At the February 12 (regular) meeting of the Northumberland County Board of Supervisors, Supervisor Jim Long told County Administrator Luttrell Tadlock that he would like representatives from Dominion Energy and Northern Neck Electric Cooperative to attend the next meeting and explain why so many electric bills were so much higher than bills in 2025. Long reported that a number of citizens called him to complain. There was no discussion amongst the supes nor was a decision made to add this to the March 12 agenda. (Listen to Mr. Long’s two comments, first and second).
On February 15, I emailed Jim Long and James Brann, BOS chair, suggesting a more productive approach would be to hold a community meeting on a weekend and not as part of the regular supes meeting. The email is in the next section.
On February 25, someone posted anonymously (why?!!!) on Facebook an invitation from Supervisor Jim Long to discuss electric rates and bills at the Thursday, March 12 regular meeting of the Northumberland County Board of Supervisors. The notice is to the right. However, BOS chair Brann says that there will not be a presentation or discussion about higher-than-expected electric bills at the regular meeting.
What’s next is really anyone’s guess. I stand by my suggestions, having dealt with similarly frustrating and opaque issues in my career as a policy and budget wonk and advocte. If you think a comprehensive meeting is required, contact your supervisor; contact information is on the county website.
Cambria email to supes Long and Brann
Good afternoon.
I wanted to touch base regarding Mr. Long’s request that Dominion and NNEC appear at the next meeting of the Board of Supervisors.
I know that people have questions about their bills during the recent cold snap and agree that a public meeting would be beneficial. However, I would suggest that rather than having reps attend the next supes meeting, the county should organize a public meeting where Dominion, NNEC, and an energy expert (more on this later) each make short presentations and then take questions from the audience.
WHY this approach: This is not a county issue to resolve though the county could direct funding to DSS to help with electric bills. The most the county can really do is to be informed, inform stakeholders (residents, biz owners, etc.), and connect the most in need to services and supports. Such a public meeting would accomplish what a presentation at the supes meeting will not: It will present a range of info (more on this later) from the players in the energy sector and allow for questions from the public. And, if you invite service providers to table, people may end up being connected to energy and other programs/services/supports.
Proposed speakers:
* SCC’s Division of Public Utility Regulation (https://www.scc.virginia.gov/regulated-industries/utility-regulation/)
* Rep from Dominion
* Rep from NNEC
* Virginia energy expert (along the lines of legislative committee staffer, think tank person, etc.)
* Event facilitator who will keep the panel and Q&A moving along. You need someone highly skilled to do this.
I would suggest using the invitation, promotion, and RSVP process to share and gather information. Re: sharing, in no particular order:
* Map of Electric Service Territories (PDF) (State Corporation Commission)
* Mechanism to file a complaint with the State Corporation Commission
* An article or two (and/or video) about electricity bills during the recent storm
* A one-page fact sheet about electricity costs during cold months (some organization has to have done this)
* Explainers produced by Dominion/NNEC and any info the other panelists want to share
On the collection side, you can ask that people RSVP online (I understand most people will not) and collection questions and information in advance so you can report at the beginning of the meeting.
For registration, collect:
* Name
* Address
* What they are (FT resident, PT resident, biz owner, other, etc.)
* What questions they have for the panelists
Separate from registration is anonymous data collection where you ask people to report on residential property bill info: 2025 and 2026 bill amounts for same period, any significant changes in use (elderly parent moved in and temp increased), etc.
You can choose to stream the event and/or record it. If you stream, the easiest thing is to only take questions from the people at the physical event and questions submitted when registering.
I would suggest you have tabling opps for social/human service organizations such as DSS (Northumberland and Lancaster County offices, maybe Richmond County if you think people living there will attend), The Link, Bay Aging, and other appropriate nonprofits. Orgs should table before and after the program.
In the meantime, sharing some info I found interesting, again in no order:
* https://time.com/7355839/why-are-electricity-prices-high-2026/
* https://fortune.com/2026/02/10/american-electric-bills-skyrocketing-extreme-weather-data-centers-inflation/
* Image [above] https://www.reddit.com/r/Virginia/comments/1r1dpon/dominion_energy_billing_bitter_cold_but_new_fee/ - rate changes