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Tazewell Co. officials want to tap into major gas pipeline to help industries dealing with soaring electricity costs
Although Tazewell County produces the third highest amount of natural gas in the state — and a major gas pipeline runs right through the county — businesses and residents there have little access to it. County officials have long dreamed of changing that, and as electric rates continue to increase across Southwest Virginia, they are finally hoping to move forward with plans to tap into the line. “There’s a long history here of resources leaving our part of the state and we don’t really get a whole lot of benefit out of it,” said Tazewell County Administrator Eric Young. “If we could just tap into that line, then our businesses can get that advantage on the energy costs and hopefully keep and gain some jobs.”
Feds Approve First Phase of National-Interest Designation for Western Loudoun Power Line
As area residents gear up efforts to oppose the construction of new power lines that could impact the county’s historic, agricultural, and scenic areas, the federal government just made that work more difficult. On Wednesday, the U.S. Secretary of Energy included parts of the county in the first step of identifying new National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors. A NIETC designation provides an expedited permitting and construction process for transmission lines. This is done when there is an urgent need to meet power demand in a region.
Virginia lawmakers ask federal government to block Mountain Valley Pipeline operation, citing safety concerns
Eighteen lawmakers from the Virginia General Assembly submitted a letter Tuesday to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, asking the agency to deny the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s request to start running gas by June 1. In their letter, lawmakers cited the failure of a section of pipe in Roanoke County last week, as it was undergoing hydrostatic testing. “If gas was going through the pipeline it would have been devastating,” said Sam Rasoul, one of the delegates who signed the letter. “This failure confirms our concerns and it’s premature for it to go in service now.”
Virginia Congressman Wittman visits Manassas-Based Dronemaker RapidFlight
Congressman Rob Wittman (R-VA 1), Vice Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, visited RapidFlight, a Manassas-based designer and mass manufacturer of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for the global defense industry, last week. RapidFlight briefed Congressman Wittman on its capacity to disrupt the industry with cost-effective, mission-customizable drones that offer five times the range and endurance at a fraction of the cost of traditional small UAV systems.
Schapiro: UVa professor takes the long view on the law
Soon to be 91, Dick Howard has spent more than two-thirds of his life pondering constitutional principles. It’s a line of work that’s allowed him to travel the nation and the world. He’s dispensed advice to foreign countries such as Hungary, which — having escaped the orbit of the former Soviet Union — embraced democracy but is now re-embracing authoritarianism. These days, some of the thorniest questions about fundamental rights are unfolding a short distance from Howard’s home in a sylvan section of Charlottesville.
Texas man gets a year for role in 2017 torch-wielding mob at UVa
A frequently convicted White supremacist who once dared adversaries to shoot him and launch a race war has pleaded guilty to a charge stemming from his participation in the torch-wielding mob that marched across University of Virginia Grounds in 2017. William Henry Fears IV of Pasadena, Texas, made his plea Tuesday in Albemarle County Circuit Court, where he received a one-year term, the longest of any of the men who have been charged for their involvement in the 2017 episode.
Alexandria anti-‘Zoning for Housing’ case gets another day in court
Alexandria succeeded in its bid [Wednesday] to dismiss a case filed by residents furious with a citywide zoning overhaul that allows developers to build homes with up to four units on any property, but residents will get a chance to try again in a month. … The zoning reform package was unanimously approved last year by City Council after an extensive public engagement process. It includes citywide changes to single-family zoning, expansion of transit-oriented development, reducing parking requirements for single-family homes and analyzing office-to-residential conversions. The effort is meant to increase affordable housing options, as well as eliminate segregationist zoning practices of the past.
As General Assembly special session approaches, are skill games dead or alive?
At a meeting of Virginia’s advisory council on gambling addiction late last month, Del. Paul Krizek, D-Fairfax, made a bold prediction. The battle over whether the state should legalize the slots-like gambling machines known as skill games reached a standstill in April due to policy disagreements between the General Assembly and Gov. Glenn Youngkin. There have been signals the skill game legalization effort could potentially be revived by being folded into the unfinished state budget lawmakers are supposed to finish next week. But Krizek said he doesn’t see that happening and thinks the skill game legalization effort is probably dead for the year.
Southwest Va. region to get $845M as part of six-year transportation plan
The Virginia Department of Transportation’s Bristol district is slated to receive over $800 million, or about 3% of the state’s total proposed transportation funding, during the next six years. The district, which includes the 12 counties and two cities of far Southwest Virginia, is budgeted about $845 million in transportation funding as part of the Commonwealth Transportation Board’s proposed $25.4 billion six-year plan for fiscal years 2025-2030.
Loudoun in preliminary ‘priority’ corridor for new electricity transmission lines
The U.S. Department of Energy released May 8 a list of potential “priority” corridors for new transmission infrastructure that would give a federal commission the authority to overrule state agencies when ruling on transmission projects. One possible corridor includes existing transmission rights-of-way across Loudoun County along with a new path through western Loudoun. The maps of the possible new transmission line corridors are “rough approximations,” according to the department, and provide little detail. The department did not respond May 8 to a request for the detailed mapping data used to create the high-level maps ...