As regulators consider a proposed NextEra and Dominion merger, a new poll shows growing anxiety among voters
Read moreSoaring electric bills, energy demand a top concern for Virginians
Credit: Embold Research
Amidst cuts, a rural diabetes clinic struggles to provide care
Federal cuts and policy changes have pushed more than 113,000 patients out of Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program in Virginia. The changes have cut reimbursements that sustain clinics in communities like Franklin, a city in the middle of Virginia's diabetes belt.
Read moreDominion ratepayers on the hook again as give turns into take
Ice from Winter Storm Fern clings to power lines in Tennessee on January 25, 2026. The storm brought extended subzero temperatures and ice to the Mid-Atlantic for more than a week, causing energy consumption to spike. Photo by Reuters Connect
Virginia’s largest utility is asking regulators to OK a long-term plan to recoup costs for high fuel prices. The new charges could wipe out a proposed customer rebate from a NextEra acquisition.
Read moreCrops and solar power? Virginia farms are ripe for the combo.
Onions planted near and under 42 solar panels at Piedmont Environmental Council’s Community Farm at Roundabout Meadows in Aldie, VA, are ready to harvest. The site is a pilot project by PEC to integrate solar energy and crop farming.
A new Virginia law encourages farmers to mix solar generation with crops and cattle. A rural pilot program shows promise.
Read moreCould a Dominion-NextEra marriage be bad news for rooftop solar?
A worker installs rooftop solar panels on a home in Northern Virginia. (Image via Shutterstock)
Both energy giants have a history of trying to make small, independent solar projects more costly for homeowners and businesses.
Read moreWill a new Virginia law boost energy storage?
A rendering of East Point Energy's proposed Mill Stone Energy Center in Chesapeake, Virginia. The company hopes to build an energy storage project that will connect to an existing transmission line near the Fentress Substation. Photo Courtesy East Point Energy
A proposed battery storage plant in Chesapeake meets the city’s requirements. Neighbors don’t see it that way.
Read moreVirginia Beach tech startup falls to earth
Former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced an expansion of DroneUp's headquarters on Newtown Road in Virginia Beach in 2022. It was expected to create more than 500 jobs. Photo by John-Henry Doucette // VCIJ
DroneUp, started by a Navy veteran, launched with high praise – and up to $6 million in incentives – from state and local leaders. But the commercial drone company has failed to rise to expectations.
Read moreWhat can consumers expect from the proposed Dominion deal?
Marshall, Michigan - The Cereal City Solar project, a 100 MW solar farm. It is a project of NextEra Energy Resources, a major developer of renewable energy
The planned acquisition of Dominion Energy by NextEra Energy brings together two multi-billion-dollar utilities. Here’s how they compare, and what consumers might see ahead.
Read moreDOGE cuts wiped out years of growth in Virginia’s federal civilian jobs
In February 2025, Goodyear announced that 850 workers would be laid off from their Danville, Virginia, plant. The layoffs here were part of a larger trend across the state as manufacturing took a down turn. Photo by Christopher Tyree//VCIJ
In most years, the Commonwealth has gained federal civilian workers. The Trump administration’s cuts took away more than 20,000 government jobs last year.
Read moreAfter DOGE, a life upended
Tanna Price helped governments around the world build their economies and root out corruption. News of USAID cuts reached her in Sri Lanka. Almost a year later, Price and thousands of other professionals like her look toward an uncertain future.
Read moreA Virginia farmer faces a tumultuous season, future
U.S. tariffs and immigration enforcement have challenged Virginia farmers as the harvest season ends. For one Virginia farmer growing soybeans and tobacco, the next season seems uncertain.
Read moreFor Virginia farmers, a bumper harvest amid growing uncertainty
Kenney Barnard, 75, oversees migrant workers at Hoot Owl Hollow Farm in Amelia Court House, Va. on August 4, 2025. Many of the seasonal employees, coming from Mexico on H-2A visas, have worked on Hoot Owl Farm for years.
President Donald Trump’s tariffs and aggressive immigration enforcement have shaken markets and migrant labor.
Read moreTrump policies threaten Virginia’s clean energy gains
Greg Meade, who directs TNC’s overarching Cumberland Forest Project, visits the Knott Hollow site in Dickenson County, Virginia, last December. TerraForm Power has the solar lease option, but the development timeline is uncertain because of permitting issues. Photo by Elizabeth McGowan // VCIJ
The state’s milestone Clean Economy Act spurred impressive growth in renewable power. Now, that future is at risk.
Read moreIn Virginia’s coalfields, renewable projects hit a new roadblock – Trump
The Nature Conservancy is partnering with Charlottesville-based TerraForm Power to build a 10-megawatt solar array on a reclaimed surface mine near Pound in Wise County, Va. Wildcats Solar, scheduled to go online within two years, would be the first solar project to rise on TNC’s 253,000-acre, tri-state Cumberland Forest Project.
Renewable energy developers planned dozens of projects on property owned by The Nature Conservancy. Then President Donald Trump signed H.R. 1, upending an unprecedented effort to revitalize Appalachia.
Read moreCan this tiny Appalachian town be a blueprint for the region’s rebirth?
All-terrain-vehicle trail enthusiasts line up outside a popular restaurant and a renovated boutique hotel St. Paul on an afternoon in late February. Turning trails and the once-neglected Clinch River into centerpieces has allowed this small town near the Wise-Russell County border to shine as a hub for eco-tourism.
St. Paul , Virginia– a hamlet of 830 people in coal country - remade itself into a bustling spot for ecotourism and off-road trails.
Read moreBig bet: Can a $130M conservation deal in Virginia’s coal country curb climate change and lift Appalachia?
Contracted workers from Williams Forestry & Associates plant tiny hardwood trees in late March atop a former coal mine in Russell County, part of The Nature Conservancy’s Cumberland Forest Project. It marked TNC’s first forest restoration effort in Virginia, part of a tri-state conservation initiative that began more than five years ago.
Big bet: Can a $130M conservation deal in Virginia’s coal country curb climate change and lift Appalachia?
The Nature Conservancy is halfway through its ambitious 10-year plan to preserve 253,000 acres and boost local economies across three Appalachian states. Backed by a loan from Virginia and private investors, it’s faced challenges and critics. The experiment could be the future of large-scale conservation – or not.
Read moreVirginia’s international trade already disrupted by U.S. trade war
Photo by Mariusz Bugno via Shutterstock. Shipping containers at the Port of Virginia in 2021.
During the first three months of President Donald Trump’s administration, exports took their biggest first-quarter dip in at least a decade, while imports rose in anticipation of tariffs. Virginia’s trade deficit grew by about $2 billion.
Read moreVirginia renters make modest gains from lawmakers in the General Assembly
Friendship Court, a low-income housing development in Charlottesville, Virginia. File Photo.
As rental housing costs continue to rise, Virginia lawmakers passed a few modest measures this year to reduce fees, offer tenants more protections and boost housing for Navy sailors. More ambitious proposals, including potential rent controls, failed to win broad approval.
Read moreDollar Tree, a Virginia corporate success, faces new pressures over its history of violations
Federal and state records show that Dollar Tree has a higher percentage of safety inspections that flag violations than retailers of similar size.
OSHA has issued $22.7 million in penalties to Dollar Tree from federal inspections between 2017 and April 2024.
Read moreIn Norfolk, broken neighborhoods and broken trust
Zenobia Wilson stands outside of her apartment in Norfolk, Virginia. Her life has been disrupted by plans to reconnect her old, isolated community with the city. Photo by Christopher Tyree. // VCIJ
A $1.6 million federal grant could unscramble the I-264 ramps in downtown Norfolk. But would it reopen an isolated, Black community?
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