June 26, 2009

The General Assembly session is almost four months behind us, and the recent results of the Democratic primary have excited many of us locally since our Senator, Creigh Deeds, is in a good position to win the Governor's race this fall.

The 2009 election is critically important for a number of reasons. Among them is the 2011 redistricting of the House of Delegates and the Virginia State Senate. The Governor will have great influence over how the lines are drawn, which will affect the balance of power in Virginia for the next decade. I support bi-partisan redistricting: we should have a system where the voters choose their representatives, not the other way around. This has been a hallmark of Creigh's agenda and one that the voters have supported, but attempts to pass such legislation thus far have failed and are not likely to pass as long as Republicans control the House of Delegates.

As the gubernatorial and fall campaigns heat up, Delegates continue with off-session committee work and the development of future legislation. For me, this involves attending two committees on which I sit: the Land Use Tools Development Committee and the Disability Commission.

The Land Use Committee is charged with looking at tools available to localities to channel growth in positive directions. In my view, decisions made by towns, cities, and counties about the location of public buildings have a dramatic impact on development. For instance, if a school is placed in the middle of a rural area, there will be pressure for development to follow, with the attendant costs of building new roads and infrastructure. In Virginia, we do not look carefully at those kinds of issues or provide enough incentives for localities which attempt to concentrate growth in specified areas. I am working on legislation that will encourage this kind of targeted development.

I continue my work and interest in the area of energy. Many of you saw the recent announcement that Dominion Virginia Power has targeted Charlottesville/Albemarle as its pilot market in Virginia for what is called the "Smart Grid." "Smart Grid" is a term that describes technology that will make the delivery of electricity more efficient and less costly, while improving customer service.

Charlottesville/Albemarle is the first such market in Virginia and among of the first in the nation. It is projected that when the project is fully implemented, energy usage will immediately decrease by 4 percent for the typical residential customer, thereby reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 12,000 tons annually, an amount equal to removing 2,100 cars from the road. Greater savings will likely follow as consumers begin to fully utilize the new system. The "Smart Grid" project will give consumers the opportunity to shift their electricity use to off-peak times in order to generate greater savings.

By the end of the year, Dominion will have installed 47,000 high-tech "Smart Meters" in the city and county as part of this pilot program. In addition to energy savings, "Smart Meters" have the ability to report power outages automatically, eliminating the need for individuals to call in problems and allowing Dominion to quickly pinpoint outage locations. This should speed restoration of power.

Dominion's actions are yet another example of how our society is beginning a transition in the generation, delivery and consumption of energy. And it demonstrates the important role utilities will play in developing an energy policy that builds on our technology, supports American security, and recognizes the link between energy usage and global warming. There is an increasing realization that we need to redevelop our national electric grid, and the "Smart Grid" program plays into this development. There are a number of us in the General Assembly who will continue to support bills to encourage utilities to invest in infrastructure designed to reward conservation rather than the building of expensive power plants that warm the planet by increasing emissions of CO2 into the atmosphere. In the last session, for example, we passed a bill that will allow the utilities to make money on conserving energy, the first time Virginia has ever done so. Prior to this bill, all incentives focused on rewarding utilities that built new power plants.

I am also running for re-election and have an opponent who has registered as an independent. I intend to run a serious campaign and need your support. If you want to help, please visit the website to sign up or email Sarah Buckley at sarahabuckley@gmail.com.

Please contact me with any other ideas about how we can move our state policy towards a post-petroleum future. Please remember to visit my website at www.davidtoscano.com and take my constituent survey so that I can receive your input on a number of issues that we will face in the upcoming session.

Please feel free to contact me at (434)220-1660 or at deldtoscano@house.virginia.gov.