Delegate Wilk warns Virginia Clean Economy Act mandates risk affordability and reliability

Delegate Wilk used a point of personal privilege on the floor to deliver an extended critique of this year’s energy policy outcomes, focusing on costs and system reliability.

Wilk told colleagues that although members on both sides say they support an "all-of-the-above" energy strategy, the session has produced no meaningful reform to lower electric bills or address reliability. "We cannot substitute storage for generation," Wilk said, arguing batteries have limits during peak winter demand when dispatchable sources are already operating and wind and solar output is low. He urged that natural gas remain part of the generation mix "for this foreseeable future."

Wilk said he filed legislation to pause escalating mandates in the Virginia Clean Economy Act and to plan grid development more thoughtfully and cost-consciously; he said other proposals to create consumer protections or reliability relief did not receive hearings. "If we stay on this path, rates will continue to rise, and the risk of regular brownouts and blackouts will grow," he said. He described the statute’s current implementation as "taking on water" and said the House should focus on affordability and reliability, not only on mandates.

The floor transcript records these remarks as floor debate delivered under a personal-privilege point; there was no immediate motion, amendment, or recorded vote tied to Wilk’s remarks in the morning hour.