Energy Democracy for All
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.
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
State-Specific Info
Sorry, we couldn't find any posts. Please try a different search.
Latest News
Opposition to new Dominion gas plant grows — and now includes Virginia state legislators
What I learned from the town hall was that Dominion, a company with significant resources and ability to expand clean energy in Virginia, has branded a new polluting gas plant as its only option for “reliability.”
Duke Energy’s proposal to convert the Roxboro coal plant to gas would be one of many dangerous new fossil fuel investments
Amid an alarming set of proposals for an extensive methane gas expansion across North Carolina, Duke Energy wants to convert its coal-fired power plant on Hyco Lake in Person County, known as the Roxboro Steam Station, to a combined-cycle methane gas power plant.
The latest on Mountain Valley Pipeline Southgate
Even as Mountain Valley Pipeline’s rushed construction results in landslides and muddy waters in Virginia and concerned residents call for state and federal authorities to stop the damage, communities to the south are facing new and changing threats from the pipeline’s proposed Southgate extension.
Reliance on fossil fuels was last year’s Grinch that stole Christmas — and the real cause of Winter Storm Elliot blackouts
On Dec. 24, 2022, as Winter Storm Elliot bore down on North Carolina and Tennessee, problems at fossil-fuel power plants and high electricity demand led Duke Energy and the Tennessee Valley Authority to shut off power for millions with rolling blackouts. But it didn’t have to be this way.
Proposals to put new nuclear reactors near coal mine sites ignore geological hazards
In October 2022, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced a goal of building a new nuclear reactor in Southwest Virginia within the next 10 years, setting off a flurry of excitement among local economic development officials and outrage among local residents who are concerned about the health and safety risks of nuclear power.
In a moment of climate crisis, Dominion wants to move Virginia backwards
These developments support the Virginia-wide shift towards clean, renewable energy and Dominion Energy had seemingly embraced this transition, expanding its own solar and wind facilities. But, alarmingly Dominion is now trying to reverse course in Chesterfield and construct a new harmful methane gas “peaker” plant, mere miles from the old plant.
