Tag: CVOW
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Why Dominion Stays Calm in Wind Industry Storm
By Steve Haner First published by Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy. There is some overlap with a post from last week by another author, but with a slightly different focus. With growing turmoil in the offshore wind industry finally being reported, it would be nice to turn the clock back a year and revisit…
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Dominion Hides Huge Offshore Wind Cost-Risk
by David Wojik The offshore wind industry is suffering a runaway cost crisis, but Dominion Energy says the cost of its monster project will not go up. Apparently, there is not even a risk of it going up. This preposterous claim is worth exploring. On the crisis side, I recently wrote about it in general…
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First Lawsuit Over Whales and Wind Dismissed
By Steve Haner A federal district judge in Massachusetts has rejected an effort to stop an offshore wind project near Nantucket Island on the basis of danger to whales, apparently the first court test of similar claims being raised against wind turbine proposals along the U.S. eastern seaboard, including here in Virginia. On May 17,…
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Dominion Seeks Permit to Harass 100s of Whales
By David Wojick The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is taking public comments on a massive proposal to harass large numbers of whales and other marine mammals off Virginia by building a huge offshore wind complex. There is supposed to be an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed harassment, but it is not there…
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CVOW on Schedule and Budget, Utility Reports
by Steve Haner Dominion Energy Virginia’s first wave of offshore wind remains on schedule, and within the announced capital cost of $9.8 billion; and the cost per unit of the energy from the turbines will be lower than initially projected, the utility reported last week. Details? Well, many of those are secrets. Much of the…
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SCC Agrees Dominion Must Own Most Wind, Solar
By Steve Haner The State Corporation Commission has rejected arguments that the Virginia Clean Economy Act would allow Virginia’s dominant electric utility to get more than 35% of its new wind, solar and battery power from third party suppliers. Dominion Energy Virginia is guaranteed by law (actually, required is the better word) to own 65%…
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Youngkin Energy Reforms Killed Without Votes
By Steve Haner Governor Glenn Youngkin’s proposal to ensure that any future wave of wind turbines built off Virginia must follow a real competitive bid process ended up dead as a beached whale. The General Assembly didn’t just kill his proposed amendment during its reconvened session April 12, it refused to even take up the…
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Youngkin Seeks Bids on Future Offshore Wind
By Steve Haner Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) has proposed a stronger requirement in state law that any second wave of offshore wind serving Virginia be subjected to a competitive procurement process, rather than simply allowing Dominion Energy Virginia to build it with all the costs and risks imposed on its customers. The planned 176-turbine Coastal…
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Wojick On Whales IV: Deaths Spiked with Surveys
By David Wojick The recent deaths of seven whales off New Jersey, mostly humpbacks, drew national media attention. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Directorate is responsible for whales. An outrageous statement by their spokesperson got me to do some research on humpback whale deaths. The results are appalling. The evidence seems clear that…
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Is Unnamed Partner on Wind Project Driving This New Dominion Regulation Rewrite?
By Steve Haner Without fanfare and without awakening the drowsy Capitol press corps, Dominion Energy Virginia dropped in legislation last week to set up a partnership on its most massive capital investment, the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project. Just who that partner might be, what if any benefits that provides to Dominion’s 2.6 million Virginia…
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Consumers Be Wary When Energy Elephants Dance
By Steve Haner First published this morning by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy. The Virginia House of Delegates is expected to vote this week to exempt certain Virginia manufacturers, which ones to be determined later, from the coming wave of energy costs created by Virginia’s rapid transition to unreliable forms of power generation.
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SCC Drops Wind Energy Performance Standard
by Steve Haner The Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) has abandoned its push for an offshore wind performance standard fiercely opposed by Dominion Energy Virginia. It agreed instead to some capital cost limitations for its project that the utility has endorsed . In a decision released today, the two commissioners accepted in full a stipulation put…
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Virginia Agrees To Compensate Fishing Industry For Damage From Offshore Wind
by Steve Haner Nine states, including Virginia, have agreed to establish a major compensation fund to pay their private commercial and recreational fishing companies for damages caused by offshore wind turbines. Three guesses where the money comes from. The announcement, made December 12, hints at it coming from project developers, but in Virginia of course…
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Why Does Dominion Fear a Wind Output Promise?
By Steve Haner While we await a decision by the State Corporation Commission on competing approaches for protecting consumers from unexpected offshore wind costs, some additional relevant information is worthy of notice. Two items call into question Dominion Energy Virginia’s refusal to assume financial risk for poor turbine performance.
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Feds: Whales Must Be Protected from Turbines
by Steve Haner First published this morning by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy. Soon after a group of opponents to proposed East Coast offshore wind projects hired a law firm with environmental regulation expertise, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced a new plan to protect North Atlantic Right Whales and…