America has a power problem — literally. We consume energy in every aspect of our lives, from our cars to our air conditioning to the factories that produce our goods. Americans are power hungry, and we simply don’t have enough of it. 

Liberals in their ivory towers look at this supply and demand problem and think the answer is to cut the supply, and demand will follow. It’s what Democrats have tried in Virginia, and it’s the reason we’re in this mess. 

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I’m an electrician, small business owner, and no-nonsense Marine. I know firsthand that the way out of this problem is to increase the supply to meet the demand. 

My energy plan for Virginia is simple: All of the above. Under my administration, we will open Virginia to all kinds of energy and give consumers a choice instead of taking it away. Oil, natural gas, small modular nuclear reactors, biomass, and renewable energy all have a place in our dynamic future. More supply means lower prices and thousands more jobs. 

But in order to adopt this all-of-the-above approach, we need less government, not more. We need to reduce regulations and streamline the permitting process for new projects. That also means government bureaucrats shouldn’t use taxpayer dollars to reward one kind of energy production over another. Government subsidies and mandates don’t lower prices—they increase them by creating monopolies and reducing competition. 

And finally, we will axe the energy tax for good. In 2021, Virginia entered the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which forces utility companies to purchase credits to sell more power to Virginia consumers. Of course, anyone who has ever run a small business knows that these utility companies pass higher costs on to consumers, and rates skyrocketed. Gov. Glenn Youngkin and I removed Virginia from the RGGI, and said goodbye to the energy tax, but liberals are trying to bring it back. 

We don’t have to look far to see what happens when you go the progressive route. Across the Potomac River, Maryland citizens are reading headlines that say, “Regular rolling blackouts may become reality for Maryland’s energy grid.” 

This doomsday scenario was years in the making. Maryland politicians shut down power plants, imposed huge taxes on energy production, and delayed new and badly needed power lines. Today, Maryland is a net importer of energy. 

My opponent, Abigail Spanberger, and her anti-energy ticketmates want to go the Maryland route, reenter the RGGI, and bring back the energy tax. The data paints a scary picture. A study shows that Virginia’s energy tax drove up electricity costs, with utilities passing along $227 million in new taxes to consumers in 2021, twice the initial estimates. 

The RGGI’s energy tax also made it impossible for Virginia’s natural gas plants to compete with producers in states without an energy tax. As a result, electric generation in the Commonwealth decreased by 9% in 2021. If Spanberger brings back the energy tax, Virginia could face billions of dollars in economic costs. 

That’s not all. Spanberger also supports the Virginia Clean Economy Act, a disastrous 2020 law that requires Virginia’s utilities to produce 100% renewable electricity by 2050. It’s no surprise that this law came with a hefty increase in electricity bills. 

In Congress, Spanberger pursued her anti-energy agenda with a vengeance. She voted for the so-called Inflation Reduction Act that imposed taxes on oil and gas in favor of renewable giveaways that benefited Chinese green energy firms. She also voted at least seven 

times to limit energy exploration in America, and voted to ban gas-powered cars and gas stoves. 

Instead of expanding Virginia’s energy capabilities, the Spanberger-Hashmi-Jones ticket wants to limit them. In fact, they are actively working to undermine consumer demand in the Commonwealth as we speak. A new natural gas power plant in Chesterfield County will be able to generate enough energy to power up to 250,000 homes. The Spanberger-Hashmi-Jones ticket will kill this project, and consumers will suffer. It’s not just expensive, it’s offensive. 

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In Spanberger’s Washington, D.C. bubble, everyone can afford a luxury Tesla and soaring utility bills. But hardworking folks all across Virginia need commonsense leadership to keep costs down and expand our energy options. 

Under my all-of-the-above energy plan, Virginians will have more options, more power, and more money in their pockets.

Winsome Earle-Sears is the lieutenant governor of Virginia and the 2025 Republican nominee for governor.