator finds fault with electric rate bill
CONTACT: Cat McCue, Communications Director, cat@appvoices.org, 434-293-6373 The State Corporation Commission today released its second analysis of legislation pending in Virginia’s General Assembly regarding electric rate restructuring. Today’s analysis was issued at the request of Sen. Chap Petersen on a substitute bill that passed the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee earlier this week. The SCC’s…
Read MoreVa. bill on electric rates a bad deal for consumers
CONTACT: Cat McCue, Communications Director, cat@appvoices.org, 434-293-6373 The Virginia Senate Commerce and Labor Committee is considerng legislation this afternoon regarding the proposed repeal of the 2015 “rate freeze” for electric utilities and overhauling the process for establishing customer rates going forward. The State Corporation Commission and Virginia Attorney General’s office — both charged with ensuring…
Read MoreFERC faces another legal challenge over Atlantic Coast Pipeline
Charlottesville, VA— The Southern Environmental Law Center and Appalachian Mountain Advocates filed a challenge in federal court on behalf of 11 conservation groups, including Appalachian Voices, challenging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s decision to permit the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. “FERC demonstrated in its split decision to approve the pipeline that there is lingering doubt about…
Read MoreAppalachian Voices slams N.C. approval of Atlantic Coast Pipeline
Despite vigorous opposition from thousands of citizens across the state to the controversial, interstate fracked-gas Atlantic Coast Pipeline, Gov. Roy Cooper announced today that the state has approved a water quality permit for the roughly 160-mile section of the project that would cut through North Carolina. The massive pipeline would run through eight rural eastern…
Read MoreCoalition sues Va. water board over Atlantic Coast Pipeline
Richmond, VA –A coalition of community and conservation groups, including Appalachian Voices, late yesterday filed a legal challenge in federal court of the Virginia State Water Control Board’s approval in December of a water quality certification for the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline. While the board’s decision postponed the effectiveness of the certification pending completion of…
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