Category: Environment
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Hundreds Seek Pipeline Construction Jobs
The proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) is highly controversial in Augusta County, where property owners fear pipeline construction will jeopardize water supplies, create a safety hazard for nearby residents, and drive down property values. But hundreds of mechanics, welders, electricians and other blue-collar workers see the $5 billion project as a potential boon. By noon Thursday,…
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Conservation Voltage Reduction: Dominion’s “Fifth Fuel”
Dominion Voltage Inc.’s Conservation Voltage Reduction (CVR) system has the potential to cut U.S. electricity consumption 2-4% for relatively little cost. The EDGE technology eases integration of small-scale solar and wind energy sources into the electric distribution network. Dominion expects the market for EDGE to take off as electric utilities invest heavily in grid modernization…
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Dominion Tweaks Coal-Ash Dewatering Process
Dominion Virginia Power has temporarily shut down the $35 million water treatment facility at its Possum Point Power Station as it adjusts the process of cleaning water from its coal ash ponds, Levels of selenium, a chemical element that can be toxic at high levels, rose above a “trigger” point specified in agreement between Dominion and Prince…
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Wild Life in the New Dominion
Forget the bears, bobcats and coyotes. Camera traps near Virginia’s Mountain Lake Biological Station, manned by Virginia Tech researchers, have captured photographs of a strange hominid species. So reports Motherboard.
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The Beauty in Virginia
Check out the incredible landscape and wildlife photos in the Piedmont Environmental Council’s 7th annual photo contest! The photo above shows the Shenandoah River in Clarke County. What a beautiful state we share!
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Dominion Breaks Ground on Greensville Plant
Construction has been underway at Dominion Virginia Power’s $1.3 billion Greensville County Power Station for several months now, but the company held its official ground-breaking ceremony yesterday. The event gave Dominion an opportunity to extol the virtues of the plant to its corporate family and friends. Among the key points noted by Robert Zullo with the…
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New Solar Farm in the Works
SunPower Corp., a California-based solar energy company, plans to request a special use permit from James City County for a solar farm up to 35 megawatts in Norge near Williamsburg, reports the Williamsburg-Yorktown Daily. The project, which would be built on a 223-acre site, is in the early permitting stage. SunPower is in active discussions…
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The (Battery) Acid Test
Dominion Virginia Power is running experiments to see how well battery storage works with solar electricity. The verdict so far: mixed. Last year Austin-based ViZn Energy Systems had developed a zinc-iron redox battery system, the product of eight years of work, which it touted as safe, efficient, durable and flexible. The battery, the company stated, could absorb…
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Banking on Batteries
AES Energy Storage is building a global enterprise using industrial-scale batteries to make the electric grid cleaner and more reliable. Richmond-based Dominion Resources may be the most visible energy company in Virginia — its Dominion Virginia Power subsidiary is the dominant electric utility in the state — but it is not the biggest. That distinction belongs to…
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Dominion Inks Second Solar Deal with Amazon
Dominion has announced a major expansion of its solar alliance with Amazon Web Services (AWS), adding 180 megawatts of generating capacity at five Virginia locations. The deal will build Dominion’s solar fleet to 434 megawatts in Virginia and North Carolina, close to its goal of 500 megawatts by 2020. Dominion’s eight-state fleet will reach 1,400 megawatts by…
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What the Trump Victory Means for Virginia
We woke up this morning to a very different world than most of us expected twenty-four hours ago: the prospect of a Trump presidency and a Republican-controlled Congress. After four years of political gridlock, the odds have improved immeasurably that something will get done in Washington. You might not like the result, but the logjam…
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Possum Point De-watering Permit Upheld
A Richmond Circuit Court judge has upheld the state’s issuance of a water-discharge permit for Dominion Virginia Power’s coal ash pond at the Possum Creek Power Station. The permit sets the effluent limits and monitoring requirements for the discharge of water from coal ash Pond D. The Potomac Riverkeepers Network had challenged the permit on…
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Rocky Forge Wind Turbines Not a Threat to Aviation
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has ruled that 549-foot wind turbines, as tall as the Washington Monument, will not pose a danger to passing aircraft, thus putting Apex Clean Energy one step closer to building Virginia’s first commercial wind farm. As proposed, the Rocky Forge Wind project would string 25 turbines along a ridge line in Botetourt…
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Hexavalent Chromium May Be Endemic in Piedmont Well Water
by James A. Bacon Hexavalent chromium, a potent carcinogen, is detectable in 90% of the North Carolina water wells sampled in a Duke University research study, and in many cases exceeds levels deemed safe for drinking water. The chemical, made famous by the movie “Erin Brockovich,” originates not from coal ash ponds but from the natural…
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Introducing a Novel Concept: Cost per Ton of CO2 Reduced
by James A. Bacon A new Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy paper about the impact of a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) on Virginia warrants close examination. You may or may not accept the study’s conclusion that implementing a requirement for 6% solar and wind in Virginia’s electricity mix by 2025 would increase electricity rates in Virginia…