This is a great move:
A Senate subcommittee yesterday endorsed a bill that would allow natural gas utilities to remove the link between their rates and the amount of gas their customers consume.If the measure becomes law, consumers soon could see programs from utilities encouraging them to use gas more efficiently.
Customers who participate in the conservation programs could see savings on their gas bills.
The bill, which passed the House of Delegates by a 98-0 vote, is intended to encourage utilities to promote the efficient use and conservation of natural gas without fear of losing money because of lower sales.
Brilliant! Now, why can't we do this for electric utilities like Dominion Virginia Power as well? It's called decoupling, and it's something we should be looking at seriously as a way to reduce Virginia's energy use and greenhouse gas emissions (while saving consumers -- all of us -- money in the process). What are we waiting for?
Most state utilities have no comparable opposition, or there is one monopoly serving most or the entire state. The monopolies who cobbled the grid we have today over the last 125 years, and have done so without any emphasis whatsoever on EEC. Regulators are slowly coming around, but they are very conservative, partly for good reason, as there are legitimate obstacles, including complexities and differing regulation per state. Since each state though, is independent to mandate its own change, why is it that we continue to find Virginia lagging terribly behind other states in near every facet of the electric industry?
VEP 2007 only mentions decoupling as an issue to consider and is only mentioned in regards to electricity once, in section 3.6 page 77. On the other hand, decoupling for gas was one of the policy's recommendations.
It appears to me when scientist resolve the problems to make the grid more intelligent, via a fully computerized managed networked, consumers will have more control over their consumption, and we'll see all the outstanding pieces like decoupled pricing, wider implemented renewable generation, more efficient load management and demand reduction, come together.