Virginia Grassroots Coalition - Climate
@vgcclimate.bsky.social
590 followers 420 following 470 posts
VirginiaGrassroots.org Working group for Climate and Clean Energy within the coalition. Supporting VA legislation to lower emissions and accelerate an affordable, clean energy economy. https://virginiagrassroots.org/coalition-wg-climate.php
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Reposted by Virginia Grassroots Coalition - Climate
jigarshahdc.bsky.social
The electricity system is the largest commodity supply chain in the world that doesn’t feature storage. Every technology benefits from storage (esp Solar/Nuclear).

Top 1% of peak hours are 8% of your bill. Top 10% of hours are 40% of your bill
Batteries provide more tools to flatten out peaks.
janrosenow.bsky.social
Grid scale batteries are changing our electricity system. Excellent new visual story on batteries in FT today shows just how far this technology has evolved.

Fasten your seatbelts, this is just the beginning.

ig.ft.com/mega-batteri...
vgcclimate.bsky.social
[gift article] As you take in their physical presence in this visual tour of NoVa data centers, try also to comprehend the externalities of these data refineries — what you can't see is almost inconceivably large consumption of energy and water. (Actual data scarce due to secretive contracts).
Opinion | What it looks like in the world’s data center capital
Among cemeteries, baseball fields and homes, these Northern Virginia buildings power the internet.
wapo.st
Reposted by Virginia Grassroots Coalition - Climate
jeffstjohn.bsky.social
Data centers want grid power faster—and utilities could supply it without burdening customers with extreme costs. But that won’t happen unless data centers and utilities start planning NOW for the data center flexibility to make this win-win possible:
www.canarymedia.com/articles/uti...
#energysky
How data centers can move fast without breaking things
A new analysis shows that developers and utilities can speed grid connections and lower costs by planning ahead for data centers to be flexible in their…
www.canarymedia.com
Reposted by Virginia Grassroots Coalition - Climate
kindler.bsky.social
Attn all Virginia state elected officials and candidates - we can rein in Dominion Energy’s out of control political spending - $86 million to date - if we exert the political will.
@marcussimon.com @salimvasenate.bsky.social @abigailspanberger.com @donscott757.bsky.social
@ssurovell.bsky.social
Reposted by Virginia Grassroots Coalition - Climate
volts.wtf
Today on Volts: the folks at @rewiringamerica.bsky.social have an idea. Hyperscalers desperately need to free up grid capacity for data centers, right? Why not let them buy that capacity by paying for residential heat pumps & solar/storage systems? I discuss it w/ the head of RW & a rep from PG&E.
Could we get hyperscalers to buy heat pumps for households?
Ari Matusiak and Carla Peterman join me to discuss a wild new idea: getting data centers to pay for your next heat pump.
www.volts.wtf
vgcclimate.bsky.social
There's going to be a bottle bill in VAleg 2026🙂
Reposted by Virginia Grassroots Coalition - Climate
jigarshahdc.bsky.social
📈 Transmission is used 50% of the time; distribution lines less than 30% of the time. The cheaper, smarter alternative is to use data and demand response to lower/shift peak demand — while building some more plants and wires.
vgcclimate.bsky.social
These coal plants lose money. Analysts calculated that Appalachian Power customers have overpaid more than $328 million since 2018.
When you love your out-of-state (high scandal Ohio) coal-plant owners' profits, more than you care about customer costs, that's what you do.
These coal plants lose money. Other states have walked away, but not West Virginia
Public anger is growing over rising electricity prices nationwide. In West Virginia, Appalachian Power customers have been paying hundreds of millions of dollars in hidden costs.
www.lpm.org
Reposted by Virginia Grassroots Coalition - Climate
costasamaras.com
Thank you! Here's the source for what I said on #WITHpod: "There are six states in the United States where data centres already consume over 10% of the electricity supply, with Virginia leading at 25%." www.iea.org/reports/ener...

Listen to the podcast here: open.spotify.com/episode/32ps...
"As a result, in regions where data centres are concentrated, the share of electricity demand going to data centres is disproportionately high. In Ireland, for example, data centres consume around 20% of the metered electricity supply. There are six states in the United States where data centres already consume over 10% of the electricity supply, with Virginia leading at 25%."

World map showing data center load in gigawatts all over the world. Virginia has a giant bubble indicating lots of data centers. Map is from: https://www.iea.org/reports/energy-and-ai/understanding-the-energy-ai-nexus#abstract
Reposted by Virginia Grassroots Coalition - Climate
costasamaras.com
I got to talk about this very issue on #WITHpod with @chrislhayes.bsky.social. An electricity cost crisis is coming. We need efficiency, smart technologies and policies, resilient infrastructure, and lots of clean energy. open.spotify.com/episode/32ps...
Reposted by Virginia Grassroots Coalition - Climate
vgcclimate.bsky.social
Thank you, Senator @salimvasenate.bsky.social
for providing testimony to the VA State Corp Commission Tuesday, requesting that they deny the certificate that Dominion Energy seeks to build a fracked-gas peaker plant in Chester.
We appreciate your voice in opposition to Dominion's scheme. 👏
Reposted by Virginia Grassroots Coalition - Climate
bistline.bsky.social
NEW TOOL: a one-stop, searchable home for 250+ state energy and climate policies, targets, and incentives. Perfect for planners, policy-makers, and analysts.

apps.epri.com/energy-polic...
vgcclimate.bsky.social
'They are seeking a future where we have to compete with corporations for drinking water and subsidize Big Tech’s energy costs with our own wallets due to increased utility bills.'
mediajustice.bsky.social
#BigTech executives pandering to Trump’s ego and policies goes beyond the theatrics.

Read our Sr. Research Specialist Jai Dulani's op-ed on how this administration has enabled tech companies to invest $20 billion+ in the South and how this harms our communities:
truthout.org/articles/big...
Truthout Article lead image of Tennessee State Rep. Justin Pearson speaking in opposition to a plan by Elon Musks's xAI to use gas turbines for a new data center during a rally outside of Fairley High School ahead of a public comment meeting on the project in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 25, 2025. Image Credit: Brandon Dill / The Washington Post via Getty Images

The article headline is: "Big Tech Data Centers Compound Decades of Environmental Racism in the South"

There is a quote block for: "The South has long been a site of both corporate extraction and fierce political resistance. Continuing this legacy of resistance, data center opposition is increasingly strong across the South."
Reposted by Virginia Grassroots Coalition - Climate
vgcclimate.bsky.social
Thank you, Delegate @amylaufer55.bsky.social ,
for providing testimony to the VA State Corp Commission today, requesting that the Commission deny the certificate that Dominion Energy seeks to build a fracked-gas peaker plant in Chester.
We appreciate your voice in opposition to Dominion's scheme.
vgcclimate.bsky.social
Thank you, Senator @jenniferboysko.com for providing testimony to the VA State Corp Commission today, requesting that the Commission deny the certificate that Dominion Energy seeks to build a fracked-gas peaker plant in Chester.
We appreciate your voice in opposition to Dominion's scheme.