Tell Your State Lawmakers: No New Electricity Taxes

Governor Abigail Spanberger’s mandate to rejoin the RGGI cap-and-trade program is hitting Virginia’s working families directly in the wallet. By forcing the state back into the initiative, Spanberger has triggered a proposed “Rider RGGI” fee on electric bills, forcing a typical household to cough up an extra $13 every month. That is nearly triple the $4.40 fee families paid before Virginia previously exited the program.

The blame for these soaring bills lies with the aggressive, fast-tracked compliance timeline Spanberger reinstated. Virginia is rejoining just as carbon allowance prices have spiked to $35 a ton and emissions caps are drastically shrinking—forcing a 61% carbon reduction by 2030. Power companies are passing 100% of these skyrocketing auction penalties directly onto everyday ratepayers.

To make matters worse, Spanberger is layering these heavy RGGI costs on top of existing clean-energy mandates right when booming AI data centers are driving up power demand. Because wind and solar cannot provide 24/7 reliability, forcing the grid to adapt requires massive, expensive upgrades to backup generation and infrastructure. By pushing Virginia back into RGGI, Governor Spanberger has guaranteed that working families will shoulder the staggering financial burden of an increasingly expensive power grid.

Tell your state lawmakers to renounce these dangerous policies.