Gov. Glenn Youngkin is highlighting Virginia’s debate on the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. He portrays his decision to leave the group as a move to promote affordability. Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger has stated her intention to rejoin.

Virginia joined RGGI in 2020, a program aimed at capping and reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, under the former Governor. Ralph Northam. Youngkin, who took office in 2022 and cited rising utility costs to ratepayers as the reason for pulling the Commonwealth from the initiative, pulled the commonwealth out of the initiative.

Spanberger reintroduced the RGGI into the political discourse of the state when she announced that she would rejoin the initiative in the 2025 election campaign. Youngkin, however, is not going down easily. She has reframed the issue of the ratepayer costs as a matter of affordability. This was the key word in Spanberger’s campaign which helped her win the November election by more than 15 points.

Youngkin posted on X Monday that returning to RGGI was bad for Virginia’s affordability. He also included a graphic titled “Annual Costs for Virginia Residents and Businesses.”

Virginians no longer pay the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative tax (RGGI), which has saved Virginians almost a billion dollars in their electricity bill during the past two years. Virginians have paid $828,000,000 in a regressive tax on their electricity bills from the time Virginia entered RGGI 2020 to when we left. We’ve saved Virginians over $937 million by getting us out from RGGI,” Youngkin said.

Youngkin’s government is appealing a state court’s decision that he can’t withdraw from RGGI without the Virginia legislature’s consent. Spanberger discussed her thoughts on the program during an Interview for the Virginia Scope.

“As Virginia is experiencing some devastation, we must recognize that if we join RGGI in the future, not only will we be able to reduce our state’s emission and meet some clean energy targets, which are incredibly valuable, but we can also use these revenues to invest in our community,” Spanberger told the outlet.

In Pennsylvania, Republican legislators have just received their wish to leave the RGGI.

In order to resolve the 4 1/2 month impasse in Pennsylvania over its state budget the Keystone State Democrats have agreed to withdraw their support from the RGGI. This is to appease the Republican legislators who are concerned that the initiative will hinder the state’s gas programs.