Virginia
Virginia Utilities Seek Unbridled Rate Adjustments for Unproven Small Modular Nuclear Reactors in Two New Bills – Inside Climate News
Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power, Virginia’s two primary utilities, may soon be able to extract hundreds of millions of dollars from customers to cover the costs of building small nuclear facilities, an unproven form of emissions-free energy generation.
Senate Bill 454, introduced by Sen. Dave Marsden, a Democrat representing Springfield, authorizes Dominion and Appalachian Power to apply for rate adjustments for costs along the project timeline regardless of whether the companies bring the projects to fruition. House Bill 1491, introduced in Virginia’s House by Rep. Israel O’Quinn, a Republican representing Bristol, is effectively the same piece of legislation, except it applies to a narrower set of costs and only to Appalachian Power.
On Tuesday, both bills passed floor votes in their respective chambers.
We’re hiring!
Please take a look at the new openings in our newsroom.
See jobs
Small Modular Reactors, or SMRs in industry parlance, use energy from a controlled nuclear reaction to power turbines that generate electricity. Despite the prevalence of nuclear fission technology—the U.S.’s first commercial nuclear power plant went online in 1957—no company has successfully built an SMR in the U.S.
SMRs could play a role in decarbonizing the nation’s grid even as energy demand is “rapidly expanding,” said Dan O’Brien, a senior modeling analyst at Energy Innovation, an energy and environmental policy organization. O’Brien said one-third of Virginia’s energy already comes from larger nuclear reactors, and there would be benefits to replacing those units with SMRs. “The fact that they’re smaller and have lower resource demand makes them more applicable to a wider range of applications on and off the grid,” he said.
But O’Brian emphasized that SMRs are a “future-facing” technology, and building one in Virginia would require “a long turnaround.” For that reason, it’s important that Virginia taxpayers and consumers “aren’t bearing the brunt of a project that eventually faces the huge delays we’ve seen with bigger nuclear projects across the country,” he said.
SMRs have been criticized for producing radioactive waste—for which there is no suitable storage solution—its ballooning costs and experimental design.
Dominion did not respond to questions about whether it would support legislation that guaranteed reimbursement for ratepayers if an SMR never came online, nor did Marsden or O’Quinn. Dominion was a top donor to each official’s election campaigns.
Appalachian Power said it does not comment on pending legislation.
Under the proposed bills, Dominion and Appalachian Power would have the ability to petition the State Corporation Commission “at any time” to cover the cost of building an SMR—including before the company has broken ground on the proposed facility. Neither bill guarantees ratepayers their money back should either company fail to bring an SMR online.
Allowing Dominion and Appalachian Power to recover costs before they have begun the construction process could leave Virginia ratepayers on the hook for “likely hundreds of millions of dollars,” said Josephus Allmond, a staff attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center.
That cost could total in the billions under SB454, he said. That bill expressly includes the cost of the federal permitting and licensing process in the utilities’ available rate recovery costs, which “adds an enormous amount” that Virginians would be on the hook for, Allmond said. “We don’t really know what that combined licensing cost is for SMRs, because no one’s ever gotten one.”
If SB454 passed as it is currently written, Allmond estimated that ratepayers could pay billions to Dominion or Appalachian Power as the companies explored the feasibility of SMRs.
Under SB454, the State Corporate Commission would have the ability to impose a deadline on Dominion or Appalachian Power by which the utilities must either connect an SMR to the Commonwealth’s grid, or sell the site and return the proceeds of the rate hike back to customers. But the bill makes an exception to the proceeds return for any SMRs being constructed “at a previously existing nuclear site.”
Dominion has three nuclear facilities in Virginia, and could elect to build an SMR at any one of those sites. “If the utility were to do that,” said Allmond, “and it wasn’t able to bring the SMR into operation, then [Virginians] rates would have gone up for the previous several years for a site that’ll never deliver an electron to the grid.”
Peter Anderson, director of energy policy in Virginia for the nonprofit Appalachian Voices, who has been tracking these bills closely, said that HB1491, which grants rate adjustments for SMRs only to Appalachian Power and has a more limited set of acceptable rate recoveries, raises its fair share of red flags, too.
“The fundamental problem is the same in both bills: The customer would not be made whole,” he said, if Appalachian Power failed to connect an SMR to Virginia’s grid.
Part of Anderson’s work at Appalachian Voices is to ensure Appalachians are not left out of the nation’s transition to a clean energy economy and involves analyzing the region’s shift to renewable energy. He said he was perplexed by the apparent fixation of Dominion and Appalachian Power on building SMRs.
This story is funded by readers like you.
Our nonprofit newsroom provides award-winning climate coverage free of charge and advertising. We rely on donations from readers like you to keep going. Please donate now to support our work.
Donate Now
For Dominion “to be focused on a speculative, zero-carbon technology that has never been deployed before, rather than focusing our resources on overcoming the existing issues with bringing more wind and solar and battery storage online,” which are more economically viable, “is to gamble with their ratepayers money,” he said.
Recent research by scientists at Stanford University and the University of British Columbia has shown some SMR designs generate more nuclear waste than larger facilities, exacerbating waste-storage issues. It is unclear which design Dominion or Appalachian Power would pursue should either bill become law.
Both bills received bipartisan support Tuesday. SB454 passed the Senate in a 19-18 vote, with three Democrats not voting. In the House, HB1419 passes in a 74-24 vote.
Each bill now heads to the opposite chamber’s Labor and Commerce Committee for review. Should either bill advance from those committees, a final vote could be held as early as the end of this month.
Jake Bolster
Contributor
Jake Bolster is a freelance multimedia journalist who covers climate and the environment across the United States.
First grader Ruston Revell is pressing Virginia lawmakers to pass a bill that he argues will make schools safer for kids with diabetes.
This page contains a video which is being blocked by your ad blocker.
In order to view the video you must disable your ad blocker.
Why a 6-year-old with diabetes is pushing for change in Virginia
Speaking in front of Virginia lawmakers, 6-year-old Ruston Revell needs a wooden stool to reach the microphone for his testimony about diabetes.
Dressed in his blue suit and red tie, he’s there on a mission.
“Living with diabetes isn’t easy, there are lots of ups and downs — just like my blood sugar,” Ruston told legislators in the Virginia General Assembly.
The legislation that brought Ruston from Prince William County to Richmond would update an existing law to specify how Virginia schools handle accommodations for students with diabetes.
“When I’m at school, my nurse and all my teachers help me when I need it, but not all kids like me are that lucky,” Ruston told WTOP. “These bills change that, so kids with diabetes can be safer in schools.”
He’s testified before committees in both chambers as corresponding bills move through the Virginia General Assembly. HB1301 and SB122 have both earned support in their respective chamber.
“Although, I’m small, my voice is big and it can change the world,” Ruston said.
In his testimony, the first grader clearly explained the care he requires to manage his Type 1 diabetes during the school day.
“He just pops up on his little stool and takes control of the room,” said Kelly Revell, Ruston’s mom. “It’s usually a little quiet, and after he finishes, he gets a whole room full of applause.”
Today, Ruston enjoys playing baseball, swimming and spending time at the playground.
But things were different before his diagnosis five years ago.
A life-changing diagnosis at 15 months old
During the summer of 2020, Kelly said her son started showing signs of diabetes, such as extreme thirst — symptoms she recognized because her father had been diagnosed in his 20s.
“He would just lounge around the house and have no interest in playing with his sister,” Kelly said. “He stopped eating, so he was eventually airlifted to Children’s National in D.C., where he was admitted to the pediatric ICU for nearly a week.”
At just 15 months old, Ruston was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Kelly said that news was life-changing.
“Now, in order to keep him alive, we have to hurt him multiple times a day, by giving him four to five shots and even a dozen finger pricks just to make sure his blood sugar is in range,” she recalled.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease where the body attacks cells that make insulin. A lack of insulin can lead to high blood sugar, which could cause serious health issues or be deadly.
“We had to wake up at 2 a.m. every night for six weeks, before we started utilizing technology, just to make sure that he was safe and healthy with his blood sugar,” Kelly said. “A lot of times, it resulted in phone calls to the hospital because he was at a dangerous level, and then we would be up for hours making sure he was back in range.”
For the Revell family, managing Ruston’s diabetes looks different nowadays.
(Courtesy Kelly Revell)
Courtesy Kelly Revell
(Courtesy Kelly Revell)
Courtesy Kelly Revell
(Courtesy Kelly Revell)
Courtesy Kelly Revell
(Courtesy Kelly Revell)
Courtesy Kelly Revell
(Courtesy Kelly Revell)
Courtesy Kelly Revell
How a 6-year-old handles his diabetes
Ruston knows how to prick his finger to check whether his blood sugar is in range.
“My mom and dad help me change my insulin pump every three days, and my CGM every 10 days,” Ruston said, referencing his continuous glucose monitor, known as a CGM.
“It hurts, but at least I don’t have to do shots. They’re the worst.”
Living with diabetes, Ruston needs to calculate the number of carbs he’s getting to determine his insulin dose, which is administered automatically through a pump.
“He is a pro at using a food scale,” Kelly said. “If he wants to eat anything, apple slices, we cut them up, and he puts them on the food scale and determines how many carbs are in that.”
Halfway through his interview with WTOP, Ruston’s phone beeped, flagging his low blood sugar and triggering a quick juice-box break.
That’s the kind of intervention he could require at school.
“When I’m low, Nurse Barnes tells Ms. Grant for me to have a juice box or gummies,” Ruston said, describing a snack to correct his blood sugar.
At his current school, Kelly said Ruston has had all his medical accommodations met since his first day of kindergarten.
“He gets so many hugs. Everyone knows him. He walks into the front office every day to visit the clinic, and they just they really take care of him,” she said.
Things were more complicated before Ruston began kindergarten. Kelly said the family was initially told that the accommodations requested by his doctor would not be allowed.
“What was most difficult at the time was the thought that a kindergartener would be responsible for alerting adults if his phone signaled a low or high blood sugar, rather than having trained staff receive those alerts directly through available technology,” she told WTOP.
The situation was resolved, but it drew Kelly’s attention toward legal protections for kids with diabetes.
What Kelly and Ruston are asking Virginia lawmakers to do
For the past several years, Kelly has been involved with an advocacy group, FOLLOWT1Ds, which argues that unclear or inconsistent school policies can create stress for families and put kids in danger.
“Prince William County has updated their diabetes policies recently, so more students with diabetes across our county are better protected,” Kelly said. “But that’s not happening everywhere in Virginia.”
The bills moving through the Virginia legislature would require school systems to create a divisionwide plan for supporting students with diabetes.
That would include making sure school staff are trained to follow through with a child’s medical orders.
“You really have to put in all of your trust in your school,” Kelly said. “This is a life-threatening disease, and if they forget to give him a juice box when he’s low, that can result in him going to the hospital, or it could be fatal.”
The legislation would also require schools have procedures for administering insulin and glucagon.
Families who have students with diabetes would send schools medical orders from their doctors that outline the child’s needs.
“A lot of times, the schools will either deny or modify these accommodations, even though they’re medically necessary,” Kelly said.
The statewide regulations haven’t been updated since 1999, Kelly said.
“While we’ve had all of these technology advances, like the insulin pump and the CGM, Virginia still hasn’t advanced their laws to align with standard methods of care that we’re using today,” Kelly said.
Ruston doesn’t receive insulin shots anymore. But Virginia law is behind on that front, according to Kelly and other advocates.
“Right now, the policy in Virginia, if his pump were to fall off while at school, they would, instead of reinsert the pump, they would give him a shot,” Kelly said.
In that scenario, Kelly said the school employee would have to calculate how much insulin to dose.
“I wouldn’t even know what to dose him, because with the pump, it’s automated nowadays,” she said. “It would require an immediate call to his doctor for guidance.”
She worries that it could lead to a miscalculation and health complications.
Kelly said the lack of consistency can impact older students, too. She said some high schoolers have gotten in trouble for having their cellphones at schools that ban the devices.
But those phones let students monitor their blood sugar, communicate medical treatments and administer insulin.
It’s the second year in a row that advocates like Kelly have asked legislators in Richmond to approve revisions to state law.
This time, Ruston is joining the push for change by sharing his story with lawmakers.
“I want to make sure other kids in different schools can have more help with diabetes,” Ruston told WTOP.
Anyone interested in following the legislation or submitting a comment to lawmakers can find more information on FOLLOW T1Ds’ website.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2026 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
Virginia Delegate Dan Helmer led fellow Democrats to major gains in November’s election. Now he’s turning his attention to the redistricting of the Commonwealth, and a run in the newly proposed 7th district. He joins Sydney Persing on The Final 5 to discuss.
FAIRFAX, Va. (7News) — Virginia State Police have identified the man who was shot and killed by a trooper after a crash ended in a stabbing attack on Interstate 495 Sunday afternoon.
Jared Llamado, 32, of McLean, died at the hospital on Sunday after he was shot.
RELATED | 2 dead, dog killed after stabbing spree, trooper shooting on I-495 in Fairfax County
Investigators said Llamado was confronted by the trooper who opened fire around 1:17 p.m. The trooper was responding to a report of a road rage incident and found Llamado with a knife, according to a news release.
Four stabbing victims, all women, were also found at the scene, along with a dog that was also stabbed.
Michelle Adams, 39, died from her injuries. The dog also did not survive. The three other women were all taken to the hospital with serious injuries, according to VSP. 7News is not identifying the surviving victims.
Investigators said the stabbings stemmed from a crash in the southbound lanes of I-495.
The trooper who opened fire was not hurt and is on leave pending the outcome of the investigation into the use of force.
BE THE FIRST TO COMMENT
Investigators said they do not believe the attack is connected to terrorism.
Figure data breach exposes nearly 1M accounts
Paramount credit downgraded to ‘junk’ status over debt worries
Todd Meadows, ‘Deadliest Catch’ deckhand, dies at 25
Sen. Thom Tillis Rips Kristi Noem, Compares ICE Killings To Dog She Killed
Israel believes Iran war could last months, testing U.S. resolve
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Indiana Members Credit Union announced as new anchor tenant at Bottleworks District
Hungarian veto proves EU needs less unanimity, says new Dutch PM
Pregnant migrant girls are being sent to a Texas shelter flagged as medically risky
Fraud-plagued Minnesota sues Trump admin for withholding $243M in Medicaid payments
Is Iran expanding attacks to target energy and civilian sites in the Gulf?
Trump claims US stockpiles mean wars can be fought ‘forever’; Kristi Noem testifies before Congress – US politics live
-
World6 days agoExclusive: DeepSeek withholds latest AI model from US chipmakers including Nvidia, sources say
-
Massachusetts6 days agoMother and daughter injured in Taunton house explosion
-
Denver, CO6 days ago10 acres charred, 5 injured in Thornton grass fire, evacuation orders lifted
-
Louisiana1 week agoWildfire near Gum Swamp Road in Livingston Parish now under control; more than 200 acres burned
-
Oregon4 days ago2026 OSAA Oregon Wrestling State Championship Results And Brackets – FloWrestling
-
Florida3 days agoFlorida man rescued after being stuck in shoulder-deep mud for days
-
Maryland3 days agoAM showers Sunday in Maryland
-
Culture1 week agoTry This Quiz on Thrilling Books That Became Popular Movies