Good morning from the Mercury.
“Hello readers, happy Labor Day. Our office is closed as we observe the holiday and take a hard-earned break. We’ll be back in action tomorrow. Thank you! - Samantha Willis, Editor-in-Chief.
An Amtrak train parked at the Richmond Staples Mills Station. (Photo by Nathaniel Cline/Virginia Mercury)
By Nathaniel Cline
Rail passengers traveling through Virginia’s Northeast Corridor should expect cancellations, route changes and may need to rely on bus connections beginning Oct. 16, due to major track upgrades.
This is part of Amtrak’s “Pause for Progress,” a critical infrastructure upgrade to replace aging track components at the A-interlocking control point in Washington D.C., temporarily suspending service from Oct. 16 to Oct. 26.
Members of Virginia Professional Firefighters association hold signs during their biannual convention in May to protest Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s veto of collective bargaining legislation. New research found a significant spike in labor union membership, but growth is highly dependent upon state politics. (Photo by Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury)
By Kevin Hardy
Labor union membership continues to climb in the United States, though the increase remains sharply divided by the politics of individual states.
Last year, the nation added more than 411,000 union members — the largest annual growth since 2008, according to a study published just ahead of the Labor Day holiday by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
This year, state lawmakers passed dozens of bills seeking to boost worker protections across 19 states, including Virginia
Solar panels in Cumberland County, Va. (Photo by Shannon Heckt/Virginia Mercury)
COMMENTARY
By Jack Wilson
Virginia’s energy needs are changing quickly, and to address them we must respond even quicker. Data centers, new manufacturing, population growth and other economic development are driving electricity demand higher, putting additional pressure on an already strained grid.
At the same time, Virginia imports more power than any other state in the nation, and Dominion Energy anticipates 23% of our electricity supply to come from out of state in 2027. Relying on other states’ wholesale electricity prices, instead of allowing Virginia utilities and regulators to set rates by Virginians for Virginians, is costing ratepayers.
If we want to keep our economy growing, attract new investment and maintain reliable electricity for families and businesses, we need to produce more of the energy we use here at home, and we need to do it quickly.
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