Spanberger unveils new plan to lower Virginians’ energy costs

The Democratic nominee for governor rolled out yet another plan aimed at making the cost of living more affordable in Virginia.

When it comes to letting voters know what her priorities are, Democratic nominee for governor Abigail Spanberger is doing her best to cut out any uncertainty. 

First, she introduced a health care affordability plan in May, followed by a housing affordability platform last week. Then on Monday, Spanberger rolled out a plan to lower energy costs in Virginia. 

A Spanberger spokesperson said in an email statement to Dogwood that Spanberger has heard from people across Virginia who are feeling squeezed by high costs.

“Abigail believes that Virginia’s next Governor should be laser-focused on making the Commonwealth more affordable for every family — particularly as the chaos coming out of Washington threatens to drive up prices,” the spokesperson said.

Spanberger’s energy affordability plan identified six approaches to helping make energy more affordable in Virginia to help grow the economy and meet rising demand for energy. 

The approaches include making Virginia more energy independent by increasing local generation; making sure data centers are paying their fair share and not driving up energy costs; increasing energy efficiency measures like home weatherization; making better use of existing energy resources; working with other states to help speed up new energy projects; and letting Virginians know about existing resources available to help them lower their energy bills. 

“At a time when the federal government is trying to raise Virginians’ energy costs — including by slashing LIHEAP funding and cutting wind and solar tax credits that help us build affordable energy right now — and threatening local jobs, we need a governor who will make energy more affordable for Virginia consumers,” Spanberger said in a press release. 

LIHEAP refers to the multibillion-dollar federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program that helps people meet their heating and cooling needs. The Trump administration has fired all of LIHEAP’s staff and proposed eliminating funding for the program, but a bipartisan bill has been introduced in Congress to protect LIHEAP. 

Spanberger announced her energy plan at an event in Norfolk near the home of Gwendolyn Bailey, who recently weatherized her home to make it more energy efficient. 

“I, like so many other Virginians, know what it’s like to be faced with an energy bill each month that’s more than you can afford. And a bill that seems like it’s always going up,” Bailey said in the release. “Abigail Spanberger has a plan to make sure more Virginians don’t just know about the energy-efficient measures available to them, but know how to use them and bring down their costs, just like I was able to.” 

The Republican nominee for governor, Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, did not respond to a request for comment. 

Story updated at 2:50pm ET on June 10, 2025 to include spokesperson statement.