RICHMOND – As part of his effort to make Virginia the “energy capital of the East Coast,” Gov. Bob McDonnell issued his energy policy agenda for the 2012 General Assembly session on Thursday, including money to develop wind energy off the coast, a fund to begin converting the state’s fleet of vehicles to alternative fuels, and incentives for utilities to invest in renewable energy research.
“Only by aggressively developing all types of energy and removing bureaucratic hurdles to this development will we be able to meet our energy needs and reduce our nation’s dependence upon foreign sources of energy,” McDonnell said.
The governor has included $500,000 in his two-year budget proposal to help the state collect data on the federally designated “wind energy area” off the Virginia coast and make that information available to developers.
He is calling for the creation of an Alternative Vehicle Conversion Fund, which would be help pay for the cost difference between traditional fuel vehicles and alternative fuel vehicles or the conversion of vehicles in the existing fleet to alternative fuel. The money would come from a portion of federal dollars the state receives for congestion mitigation and air quality improvement.
Under another proposal, utilities would receive
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