Mitch Rolling

Center of the American Experiment analyzed Virginia’s compliance with the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) legislation passed in 2020. This analysis models the cost of meeting the renewable energy mandates established by the VCEA and analyzes its impact on the electric grid’s reliability. Our study examines two scenarios.

How diminished coal supplies and over-reliance on wind and solar could bring rolling energy blackouts to Minnesota in a harsh winter. As we write in December, much of Europe and Asia are embroiled in what news outlets have deemed a “global energy crisis,” and energy prices are surging across America. Gasoline prices, at $3.50 per gallon, are the highest they’ve been since the Obama administration.

Electricity prices in Minnesota have been growing at the 6th fastest rate in the country since 2015, according to data provided by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Minnesota once had the 26th least expensive electricity prices in the United States in 2015. Since then, however, Minnesota electricity prices have increased by nearly 11 percent – a growth rate only surpassed by California (17%), Michigan (14%), Vermont (13%), Alaska (13%), and Washington (13%).