FXBG ADVANCE THURSDAY 7/16/26 NEWSLETTER
Energy Costs Going Up in More Ways than One. The Great Replacement: How Potomac Creek Connects to the World. ‘Relegated’ Ought to Be Promoted to a Higher League.
Energy Costs Going Up in More Ways Than One
By Hank Silverberg, ADVANCE CORRESPONDENT
Many people are already struggling to meet the cost of energy with the rising price of gasoline at the pump. Now, with a July spike in electricity costs, and a home gas price hike on the horizon, local residents could soon be spending as much as $288.36 more a year to service their home.
That’s if the Virginia State Corporation Commission approves a rate hike request from Columbia Gas, as expected—right on the heels of the Dominion Power rate increase that took effect July 1.
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The Great Replacement: How Potomac Creek Connects to the World
By Ranjit Singh, ADVANCE ENVIRONMENTAL COLUMNIST
Japanese stiltgrass is everywhere.
This easily overlooked grass is emblematic of Potomac Creek’s intimacy with the rest of the world—an intimacy so quiet and obvious it hides in plain sight. For all our hopes, brainpower, and planning, the story of stiltgrass underscores that we haven’t the faintest idea what the creek will be like in a hundred years.
A pretty plant with silver-striped lanceolate leaves, stiltgrass is found where paths are worn in the forest surrounding the Creek, or where the ground has been disturbed by deer or scouring floods.
And it may be the most damaging invasive plant species in the country—outcompeting forest floor rivals in shady, humid areas, spreading to create thickly-matted, pasture-like areas that block the natural development of an understory, causing significant damage to plant diversity and wildlife habitat.
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Author Todd Smith’s ‘Relegated’ Ought to be Promoted to the Premier League
By Penny A. Parrish, ADVANCE CONTRIBUTOR
You need to know the subtitle of this book before I go any further: “One American’s Pints-and-Pies Journey from the Top to the Bottom of English Football.” In other words, a book about what we in the U.S. call soccer. Which I have never been interested in. Until this book coincided with the FIFA World Cup.
I watched a match on an airplane recently and fell asleep. To me, soccer has always seemed boring, with people running up and down a field with very little scoring—in any. Rules went over my head (and still do). But thanks to Todd Smith, I now understand the passion shown by fans around the world.
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New News from Around the State
VaNews/VIRGINIA PUBLIC ACCESS PROJECT
Four 1st District Democratic candidates ask state party to reaffirm neutrality after DCCC backs Shannon Taylor
By MARKUS SCHMIDT, Virginia Mercury
Virginia Democrats seeking to unseat U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Westmoreland, are publicly challenging what several campaigns say is an improper show of support from the party establishment for one of their rivals before primary voters have even chosen a nominee. In a letter sent Wednesday, four of the seven Democrats running in Virginia’s 1st Congressional District have asked Democratic Party of Virginia Chair Lamont Bagby to publicly reaffirm the party’s neutrality, after the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee promoted Shannon Taylor while early voting was underway. They argue the move could undermine confidence in the primary process.
Judge dismisses DOJ’s lawsuit seeking Va.’s voter rolls
By EMILY LEAYMAN, Alx Now
A U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit seeking Virginia to hand over its voter rolls to the federal government has been tossed out by a federal judge. The ruling yesterday (Tuesday) came from Judge Roderick Young, who President Donald Trump nominated in 2020 at the recommendation of Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner. The ruling found that the Civil Rights Act does not require Virginia to provide the federal government with unredacted voter rolls. Attorney General Jay Jones said the Trump administration’s demand for Virginia’s voter data had “no basis in law.”
Dominion, NextEra file for approval of merger
By DAVE RESS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Subscription Required)
Virginia’s 180-day formal review of Dominion Energy’s proposed merger into Florida-based NextEra Energy, creating the world’s biggest electric utility company, kicked off Wednesday. Over that time, the State Corporation Commission will be poring over 1,000 pages of data and analysis detailing what the transaction could mean for Virginians’ electric service, in terms of what it costs and how reliable it is, and Virginians with stakes in the result, from rate-payers to environmental groups to business interests, will weigh in with their views on whether the deal should go ahead, be changed or be rejected.
Power crunch keeps data centers in the dark
By PETER CARY, Prince William Times
For years, the number of data centers asking for connection dates from Dominion Energy had been a secret. But there were hints of trouble. In 2022, Dominion said its overworked transmission lines could not handle new arrivals to Virginia’s Data Center Alley and there would be a four-year delay for full power. In 2024, the utility extended the delay to seven years. A year ago, the company — whose entire load for all customers peaks at about 25 gigawatts — said 40 gigawatts worth of data centers were waiting for hookup. It was clear Dominion could not handle that load, but, again, details were unavailable. Now a State Corporation Commission hearing has parted the curtain. What it revealed surprised and infuriated the one dozen data center companies, citizens, and environmental groups that participated ...
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Articles from newspapers throughout the Commonwealth and Washington D.C. Firewalls will block you from reading some, but you’ll at least have some idea about what’s going on from the headlines and summaries. CLICK HERE.
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