foreign
okay
um I think we're we have a quorum so
we're gonna go ahead and get started
welcome everybody
a couple of housekeeping items this is a
new
location a little different audio so so
that everyone can hear us on the WebEx
in the room if you're talking questions
comments all the things please grab one
of the microphones and make sure you've
got the green light once you're done
speaking hit the button again so we
don't have a bunch of feedback on the
virtual okay
um so we'll go ahead and um we'll we'll
do introductions I do want to uh kick
off with a just short safety message
um I always use this one around this
time of year with Thanksgiving next week
um
there are a number of things you should
think of I just want to highlight too
when you're um cooking your Thanksgiving
turkey one is to make sure you are
bringing the internal temperature to the
proper uh
degrees uh depending on the part of the
turkey it's anywhere between 165 and
180 degrees
Fahrenheit that is so make sure you're
checking that so that you're not um
making any of your guests ill the other
thing
for those who deep fry their turkeys
recommendation make sure you're well
away from your house and don't do it
inside uh if you ever go to YouTube and
Just Google deep red turkey incidents
half of them are people doing it inside
for some reason in some sort of
contraption not meant to be inside or
the other is they're doing it on their
deck which they think is a great idea
except for they don't realize they're
under an overhang of uh their house so
many house fires have been started so
just as you're getting ready for
Thanksgiving celebrating the holiday
make sure you're being safe
so with that why don't we go around the
room uh quickly and we'll do
introductions and then we'll make sure
we know who everybody who is is on on
the WebEx so
um if we can Tim do you mind passing the
mic to Jeff and we'll start there
sorry about that uh Jeff Fox University
of Virginia
I'm John Capps Virginia's community
colleges
Tim Stellar the Virginia Economic
Development partnership
Dan snoder Chief nuclear officer for
Dominion Energy
Larry Corky Virginia Department of
energy
and Gene greycheck representing the
American nuclear Society
Tom deponty with framitom
April wave pertaining nuclear energy
Consortium
Eric Lansing Attorney General's office
Scott Coppell bwxt
Ken ball George Mason University
David Essa of the Virginia state
Corporation Commission
great and um so let's go to the virtual
um Andrew do you want to lead us off yep
Andrew Hutton I'm a Jefferson lab
uh Gary is that you yep uh Gary Tepper
uh VCU
and Michael
hey everybody Michael Lemke with
Huntington Ingalls
Randy who else do we have I can't
oh yeah well do you want to introduce
yourself sure will paying cultural
strategies here representing the energy
Delta lab great and do we have will
clear as well
yes I'm here uh will clear uh with the
Virginia Department of energy
thank you I think that's everybody from
either speaking or on the commission is
that correct Brady
oh yeah sorry let's go back room
I'll just jump in Randy Heflin from
Virginia Tech
oh thanks Randy sorry I missed you there
I'll jump in as well Arlen ballisted
from the state Corporation Commission
I'm sorry I can't make my video work
properly this morning so uh apologize
for that
commission also
anybody else on the on the WebEx that we
missed
okay we'll go around the back of the
room
namuin with the Virginia Department of
energy
Brian Welsh with the Virginia Department
of energy
Brandy Frazier best pitch with Virginia
Department of energy
Eric Shepard mobita LLC Corporation
my cat filled with Wise County
Jonathan Thompson recore
arvind Patel Doris Telesis
okay thanks everybody
um
so the first part of our we've got a
full agenda so I'm going to jump right
in will
um clear as going to
I think well we don't have skip with us
is that correct
I don't think so I haven't located him
this morning so he must have got pulled
off into something else so we'll be fine
no problem okay we're gonna get an
overview of the Virginia energy plan
will I will turn it over to you
sure I can I share my screen
I have a presentation
um that I can go through is that
possible
all right is everyone saying this
yes okay
all right so good morning it's uh great
to be with you this morning and um uh
from Southwest Virginia I'm actually
heading your way I've got a couple of
meetings but uh uh unfortunately I had
something this morning I couldn't get
out of and couldn't join you in person I
know we've got a lot of my colleagues
there uh in the room but uh really good
um good to good to be here uh to present
to this group and it's a very exciting
time uh for the agency and really the
Commonwealth
um on energy
um you know and and the folks in the
room will tell you uh this this was a
um it was a tough process uh to get to
where we are today on the energy plan
because as you know energy change is so
dynamically
um and getting everybody uh comfortable
and on the same page can be very very
problematic uh but but we're very proud
of where we are today because I think we
have
uh a great plan for the Commonwealth a
plan that is adaptable a plan that can
uh change uh as Innovation changes
um and as you all know uh energy changes
like I said so dynamically uh the plan
has to be able to do that
um and we're very happy with what we've
got
so to dive into the plan
um let me give you a little bit I know
everybody in the room is familiar with
Virginia energy so I won't spend too
much time on it but
you know
um you know we also regulate mining
um in the state as well as we have the
the state geologic survey so we cover a
lot of ground literally and figuratively
because we're still we're scattered
throughout the Commonwealth you know the
folks in the room uh are actually in our
Richmond office but we have two other
offices across the state and we have the
the largest amount of our employees are
actually in Southwest Virginia that's
why I office out of here uh because we
have such a large slate of employees and
activities and the biggest portion of
our budget is actually in Southwest
Virginia and that's that's important for
a lot of reasons
um that we'll talk about later and
certainly with the Delta lab when will
and I uh cover that here uh very shortly
um you know our budget has grown uh uh a
lot over the last couple of years uh
with some new federal money a lot of
federal funds uh that were were passing
through the organization uh but this
year we we are our budget will almost be
80 million dollars which
um is about a uh probably about a 50
million dollar increase or over what
we've had over the last couple of years
so pretty substantial increase
um the state energy office as you guys
know and we'll spend too much time on
this except to tell you that the state
energy office which is what's in
Richmond the folks with Nam and Brandi
and and Larry's in a little bit of
between are there but
um
we're in transition
um you know if you look at the energy
plan uh the governor uh has laid out a
lot of things that he wants from the
energy office and we're we're gonna
um add a lot of resources over the next
couple of years to be able to meet the
needs of the energy plan uh the
expertise that's going to be necessary
to do the things that we need to do to
ensure success when it comes to the
energy plan
so diving into the energy plan itself if
you've had a chance to read it you'll
really notice that we we really hone in
on five guiding principles
um and we'll talk about each one of them
but reliability affordability Innovation
competition and environmental
stewardship
um you know the plan is required uh by
Virginia code and Virginia energy really
acts as a technical advisor to the
administration effectively we're
supposed to do this every four years
um as a new Administration comes in but
with this particular plan what we've
really
um sort of figured out is that the
Virginia energy plan needs to be a
living document as I said energy is
always changing
um we don't think doing it every four
years makes a lot of sense we think it's
got to be something that's continually
updated
um
during the process of that energy plan
which really started I mean our guys
will tell you in the room they started
probably in January and February of this
year uh but we started having
stakeholder engagements uh in May uh in
June there were thousands of meetings
that were had
um about uh with the stakeholders about
the plan we got a lot of of input good
input obviously uh we we need that input
to uh um to develop a a great plan uh
but we we we did a I think we did a
really good job at getting that input
but the one thing that I want to say is
we're going to continue to take that
input as I said this is going to be a
living document and we want to hear from
from you know pick the people in the
room people outside of that room uh on
the nuclear side
um you know there's a lot that we can
learn uh to help
um uh spur uh the growth that's going to
be necessary to meet where we want to be
on the nuclear side so we really
appreciate April was was invaluable
um in helping us
um on this plan and we're going to need
that input as we move forward
so moving into reliability you know the
way the way this light is set up is kind
of where we where we were coming from in
the Commonwealth and where we really
want to go where the recommendations
want to take us if you look at the the
middle of the slide you can see nuclear
and natural gas are kind of the
workforce in Virginia or the the
Workhorse rather in Virginia from a uh a
base load perspective
um what where we're coming from with the
clean economy act required uh fossil
fuel retirements
um allowed for are made in the public
interest solar and wind
um
Investments uh did not consider what we
what we think is important energy
innovation in other words allowing for
that that
um I guess institution of new technology
um and with solar and wind obviously
Battery Technology is is is technically
technologically feasible but if we
integrate uh over 16 000 megawatts of
solar and wind what does that really do
uh with intermittent sources to our
reliability and and again with battery
it it will work but
does that make sense from a foreign
affordability perspective and so we
think that there needs to be more
evaluation as we move forward to ensure
that reliability is maintained right
um so how do we how do we do that from a
recommendation standpoint we want to
reevaluate the plan every five years
um we want to restore discretion back to
the state Corporation Commission with
these public interest designations uh
that we have today we feel like it's
important that we restore that state
Corporation Commission discretion to
ensure you know reliability is not
affected
um you know we also know that then this
is not something that's just for genius
problem but there needs to be expedited
approval for critical infrastructure
projects as we move forward holding up
some of these projects are can be really
painful not only for
um you know the businesses not only for
the utilities uh but also the rate
payers so there's some work that we've
got to do in that area and we feel like
we got to be better at
um forecasting uh collaboration between
the utilities and the customers the
states in a in a good position to really
understand where we are we're going
economically
um and and maybe in the past we haven't
been
um you know that that you know that that
collaborator in the room to pull people
together to make sure that
um that that we do a better job
forecasting because we believe that
we're on the precipice of a lot of
growth particularly on the energy side
and
um we're very excited about that but we
think we got to be a better uh you know
um I guess Catalyst for that
collaboration that's going on you know
with between the utility and the
marketplace and so they're planning and
forecasting is better
so movement of affordability what we saw
in a with affordability is very simple
We Believe electricity rates not you
know not just in Virginia but even
across the United States
uh the growth and and cost has has
outgrown
um inflation so what this does it puts
all of our families and all of our
businesses in Virginia at a risk of of
Never Getting ahead in fact falling
further and further behind so we believe
affordability any energy plan you know
affordability has to be you know one of
the five uh guiding principles so when
we develop a plan or the plan that we
put together affordability has to have a
seat at the table
um and as I said it's it's it we believe
it's been a problem so what are we going
to do about that uh we really want to
get back to the the full regulated
Monopoly approach with the state
Corporation Commission having Authority
um to regulate
um
we we we also want to you know do some
some more research on this and we this
is one of the things I was talking about
well we're gonna change up or we're
gonna add additional
um additional resources within Virginia
energy well we can do more study uh
about the reforms that are necessary to
ensure affordability across the
Commonwealth I mean the affordability
will affect our ability to compete in
the marketplace and we've got to ensure
um that that we don't impact that
so Innovation I'm not going to spend too
much time on the slide I'm not going to
steal Will's Thunder and I'm going to be
a little participating in that in that
presentation as well
but we believe that Virginia can't be an
energy uh Innovation op-ed
um we think that we're we're set up for
that obviously with with the governor's
um as we call it the moon shot on the
SMR in Southwest Virginia we've set this
you know he set the stage
um to make that happen uh we think we
can innovate and Virginia around that
he's put the money in there uh to uh
actually make that a reality uh it's
going to be in his budget for this next
uh General Assembly cycle
and you know the Delta lab is set up to
do that but like I said I'm gonna I'm
gonna wait until later uh to talk more
about that but we think particularly
Southwest Virginia and the reason the
governor made this uh announcement about
Southwest Virginia is we've been working
really really really hard uh for the
last four years to make Southwest
Virginia
um a a place where we can do this these
types of things these types of
innovative deployments and so we're
we're ready for this and again we'll
talk about that more in a minute
competition
um
competition isn't an interesting tenet
that we had a lot of discussion about as
we move forward for this plan
We Believe clean energy can be extremely
attractive uh from an economic
development perspective
um you know we believe that you know if
someone wants access to uh Renewables or
clean energy they should have access to
that so uh we we realize that this is
where a lot of folks get and I I'm a
utility guy I get it I understand the
whole idea of cost shifting so
um so we understand that we got to tread
lightly around this topic but we do
believe that competition can be
extremely helpful as we innovate
um in Virginia so we think it's an
important principle of the energy plan
environmental stewardship and again
um you know clearly
um and I think the governor said it best
I mean all Virginians should want clean
energy uh we should all work toward uh
clean energy goals
um and and we've done a great job I mean
we should Pat ourselves on the back
we've got a lot of work to do here but
we've made significant reduction in
inductions in carbon emissions over the
last several years well with with the
the growth of natural gas and with that
growth of natural gas we've made
ourselves Our Generation we made
ourselves more independent
um so we we've done
um we've come a long way we've got a
long way to go right but but we should
recognize where we are and be realistic
um you know all energy no matter what it
is all energy generation
uh has an environmental downside
um you know there's supply chain issues
um there's a long-term environmental
issues
um so you you we've got to be honest and
we've got to measure each one of those
against each other with the other four
principles
um to ensure a balance uh as we move
forward in the Commonwealth and that's
really what this is about you know
environmental stewardship you know with
about balancing all these and we think
we can have it all we think we can
um but Innovation is critical in that
you know Innovation is going to be very
critical
so next steps
um we are we are working really really
hard the guys in the room can tell you
that
um on additional data that's going to
come out with a report
um we'll continue to analyze as I said
we're going to be
um looking at additional resources maybe
looking at some Consultants to help us
continue to analyze this make sure that
we are
advising you know the administration on
you know really the the best course of
action as we move forward
um obviously there'll be legislative
proposals that come out of the energy
plan
um and we're really just looking to
eliminate as many obstacles
um as as we can as we move forward
um that's really what we think the
Virginia energy uh should be should be
doing again getting people in the room
being a collaborator uh working as much
as we can with all the parties to ensure
uh that we can move this forward this
this is going to be critical because we
got a lot as I said we got a long way to
go
um to get to what we call success
um
so that that's really the the the
presentation that I have this morning
um is there I guess I can open it up for
questions
okay thanks well yeah um does anybody
have an initial question off the bat
Scott
well thanks for the presentation Scott
here with bwxt I'm just curious I like
the idea of a living breathing document
what's the plan for that in terms of
updating will it be on an annual basis
semi-annual are you going to go is there
a process involved no I don't mean the
internal putting the document together
and updating but in terms of how you'll
actually go about that
um so it's not something that's just
sitting on a shelf which is I think what
you all are are pushing against which is
great so
that's a great question and we're
working on that as we speak I mean
legislatively obviously there's a
statute and what you know what statute
requires and what we do and what what
we're going to do in addition to to the
statute
um but we we believe that when we get we
we release all of our supplemental
information you're going to see
um how we compartmentalize this and so
we we sort of visualize this as taking
certain pieces as as the you know the
ecosystem changes and the updated over
time and again that's why we we really
need that that stakeholder feedback
um you know we I mean now I'm and the
folks in the room will tell you I mean
we we we don't have
um a ton of resources right now so we
rely on you guys I mean if there's
something that comes out on the nuclear
side that we really need to look at a
revision
um so we we would we would certainly
welcome you know anything that that you
guys want to tell us and then we might
tweak uh we might tweak that section so
we don't necessarily have a plan uh we
think annually makes a lot of sense
um but but but again why why deadline
right I mean if if there's something
that changes and we need to make a shift
we need to do it uh as quickly as we
possibly can
well just just real quick I think it's a
great idea to treat it as a living
document rather than revisit uh
periodically
um but I do think there's going to be a
need to think about how we tie that
living update if you will the between
the statutorily required updates into
the legislative process and into the
budget process in particular so can you
give us some idea of how you have
thought about making sure those marry up
well I mean what you've got to
understand about Virginia energy is we
um you know we we advise the governor uh
and and again we're going to leave the
policy up up up to the administration
and how they marry the two I mean
clearly this is the governor's energy
plan this is his administration's energy
plan
um and it really goes in line with where
the governor is on on virtually
everything right it's a common sense
approach
um to to energy as it is on most of the
the main tenants in his platform uh but
as far as the the legislation and
marrying that all up together I mean
that that's going to really come out of
the administration
so this is Android just had a simple
question
you mentioned the absolute value of the
rates increase under sort of
affordability
well you actually mentioned the increase
how does the absolute value compare in
Virginia compared to America
well we think that Virginia has
accelerated
um the numbers if you look at the eia
um and you break out the eia data we
think that Virginia has actually
exceeded the national average
um but what what you see in it
um in you know we Virginia was at a very
low rate
um for years and I mean so you know
kudos to the utilities that have kept
that kept it really really low but given
all the changes and the things that
we've had to do in Virginia what we have
seen is is that we've accelerated uh
above the national average
it
thank you
hey well just uh one quick question good
presentation
um
are these slides available
uh let me check with our folks I think
they are but but uh let me double check
that yeah that'd be great thank you
I know
um a lot of the data that was presented
in Will's slides is taken directly from
the from the energy plan as well which
that's on the governor's I think the
links on the governor's web I forget I
it's on the Virginia Energy website too
so you can find a lot of that data there
um well in in terms of
process and updates I think at least for
the nuclear
um piece I know there's good connection
with um with the v-neck board in in
April I guess I would also recommend and
we can continue to to revisit this here
at v-necka
um obviously our quarterly meetings are
going to be a good
um
a good place to kind of bet some of the
updates and and provide some of that
feedback back to Virginia energy I know
we've had discussions with
um
with Chelsea Jenkins in the in the
governor's office as well is about
having potentially someone from their
office
um be present in our meetings as well so
as you're looking at this as a living
document and and multiple iterations not
just a specific timeline for updates uh
I think our recommendation would be we
use our
um Forum here to help you know funnel
some of that information to you at least
as as the full the full group and not
individual organizations if that works
yeah we we certainly appreciate that uh
we think this is a great organization
and as you know I mean Brandy we've got
a lot of folks there today
um that that spend a lot of time with
you guys so uh we definitely want to use
that as a conduit for information
well just another more of um
I guess I'll call more of an
administrative question on one of your
earlier slides you mentioned that I
think it was 70 plus percent of your
money comes from federal funding for
Virginia energy I'm curious and I'll say
use the term we are we competing with
other states with you know their energy
departments for those funds
I'm just curious how that flows in terms
of
you know obviously we're all in this
room because we care about the state and
you know moving forward
um I'm just curious
that's a very good question uh every bit
of that money that I've listed on that
slide which I think was 77 million um
the amount of federal money in there all
of that with with a very very small
exception is
um all based on formula grants
so they're we're not competing for a lot
of that money the great news though when
you saw it in the energy plan is that we
have the opportunity in the Commonwealth
to compete for a lot more money
um and we we we're taking it really
seriously
um you know we're we're ramping up
uh to do that uh we love to partner on
stuff so if there's anybody in the room
there that's looking at a potential
offering
um we can we can bring a lot of value to
that to uh to an application so on the
competitive stuff you know we're really
looking forward to uh looking at you
know additional monies there but every
bit of money on that slide was formula
based and
um you know will come to us you know
based on a formula a predetermined
formula
okay any other questions
okay well well thank you um for the
presentation I think I would just point
out
um
and this is really thanks to Virginia
energy it's thank you to to April for a
lot of the leadership here but as some
that were on the authority four years
ago when we were going through this
process and the discussion was quite a
bit different about the response to the
previous energy plan so
um The prominent place of of nuclear the
realization both I think in the in the
Commonwealth but also at the federal
level the importance of the of the
resources really we've come a long way
so um thanks everybody for the the work
they've put in thank you to the Virginia
energy staff I know that was a it was a
lot of work um putting this together
so Will's going to stay with us we're
going to be also joined by Will Payne
and I'll turn it over to you guys for a
presentation on the energy Delta lab
thanks Mr chairman uh and thanks to the
team there to uh Brandi for for uh
giving us an opportunity to to be here
with you today uh like will I'm I'm
zooming in from uh Bristol
um my name is uh will Payne uh with uh
coalfield strategies uh we I came from
Richmond three years ago
uh
at the request of some of our
legislators here to
um jump start or maybe kick in the tail
uh Economic Development a bit here is
obviously is is anyone who's worked in
in rural areas understands the
challenges we face
and and you know Southwest Virginia as
as we've all kind of said in the theme
of of our work here is that we've uh
we're about energy we've always been
about energy and always will be about
energy
um uh and I'm I'm gonna have we'll step
in a couple of times we only have you
know three slides here
um
This Is A New Concept for us something
that injury Delta lab is four years in
the making it's a public private uh now
multi-site energy test bed in Southwest
Virginia uh and the goal is you know
focusing on you know leveraging the
previously mined lands that we have over
a hundred thousand acres of previously
mined properties throughout the region
as a Proving Ground for ultimately the
commercialization of deployment of
Energy Technologies and we'll get into a
few of those because it is very exciting
time right now uh you know I would say
that our work
and of course Virginia Department energy
is a part of this lab but just work in
general and economic development and we
have my cat feel from Wise County wise
County's taking you know a center stage
role here in this energy clean energy
Revolution without the department of
energy we wouldn't be able to do any of
this work
um they play a vital uh vital role uh
the expertise here and in Richmond the
support that we get the support we get
from Administration the leadership uh
matters and so this Labs concept uh was
designed by Dr Mike karmas some of you
may know formerly at Virginia Tech
former director of the Virginia Center
for coal and Energy Research
uh and this lab is chaired by former CEO
of Alpha Natural Resources Mike Quillen
who was uh formerly Virginia Tech's
Rector and chair of go Virginia region
one
um until recently will clear
serves Dr Karma says an advisor working
with all of our prospects
and musters the team that we have from
Virginia energy and then my team is
focused on Business Development along
with them so
um
just a little bit of History uh during
the 2019 General Assembly session
delegate Terry Kilgore and the late
Senator Ben Chaffin
introduced legislation creating the
Southwest Virginia energy r d Authority
this Authority was created for the
purpose of promoting opportunities for
energy deployment in Southwest Virginia
and of course uh related to that the you
know creation of jobs and and new
capital investment in the region it was
about how can we look to the Past uh
understand the past the role energy
played and how can we then look to the
Future and figure out a new path for
Southwest Virginia uh there's a piece in
there for Workforce Development legisl
language has been added for broadband
and we expect other language to be added
around the specific types of
technologies that we're looking at today
the authorities enabling legislation
including six goals but the one that's
important here for this discussion is
the assisting
with the you know the promotion the
deployment of this Southwest Virginia
energy Park as it was labeled in the in
the legislation uh thanks to go Virginia
region one here in the uscda in our
planning district the linuisco clan
District we spent about a year
um studying trying to determine a
business model that makes sense that
demands flexibility you know
accountability and lean operations kind
of the uh no offense to those in the
room the anti-university model uh for
for deployment
um and making sure that as much as
possible funds make it to the deployment
projects instead of
um people I understand there's a role uh
otherwise but our tactic is a little bit
different so what you see here is this
this land strategy
uh the initial test bed site in Wise
County received a 975 thousand dollar
Ambler Grant in amler if anyone uh may
not know is abandoned mine land uh
economic revitalization uh program
through the U.S office of surface mining
department of interior that's
administered through the Virginia
Department of energy
this first uh test bed site and this is
certainly just a concept but you'll see
that it's
um it's it's about using the land for
technology where the land is the lab not
not buildings
um and so this first piece is property
that's managed by The Nature Conservancy
uh in Wise County uh but currently owned
by the Cumberland uh Forest limited
partnership with the large swath of land
that they own uh currently to many
energy and and Sun tribe solar
developing two large solar projects on
adjacent property additional locations
around the region have been identified
and we envision a dozen over the next
decade Governor young can announced a
second location also in Wise County that
we're really excited about a two million
dollar uh Ambler Grant as well that is a
unique location in Wise County
for the types of projects we're looking
at
today a third site is under negotiation
right now and a force site isn't
planning for next year the result we see
over that that decade this next decade
is
um the development of some pretty asset
Rich properties that are otherwise
untapped today not even on the radar
screen today because they're privately
owned they're not listed in a database
somewhere because they don't want to be
and what we've been able to do and with
will clear's help establish some
relationships uh with landowners who
aren't necessarily uh you know residents
of Virginia and it's taken some time and
and we've established some really strong
relationships with landowners that are
now willing to play ball and interested
in trying to
um you know pursue uh energy projects
that are consistent with their their you
know companies values around around
energy
[Music]
um
and so will I may I may have you kind of
uh give the kind of bigger picture on
the the land strategy but what we
what we've been working on very quietly
um for the last you know two years
around these the initial two sites is
about two billion dollars worth of
projects in the middle of the due
diligence phase and this is in hydrogen
data centers that using geothermal
cooling pump storage Hydro solar and
wind
um one of the projects I'm most proud of
that we worked with Virginia energy on
is the virtually untapped resource today
of uh clean and vast amounts of water
that naturally collect in in pools and
previously mined properties
uh project Oasis and this is something
we rolled out in 2019 currently have a
federal ear Mark and we'll see what
happens when Congress is back this week
on that earmark but you know the idea
you know as we laid out
how to attract data centers to Southwest
Virginia and we see you know this is not
certainly competition at all but North
Virginia in fact we've partnered with
the northern Virginia Technology Council
in the data center coalition
um it's competition with South Side
Virginia with with south of Richmond
um and we finally we spent a year to for
the first time to have an understanding
of the power in Broadband assets that
exists potential sites uh because you
know half of our work and it's on the on
the front end and doing economic
development is uh correcting assumptions
about the region about the workforce
about the assets that are on the ground
and and so education is obviously really
important and you know we can't get
through uh you know a first meeting
without first coming with the facts uh
so that project is really exciting
because the vast amounts of water we
have and we're talking you know billions
with a B uh billions of gallons of water
collected in in certain mine pools and
and as we target different sites we're
targeting sites that that have you know
uh large large areas that also have
access to water gas transportation
uh and and fiber and of course uh robust
power is you know obviously something
that is required for any site and these
are previously mined you know properties
so we'll uh you may want to give your
perspective of the the land strategy and
why that's a little different and what
what the opportunity is
yeah uh you know what I will say is it's
kind of built on what will was talking
about on the asset side
um you know when when I came to the
state and I realized I jumped right into
the energy plan I didn't give you my
background uh most of my background has
been in the private sector
um basically doing uh I'm a finance guy
from way back uh but I've been mostly
doing business development uh for the
natural gas industry for
probably about 20 years of my career and
when when I first came to State as you
know it's interesting to do business
development for the state right and what
what you know because when you do
business development you look at your
assets and
you know land and water are great assets
for Southwest Virginia great assets and
you know we have land values that are
significantly less than the rest of the
Commonwealth
um we we have water as well said
um as far as land being disturbed I tell
the story a lot when I was working to to
bring natural gas to the Gulf Coast from
the Appalachian Basin uh one of the big
advantages that the Gulf Coast had was
Disturbed Brownfield sites because we
built a lot of of new uh plants came
into the Gulf Coast during my tenure in
selling natural gas into that market
um because the Brownfield sites were
there right well we got a hundred
thousand acres of Brownfield sites in
Southwest Virginia that had been
previously mopped a lot of it left in a
in a manner that's conducive to
development
and and what I want to say about the
development is important here this is
Not Just Energy Research for the sake of
doing Energy Research
this is a development strategy a
long-term Economic Development strategy
because if we can do the Innovation here
the way I look at it we've got two very
important ways we can move this number
one
will have the asset right we have the
asset once you have the asset whether
that's wind solar
hydrogen other things you can you can
develop around that asset right because
there's going to be people that want
that power that want that hydrogen
um to that it's going to want to be near
it right so the second thing you've got
is the they actually supply chain and
will
um has worked really hard on the
offshore wind supply chain and bringing
that back or bringing that to Southwest
Virginia and really the rest of the
Commonwealth
so we we think we can attack this in two
different ways by leveraging the assets
to build these assets to develop it
around them but also develop the supply
chain so at its heart the Delta lab is
an economic development strategy to get
from the you know find a place to deploy
what we call Second Stage you know this
is the first deployment of an idea
that will result in creating the model
that'll be you know developable right
it'll be commercialized and then
ultimately building it you know the the
pieces the components uh the supply
chain in Southwest Virginia and really
all over the Commonwealth and that's
what we can do with the assets that we
have in southwest and that's really the
Delta lab
lash slide is just more if you
understand the uh what I think we've got
a model that can be very helpful
um the uh Brandy uh just the uh the fact
that we have a partnership here this is
a three-legged stool of the you know of
the Department of energy the energy r d
Authority
um that does have some Powers laid out
in legislation uh to support projects
much like the uh offshore wind uh
Authority does and I assume uh the uh
your Authority
um and and also invest Southwest
Virginia the marketing campaign that is
driving a lot of these uh these business
development projects so
um
what the role and you ask what you know
what is the role of this this lab and
and the role as a broker
um you know connecting the energy
companies the prospects you're working
with with landowners
primarily private landowners uh
assisting with the sighting the due
diligence Making Connections uh you know
you know dealing with with uh with power
and broadband and and pretty much any
any other uh government entity here
um we're we're pretty armed with uh
political force uh from our our
delegation others and that you know
that's absolutely necessary Economic
Development
um now we've been very clear up front
with invest and some criticized
enrichment about trying to inject
politics but uh there's nothing more
political than jobs
um and our last you know the last thing
we want to do is making anything more
political but it's a reality and it's
about you know trying to win
and we're competing where we are we're
competing against West Virginia North
Carolina Tennessee and Kentucky it's
very difficult and especially just
across the border for me across the
street in Tennessee
um as many of you know we're 300 miles
away from the Capitol and feel often
ignored now let's say the last 11 months
have been pretty much night and day
um in a positive way the support that
we've gotten all the way to the top from
the governor secretary Merrick and the
department of energy of course so what
what I see is this great partnership
here we're leveraging public and private
resources here invest Southwest Virginia
is in the Delta Labs supported by
demanding energy and Appalachian Power
and we have some other private support
and then public support like the Tobacco
Commission and so a great vehicle here
to do this work that we're doing and
we're you know we're
chipping away at some of these projects
it was great to you know around hydrogen
and data centers
in energy storage Etc but it was great
to have members of V-neck and April in
town last month
uh for this announcement with the
governor on one of these energy sites in
or a site that is representative of of
the types of sites we're looking at in
Wise County
[Music]
um
so that's uh you know this is this is a
new New Concept there's there's uh a lot
a lot more work to be done here over the
next few months on some of these
projects but happy to will and I to take
any questions
so thanks will and will
uh I guess my first question right off
the bat is in the room here and on the
phone you've got
um a lot of folks who have a fair amount
of reach or at least exposure to
nuclear specific kind of developments
outside of Virginia uh that very much
might be interested in the assets that
the energy Delta lab has to offer what's
do you guys have kind of your I I mean
you have these these slides is the is
the website up and running is the
marketing pitch if if we were able to
connect you with other groups to try to
broaden your exposure to attract you
know Technologies and potential
interested projects to you in the in the
nuclear space how would we do that
uh absolutely uh the there's a website
uh uh that's up we have um
probably a a two-page kind of uh you
know document also uh that we could
share
um
um and again I'm happy to you know every
project we've worked on it really trying
to understand that the assets people are
looking for it's uh very very much Case
by case and and so what we would love to
be of any assistance to this Authority
and v-neck as well
um
in in trying to be a solution um I
believe that's what we're trying to do
is find solutions for companies looking
for locations
I will say too the elevator pitch is
polished because we we've had probably
we've interfaced with probably 70
developers over the last couple of years
and I'm not I'm not you know
I'm not exaggerating that
um you know a lot of them were solar on
the solar side uh the battery side uh
will mention that we're working with
four hydrogen developers right now
um that are looking on the production
side and Southwest Virginia is a great
uh place for hydrogen production
um so you know we've got a a pretty good
quick uh way to get them sort of
educated on the area and get them get
them get a piece of property in front of
them pretty quickly
um all we really need is an attribute
list
um and we can we can get them on a
property pretty pretty fast
in NDA yeah
you don't need to get specific with the
answer to this the question I'm about to
post but I'm curious what the governor's
announcement and the energy plan and the
call for a SMR in Southwest Virginia has
your phone rang in terms of you know
Advanced reactor developers and the like
I'm just curious of
what's gone on since over the last few
months in in the nuclear space in terms
of uh the test bed and ultimate
deployment which was uh we'll appreciate
you using that word
I I think we've had so we've uh if you
if you take away the
um so as far as real companies we've had
a couple that have reached out and and
want to talk more you know seriously
about about property most of the phone
calls have been unfortunately media
we're the last ones who should be
talking about this it should be you guys
uh but they seem to latch on that was
the only thing the media seemed to latch
on was smrs of the energy plan I don't
think it frankly mattered what else was
in it will
um so uh there's been a lot of
distractions with that however
um we've had a couple a couple um you
know folks Reach Out
I don't know if it's uh I don't think
this is a foreign a foreign concept but
I think once uh you know a party
understood
you know what this region can offer you
know the the the the size and cost of
land and
the amount incentives that we can we can
kind of throw in the mix
it's pretty attractive
other other questions
okay well
um will and will thank you very much for
the presentation I think one thing that
made we may just think about
um will pain it may be beneficial for
you all to
um provide you know some updates to us
um in this group as as it's relevant
um especially obviously if there's any
um developments specific to nuclear um
what what the energy lab but but also we
can you know reserve some space on our
agendas
um in our in our coming meetings if if
necessary but really appreciate it this
is exciting stuff so
and then I'll say this we're we're um I
think it's chairman we we're hosting the
the Southwest Virginia energy r d
Authority was not assigned to an agency
so it's kind of fallen in in our lap to
to run in on December 13th we're gonna
um
you know kind of go over a bunch of
these uh in general Technologies we're
looking at and and thanks to April have
um
uh a presentation coming up
um
um kind of the 101 on on nuclear because
I think there's a lot of obviously
there's a lot of misconceptions uh all
around but we need to do a lot of
Education in Southwest Virginia uh
from the from the get-go yeah that's
great and if there's other areas I mean
obviously I know you and April are are
talking frequently so that's that's good
and that's a great point of contact if
there's other
um areas we can help
happy too that's great absolutely thank
you very much
great so um next we're going to move to
April
um and the update on all things v-neck
nothing's been going on lately it's been
a really slow couple of months
I joke with my husband I think I talked
to will Payne sometimes more than I
talked to him
um
it's you know I guess the last time we
met was on September 28th um October 3rd
you know the governor made his
announcement on the energy plan
we suspected that nuclear was going to
be included
um I will have to tell you I think our
members kind of floated out of the room
we didn't expect as much as we got it
was a nice surprise as Tom mentioned I
think after
four years ago after we saw the last
energy plan we were all pretty
disappointed and this time it's it was
nice to see nuclear be included in the
conversation
um I appreciate will Payne and will
clear when press call they try to Loop
me in as well and also appreciate when
they have a question on
an issue they reach out to have me help
them put an answer together and I'm
working to
working with them to get more education
as I will mention at the meeting on
December 13th I'm bringing the nuclear
Innovation Alliance to give a 101 on
Advanced Technologies
um and looking at other ways that we
could go into Southwest Virginia and do
some more education
it's been a great partnership so um I've
really enjoyed it a lot
um
and then on October right after we got
done with October 3rd October 14th we
were down in Southwest Virginia where
the governor announced with our members
from the universities that he's going to
put five million dollars in his budget
towards the Virginia Innovative nuclear
hub
um so we were pretty excited at that
point as well
um it was an exciting morning out on a
field and down down Southwest Virginia
um
so that brings me to The Proposal the
proposal has
hopefully it'll get done
um it will but it has gone through a
couple revisions new eyes have looked at
it and that and has asked some questions
um I think we're getting very close to
it finally being done I think I'm just
going to pull the cord and say it's done
but we also are working at the same time
right now since the governor's
announcement to put together a committee
to put the governance and how the entity
is actually going to run
um I think we need to go into the
legislature to have some of those
questions answered on what the the
board's going to look like how the
makeup of the entity is going to be
um you know this is not going to be a
one University running it this is going
to be as it is with the authority and
with v-neck it'll be a partnership
between industry and the universities we
are still looking at getting more
Partners
um all the time for it and Delta lab is
a will be a partner
with the Hub
because I don't think I miss anything
there
on the working group
um
you know
you know the recommendations
um we have a list of recommendations we
are preparing for the legislature right
now
um taking some of those recommendations
and putting some bills together so
hopefully next time we meet I will but
we'll be in session and I'll have an
update on those for you but we will have
a two or three bills this session we
also have the budget language supporting
the Hub
so it'll be a busy session for us
we the working group will be meeting
again
um hopefully we'll do more in Southwest
Virginia
but right now one of the big things when
the next meeting we get with the
the working group will be looking at
ways as a group that we can help support
efforts on education down to Southwest
Virginia I like to hold some meetings
down there bring some more experts and
having one-on-one meetings or meetings
with elected officials Business Leaders
just making sure that we get a good
Grassroots support and understanding
what the Technologies are about
you know we do talk about smrs a lot but
I want to make sure that we also know
that there's a lot of Technologies and
opportunities out there right now
um the other thing that's happening
lately um you asked Scott if we've had
any calls lately and people are
interested in what's going on in
Virginia we have
um I think the last time we met
you know in August we were at eight
members end of August we were at 10
we're now at 12.
um uh and I think by the end of the year
we're going to be at 13.
we've grown a lot the last couple months
but Appalachian Power
they are joined us now a company called
curio curio is a small company that are
looking at recycling of spent fuel
um they just joined so it's been pretty
pretty busy on that front
um let's see
what else have I missing
um on the recommendations
um you know all of our recommendations
from The Hub enough for the
from the working group on HP 894 is the
four categories are for deployment
Workforce Economic Development and
supply chain
so those are our focuses and I
appreciate all the working group they've
put a lot of comments and effort into
this and
documents nine pages so I think it's
only going to grow but I do think um
you're going to see a lot of activity
keeping us going forward and helping us
keep our eye on the ball
Tom did I miss anything
perfect
um we'll get to this a little bit later
but I think the intention we'll try to
will be to try to have a meeting early
our first meeting of of 2023 early in
the year so that we can look at the kind
of legislative landscape especially what
um the specific v-neck and nuclear
proposals will be
um okay so the next thing we're going to
move to the to the annual report but
before we do that in your packet
um we have a updated draft of
um the vineca bylaws I'm going to turn
it over to Eric Lansing who's been kind
enough to take a look at those and also
update them with some specific
um things that came out of uh the
updates to the foia laws in Virginia so
Eric all yours
well at least I didn't drop it this time
uh good morning everyone uh these bylaws
amendments are motivated by some changes
that the general assembly made to the
Virginia Freedom of Information Act in
September uh I'm sure you remember
throughout the the course of this
pandemic probably doing a lot of
electronic meetings all throughout this
time I I know that I certainly did uh
and as I understand a lot of you come
from the private sector you're probably
used to doing that without a whole lot
of rigmarole but because the Virginia
nuclear energy Consortium Authority is a
public body it's a governmental body the
Virginia Freedom of Information Act has
a lot of restrictions on doing so and in
the past before the Pandemic those
restrictions were very tight there would
be no way for example before the
pandemic that you could possibly hold a
meeting in which everyone was assembled
virtually where there was no Quorum
physically assembled in a particular
other place
over the course of the pandemic there
were a lot of temporary laws that you
may remember that went into effect and
those laws kept changing as the whole
world figured out how do we balance this
very difficult balance of on the one
hand making sure that all these meetings
can take place and that they can they
can be held in the first place but also
that we honor the right of the public to
participate and it's it's always been
the policy of the Commonwealth of
Virginia that physical in-person
meetings are better accommodating to
that interest
so we finally got an update from the
general assembly in September that
essentially laid out what those
procedures are and there is there's no
getting around the fact that these
procedures they're they're cumbersome
they're a lot harder than what you would
have to do in the private sector but
they're they're cumbersome and they're
inconvenient for a reason uh for an
important reason and the reason is to
assure the ability of the public to
participate and have a right to
participate
so I will walk you through the changes
that we've made in these bylaws and how
it is exactly that we accommodate these
uh I'm going to quickly go over the the
real boring ones if you want to see a
redlined copy of this by the way simply
email Brandy and ask her for it but
we've provided you with a clean copy
just because it'll be easier on your
eyes because the main changes are just
the addition of two articles I'll Point
them out uh other than that we've just
changed we've updated a reference to a
code section that was repealed and
replaced with another one we've changed
a reference to uh five days for public
notice of a meeting to three working
days because that's what the state law
says
um but the two big changes that I'm
going to talk about are the ones in
article six and article seven those are
the ones that have to with remote access
to a public meeting
um actually let's let's deal with
article seven first
that's the second of the two articles
that have been added I'm just gonna I'm
gonna do that first because that can be
more easily summarized article 7 deals
with all virtual meetings an all virtual
meeting is where you do not have a
quorum that's physically assembled in
one single place and that is that is
what the general assembly essentially
says is the preferred procedure and
there is a limit on how often uh any
public body can do that
if you take a look at page seven in
particular take a look at section three
it lays out when that can happen lists
those paragraphs a b and c all of those
paragraphs have to be satisfied in order
for an all virtual meeting to be held
and you notice that middle one is
probably the most important one it says
that it can only be done 25 of the
meetings in the year or two meetings
this public body assembles four times a
year is that right so 25 percent means
one meeting so we're capped at one
meeting for the whole year that could be
done all virtually
ah you're right yes thanks for that
correction so yeah so we're capped at
two meetings then
um
I'm a lawyer but I'm not a mathematician
take a look at article 6. uh that is uh
that's the one that deals with uh the
more routine procedures we go through
where a quorum is physically assembled
but there are individual members that
need to dial in remotely uh as we have
today
uh so this lays out the procedures and
there are a few updates to it
um but uh
I think in summary what I would the
advice that I would give to everyone is
don't participate remotely unless you
absolutely have to because if you do
participate remotely there's always the
chance that other people may be
participating remotely and if you don't
have a quorum physically assembled in a
single place then the whole public body
is is sometimes at least not going to be
able to meet
um
and of course there's also a limit on
the number of times per year that you
can participate remotely if you do
participate remotely be sure to notify
three people you need to notify the
chair
be sure to notify Brandy
um not all of you have my contact
information but you you will as of today
it's e-lancing at
oag.state.va.us I'll be your contact
going forward
and if you lose my email address
perfectly understandable just ask them
to pass it on uh there there needs to be
involvement from a number of people to
make sure that we satisfy uh the
requirements for remote participation
uh uh otherwise you may see staff
dancing back and forth to make sure that
we that we get our uh our uh our
I was about to say eggs together but I'm
not sure that's a real figure of speech
we we get our ducks in a row
um in order for us to satisfy foia uh
foia requires for this policy to be
adopted in order for us to take
advantage of it we have to have it in
our bylaws it's not just enough for it
to be in foia
uh so once you notify the chair be sure
to notify the reasons for dialing in
remotely and if it's an uncategorized
reason if it's a personal reason uh not
a medical reason or something like that
then be sure to identify that reason
with specificity if you take a look at
page five
there are four reasons that are given
out and for those of you dialing in
remotely I I would ask prick your ears
up and pay attention to these reasons
that I'm giving out make sure you ask
yourself what reason applies to me here
uh the first reason is a temporary or
permanent disability or other medical
condition that prevents the member's
physical attendance that's where you're
sick or you're in the hospital
two is a family member's medical
condition that requires the member to
provide care for such a family member
thereby preventing the members of
physical attendance
three is the members principal residence
location being more than 60 miles from
the meeting location and the fourth is a
personal matter the nature of which is
identified with specificity by the
member so that personal matter that's
just kind of a catch-all reason there
are lots of things that can fit under
personal matter but the trick with the
personal matter is you're capped on the
number of times per year you can do it
so if you can use something other than a
personal matter that's true then by all
means do that
uh the reason this is a note for brandy
or whoever is taking the the minutes the
reason for remote participation needs to
be recorded in the minutes and the
person dialing in remotely needs to give
the general location it's enough to say
my home or my office you don't have to
give your home address for the world to
hear
um and then finally after the chair has
ratified this you know all of these
things need to be notified of the chair
before the meeting not after or during
if once the chair makes his decision the
Board needs to ratify that decision by
vote
I know that was a lot and uh I know it's
not your job to have all these rules
memorized so I'm going to try to make
this uh as simple as possible and what
I've done is I've written sort of a
template resolution
that goes through all of these things
and if you can fill out that resolution
then you can be sure that you're
complying actually I don't want to
guarantee that but you can be pretty
sure that you are complying with all the
policies that I've laid out
to make sure that I can fill this out
accurately I want to make sure that I
understand uh who it is that's dialing
in remotely I understand we have Mr
Andrew Hutton Mr Michael Lemke Mr Randy
Heflin and Mr Gary Tepper is that
correct that is correct okay
um and uh Mr Hutton I understand
uh that you have a family member's
medical condition that requires you to
provide care for that family member is
that correct that is correct yes okay
and Mr Heflin and Mr Lemke I understand
that you have personal reasons namely
scheduling conflicts is that correct
if you considered a scheduling conflict
with my CEO a personal reason yes and it
could be a record everyone can be that
is a personal reason because it doesn't
fit into any of the other categories so
I'm calling in from my my office in
Newport News okay that's more than 60
miles away but okay
um and uh Mr
pepper I do not have your reason for
dialing in remotely can you
fill me in on that yeah it would have to
be personal reason I uh Have a
scheduling conflict
and this is this is Randy Heflin from
for my case uh it's really your um
reason C distance I'm more than 200
miles away so traveling over to Richmond
four times a year is a little bit uh
difficult
understood okay that's Mr Heflin that's
correct
okay hold on one moment
is it your residence that's actually
located more than 60 miles away
or is it just your office
it's golf they're they're less than 10
miles apart but they're both more than
200 miles away I'm in my office at the
moment
if it makes a difference I just ran the
the mileage I'm 66 miles from my home to
the meeting today
I appreciate you checking that
uh all right so let me let me go through
everyone and make sure I have your
locations Mr Hudson you are
participating remotely from what
location from my home
and Mr Lemke you're participating
remotely from what location my office
and Mr Tepper you are participating from
did you say it's your office it's my
office yes
okay
okay so I now have this whole uh
resolution filled out and once the
bylaws have been adopted I'll read
through the resolution I'll also make
sure that Brandy you have a copy of the
resolution that's sort of the the
template form for this resolution so
that in the future it can be it can be
filled out and we want to make sure if
at all possible that we have the
resolution filled out in advance of the
meeting uh and uh that we gather all of
that information uh beforehand
um but uh in the meanwhile we first need
to handle the bylaws themselves are
there any questions regarding the bylaws
uh I just have
um one clarifying question so
once at Future meetings we've adopted
the resolution for remote uh or virtual
participation of board members they they
have full voting rights and everything
as as if they were here physically right
because I think that's a change from
where we were before
yes that's that's exactly right
um so once the once the members have
been admitted into the meeting by
majority vote of the people physically
assembled then they can exercise their
voting rights the trick is they can't
vote on admitting themselves right
because they have to be admitted first
and likewise all of you who are with us
remotely today you were not yet formally
admitted into this meeting so
unfortunately you can't vote on the
bylaws and likewise you can't vote on
admitting yourself but once we've
handled that you will then be able to
participate fully
clarifying questions so therefore
in order to establish the Quorum needs
to be established by those in the room
since they're not part can't be counted
towards a full Quorum that's right
that's right you actually have to you
only count the people who are physically
with us to establish a quorum
so I think I need to entertain a motion
to approve the revised bylaws correct
that's correct okay does anyone Jean
grayshack and Bill Briscoe with the
second
all in favor say or do we need to do a
roll call vote
uh it does not need to be a roll call
vote all in favor aye
aye
opposed
okay
bylaws are adopted
um
The Next Step then as I to a motion to
adopt the resolution to admit the
virtual that's right and first I'll read
the resolution it is long uh however I
think you'll appreciate the length
because it will lay out all the detail
that you need to comply with everything
that I've mentioned earlier
so at the end of this resolution if
someone can just say so moved
whereas the Virginia nuclear energy
Consortium Authority has met with a core
and physically assembled in one location
on November 14 2022 whereas Andrew
Hutton Michael limke Randy Heflin and
Gary Tepper the members desire to
participate remotely in said meeting due
to personal reasons namely scheduling
conflicts in the case of Mr limke and Mr
Tepper and in the case of Mr Hutton a
family member's medical condition that
requires the member to provide care for
such family member and in the case of Mr
Heflin residing more than 60 miles away
whereas Mr Hutton is participating
remotely from his home Mr limke is
participating from his office Mr Heflin
is participating from his office and Mr
Tepper is participating from his office
whereas the members are not exceeding
the maximum allowance of remote
participation in meetings due to a
personal reason which is catch for
personal reasons at two meetings per
year or 25 percent of the meetings in
the calendar year
and whereas the member has notified the
chair prior to the beginning of the
meeting of the member's request to
participate remotely and are the reasons
for that request and the chair has
approved that request now therefore the
board of the authority hereby ratifies
the determination of the chair that the
member May participate remotely and
holds that the chair's determination was
consistent with the policies in the
authority boards bylaws regarding remote
participation and furthermore the Border
also determines that the voice of the
member can be heard by all persons at
Central meeting location for this
meeting
okay that's Brisco do we have a second
by John Capps
all in favor
aye
opposed
okay
great so everybody's admitted to the
meeting
um and we can move forward I think the
one other thing I would point out um as
we were going over
um the changes last week and one thing I
would like to suggest and we can adopt
this as we go forward but because we are
allowed to Virtual all virtual meetings
a year and knowing myself and a bunch of
others included it's it's a little bit
of a travel we will plan to do
um to all virtual meetings
um we'll have to schedule those but I
would like to try to still get together
in person
um a couple times a year so we make sure
um we're still seeing everybody but
that'll kind of be the plan going
forward okay
okay so the next step this is where we
actually do need to do some some voting
um so we're going to move on to the
annual report finally final finalization
um Brandi sent out the updated copy last
week I know fielded some updates
especially to the um uh member
developments over the past year which
was the highlighted area
um on page excuse me
starting on oh I guess we don't have
page numbers but under the the critical
role of nuclear energy in Virginia's
economy
um
are there other changes or updates that
folks wanted to make to to the document
that Brandi has sent out
I'm sorry I didn't get this um in
earlier but I did have one recommended
change and that's under the Strategic
recommendations for 2023 and Beyond the
first item
well I think it is
um very appropriate
um in line with the with the governor's
message very appropriate and very
exciting focusing on Southwest Virginia
I would recommend that with
um input to the legislature it go beyond
just the one that that
um having one reactor in Southwest
Virginia is great but that does not an
industry make so I would suggest adding
words and very open to changes that at
the end of that that said an additional
suitable locations to follow or
something like that so we expand the
legislative support Beyond just the one
um I just I just want to clarify one
thing for you to you know this
um
from the the four are strategic
recommendations are from the Strategic
plan underneath it that's just the
additions that they made I think just to
show what has been done towards that
that
um
that that point yeah I think it's a good
point though that that
um we're making here so I'm wondering
should we
change the singular to the plural for in
the in Number One support for small
modular or other Advanced reactors make
that plural
um and then Dan can you go over your
suggested text to where we add that on
so we make sure we have that I think
it's a good good idea yeah sure just
what again I think modifications of this
may make it even better I would say
um wise sport small modular use new
reactors but I was um at the top so you
suggested reactors at the end I would
suggest words something like and
additional suitable locations to follow
okay is everyone okay with that change
okay
yeah let me read the entire so we would
change so
um under uh after one it would say
support for small modular or other
Advanced reactors so we would make that
plural and say in line with the moonshot
goal included in the Virginia energy
plan the legislature should consider any
and all ways to support deployment of a
new nuclear reactor in Southwest
Virginia within 10 years
I'm wondering if we should change that
to new nuclear reactors probably
okay
within 10 years and additional suitable
locations to follow
okay
so the Strategic plans language
underneath each of those bolts is
different I believe though I think four
and five
are the same from the Strategic plan so
it's in it's inconsistent that way so
from the Strategic plan we had specific
language these are just actions that
show
um they're just action items that go
towards that that recommendation yep and
I am now recalling because I think I
wrote this
um because before we've had the
Strategic recommendations from the
Strategic plan for the last couple years
this was trying to update to make
consistent with where we are and where
we've kind of come in the last year that
was the no I totally understand I just
want to that just makes to clarify that
that's it's more of an activity than
anything
yeah I think I I and yeah an example of
or something I think that that's fine
but
um
because it's not yet it's not suggesting
um specific you know legislation
yeah I I well I don't think do you have
a problem with us updating the language
as it is April
yeah well we can't update the Strategic
plan language I'm not saying update the
Strategic yeah
or or activity or show our action action
item that happened in 2022 I know it's
something but I think it just needs to
be consistent
okay
um well because we're not referencing
the Strategic plan here so I don't know
I don't think it's going to be different
I don't think people are going to expect
that this has to be the same language as
the as the Strategic plan
now the second one's different too
yeah I guess my thought was is the area
the two areas where there's been the
most development since the since the
Strategic plan has been in one and two
um and so that was the reason for the
updates to the to the language
um I don't know that we've done
at least when I looked at it there's not
as much that's really changed or
developed in the other areas
but
a strategic plan here so this is just
recommendation
okay
all right we'll keep that language and
we can go back and read it before we
adopt the motion for the
the plan are there are there other
changes or updates that folks had
I had one very minor typo correction and
um
canopy my name is uh talk it's not ISO
type it's isotope
that's a typo
Andrew do you have the page of where
that is so we can mark it and no but
it's under the
the list of presentations you've had
and it's in the presentation by again a
petite manini
so I'm going to make one General
suggestion we should add page numbers to
this that'll make it a little easier
okay any other changes updates or
comments
okay thanks
yes we are
okay anything else
okay
I'm gonna go through them just so we
have it and then we can get a motion to
approve with changes
go through so under the Strategic
recommendations for 2023 and Beyond we
have
um change number one to say support for
small modular and other Advanced
reactors
and we've added an additional suitable
locations to follow
um after the Southwest Virginia within
10 years
we have corrected a typo
um just above the 2022 Authority meeting
activities it says the authority in
concert not in convert
on the following page
the second paragraph from the bottom we
have changed ISO type to isotope
and then following the paragraph uh
summarizing the June 21st speaker we're
going to include the appropriate speaker
summary from the September 28th
back to September 28th meeting
yep
yes
so actually why don't we do that before
we approve the annual report why don't
we go to the go to the minutes
um we have
I believe Brandy did we catch that typo
on the June 21st okay but the other
um changes we had gone over already and
implemented from the September meeting
we just had not approved them
if anyone else sees because we didn't
have a quorum
if anyone else sees any changes for the
June 21st minutes that need to be made
we can have them now
anything
okay do I have a motion to approve the
minutes
John Capps a second
Bill Briscoe
all in favor say aye
opposed
okay
so then we'll move to the September 28th
minutes these were sent out before but
why don't we take a second if people
just want to review them and provide any
changes
okay does anybody have any changes they
want to make to the minutes
okay do I have a motion oh Andrew did
you have something
here I'm mute Andrew
you're on mute we couldn't hear you
okay
do we have do we have a a motion to
approve the minutes
Gene a second
uh from Jeff Fox all in favor
opposed
okay
so I think yeah we have the the last
bullet above public comments that's what
we can include on the the speaker
portion
um
in the annual report for the September
meeting
do we have a motion to approve the
annual report With The Changes we've
adopted
okay second
Bill Briscoe all in favor
aye
opposed
okay great so that's all done
in the
um
interest of time I'm gonna hold off
we've heard a lot of news already so I
think we've got all the nuclear news but
if there's announcements or other member
updates let's go with those
in one point in the distant past
we had pointed out that this was a
Statewide
committee and the suggestion that had
been made in a distant past that maybe
we could move the meeting site from wife
of Richmond at times
is that still a possibility
I think it's a possibility I think let's
see how the virtual aspect
um goes as we can do that next year the
only
concern I have with moving it uh is a
big chunk of our
um
agency support is located here in
Richmond so that may be a little tough
but one thing besides the agencies and
the membership
that might provide local areas from
providing more uh input and attendance
at the meeting in person yeah I agree
with you I think I think that's
um really of interest but I also think I
actually think the virtual option allows
for a lot more attendance from folks
that are not located here as well so
other updates news announcements
okay if there's nothing else then we
will move to public comment
um is there anybody who wishes to make
public comment I know we have a few
minutes left
okay
oh sorry okay
so uh I have a prepared statement and
I'll just read it uh and hopefully it'll
go into the meeting minutes
uh
thank you
um arvind Patel owner of Taurus dialysis
which I started
in Newport News as a small business 40
years ago
my first relationship was with
sorry nuclear power station where I had
my office right behind the training
center
I'd like to tell you a little more about
what Taurus has done since the 1980
as you know Virginia Moon sought
is to launch a commercial and small new
modular reactor that would serve
customers with base load power demand in
Southwest Virginia within 10 years
Taurus has
experience to help
because in its beginning startups
installed training simulators at North
Hannah
that was in 1982-83
which led to technology transfer with
the German firm
currently Taurus is supporting the
department of energy Neville nuclear
proposing program
uh at Newport News shipbuilding and
engineered the
supervisory control and data acquisition
system digital twin Plus or four class
carriers
these scada systems in moonshot will be
the industrial Internet of Things in
large part
and final control elements and field
devices interface to commercially
available
off the shelf
equipment which must be seamlessly
redundant cyber secured Networks
or these distributed Energy Systems
because you know you're not going to run
reactors with people sitting in front of
it when these are this small
Virginia is not the only state in the
Union interested in using nuclear
distributed energy and
it also Marine proposal is coming
very soon
this first of a Kind project in Virginia
will Leverage
a record of decision
which a DOD published for the dod pale
project
for submitting a proposal which I went
to
pre-proposal meeting in Alaska because
it sounded a very exciting opportunity
uh Alaska
project is through Department of uh it's
through defense Logistics agency
and Taurus Innovative approach of
establishing these distributed energies
research and development facilities will
motivate the Virginia nuclear industry
in support of the speed and scale
required for the domestic and Global
marketplaces
which
so
Taurus proposal
is based on U.S department of energy
Advanced reactor they picked five of
them two of which are
one of them is bwxt
the Pele project the other one is a
Westinghouse eventually
we are requesting Virginia Secretary of
Commerce and trade office to facilitate
a dialogue because you know
I've been kind of a stealth vendor given
the work I do for Naval reactors which
are you know not quite the micros but
so we have been looking at this Eastern
Virginia Regional
industrial facility Authority near the
King's Creek Commerce Center which is
neighbor to the Yorktown weapons station
and
very near the Camp Perry
which is also located near there a
solar farm
for which you know there's going to be
infrastructure available
so a selection of
the kind DOD is doing with
bwxt may offer a
time benefit compared to having to go
through the NRC regulations which take
extra time
so
the message I'm here to deliver is that
Air Force requirement are not achievable
through normal processes they need
an opportunity exists to
Leverage
the resources that are available in many
cases only in Virginia right
Hampton Roads is the
Hub of lots of different kinds of micro
reactions thank you
okay any other public comment
a bwxt banner reactor is a tier two so a
risk reduction project with the
Department of energy
which it's distinctly different from
Project Pele which is the Strategic
capabilities micro reactor
project there are two different designs
and there's a big line between them so
just just a clarifying point
okay
I think that wraps us up we'll close out
the meeting and we Brandi will be in
touch about
um early 2023 meeting but thank you
everybody for your participation this
year and
um happy holidays it's early to say it
but might as well say it thanks
thank you