Editor, Gazette-Journal:
In April 2024, Donald Trump asked oil, gas and coal executives for a $1 billion campaign “donation.” By year’s end, fossil fuel industry tycoons delivered over $450 million to Trump and Republicans.
Their return on investment? The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA)—a sweeping rollback of solar and wind tax credits, paired with expanded subsidies for fossil fuels. Why? Because solar and wind growth are a direct threat to the fossil fuel industry’s near-monopoly over electricity generation. To protect their profits, they need to slow or stop the clean energy transition. A fabricated “energy emergency” then allowed Trump to keep dirty and expensive coal and gas plants operating through executive orders.
Virginia’s 1st District Representative Rob Wittman voted for OBBBA, claiming it would “protect Medicaid, cut wasteful spending, and lower energy costs.” Polling shows 54 percent of Virginians—including 59 percent of independents—oppose this legislation. Virginians recognize the bill for what it is: more corporate welfare for the fossil fuel lobby.
Now Virginians are paying the price. The Commission on Electric Utility Regulation (CEUR) warns that scaling back clean energy incentives and delaying renewable projects will lock ratepayers into higher-cost fossil fuels for years to come.
New data centers are sending electricity demand through the roof. Instead of meeting that demand with lower-cost solar and wind, we’re forced to rely on more expensive gas, oil, and coal—raising wholesale electricity prices by 22 percent.
As a result of blocking new cheap renewable energy sources, expect your power bill to climb by up to 5 percent in 2026–2027 (twice the inflation rate), and by 10-18 percent by 2035—an estimated $400 per household.
Trump promised on Oct. 1, 2024, to “cut electricity prices in half.” Instead, his policies are driving up costs for Virginia families while padding profits for his campaign donors.
Virginians need leaders who put constituents first—not fossil fuel CEOs.
David Helms
Zanoni, Va.