FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Kendl Kobbervig, Communications Director
[email protected] | (608) 575-8798
Friday, October 17, 2025
[See photos from the event]
Senator Hashmi and lawmakers rally for lower energy bills at Richmond town hall
Legislators and candidates call for bold reforms to fix Virginia’s broken energy system
RICHMOND, Va. — Lawmakers, candidates, and advocates gathered in Richmond last night for the second stop of Clean Virginia’s “The Energy Bills Are Too Damn High!” town hall tour, spotlighting the political and corporate forces driving Virginia’s energy affordability crisis.
The event drew more than 100 attendees for a conversation on why Virginians face rising electric bills and what can be done to bring costs down.
Featured speakers included:
- Senator Ghazala Hashmi, Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor (SD15)
- Senator Schuyler VanValkenburg (SD16)
- Delegate Rae Cousins (HD79)
- House of Delegates candidate Kimberly Pope Adams (HD82)
- House of Delegates candidate Leslie Mehta (HD73)
- Hope Elliott, longtime community activist
“Virginians deserve a fair, affordable, and sustainable energy system,” said Senator Ghazala Hashmi, Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor. “Families across this commonwealth are struggling with high bills, and we cannot allow monopoly utilities and other powerful corporations to keep writing the rules in their own favor. It is time we put people, not profits, at the center of our energy policies.”
The Richmond town hall follows Wednesday’s kickoff event in Manassas and precedes stops in Fredericksburg (Oct. 21) and Blacksburg (Oct. 23). Each event highlights how unchecked utility monopolies, Big Tech’s growing energy demand, and outdated fossil fuel projects are driving up costs and pollution. The upcoming elections present a critical chance to change course.
“We are crossing the Commonwealth to tell the truth about why energy bills keep climbing,” said Brennan Gilmore, executive director of Clean Virginia. “When monopoly utilities and corporate donors control Virginia’s energy laws, customers pay the price. This tour is about giving Virginians the tools and power to demand a fairer system.”
For more information, visit www.toodamnhigh.org.
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Clean Virginia is a nonpartisan advocacy nonprofit with an affiliated political action committee, the Clean Virginia Fund. Clean Virginia works to end utility monopoly corruption in politics to promote clean, affordable energy and a government that works for all Virginians.