Tag: Dominion
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Virginia Wallowing in Ignorance about Coal Ash
Sen. Amanda Chase, R-Chesterfield, has co-sponsored legislation that would require Dominion Energy to remove more than 25 million tons of coal ash from its Chesterfield, Bremo, Possum Point and Chesapeake power stations, reports the Chesterfield Observer. Senate Bill 1398, introduced by Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, applies to any owner or operator of a “coal combustion residuals unit.”…
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Weighing the Coal Ash Options
Meeting EPA deadlines constrains Dominion’s options for disposing of coal ash at four of its power stations. Under Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules published in 2014, Dominion Virginia Energy must find a way to safely dispose of nearly 30 million tons of coal ash within 15 years. After intense controversy over how best to proceed,…
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Dominion Energy to Acquire SCANA Corp. in $14.6 Billion Deal
Dominion Virginia Energy has agreed to acquire the troubled Cayce, S.C.-based SCANA Corp. for $14.6 billion in cash and stock, the two companies announced today. The deal is contingent upon numerous regulatory approvals and preservation of a South Carolina state law that allows the company to recover customer payments for two unfinished nuclear reactors costing…
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Roll Back Rate Freeze, Says Haner
Steve Haner, a frequent contributor to this blog, says it is time for the General Assembly to un-do the freeze on base electric rates in Virginia. A lobbyist representing the Southern Poverty Law Center, Haner lays out the case in a Richmond Times-Dispatch op-ed: Return to the regulatory approach before the 2015 rate freeze, put…
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What If… Dominion Pursued a Solar+Smart Grid Strategy?
After proposing an end to the freeze on base electricity rates and a reinvestment of excess profits into modernization of the electric grid, Dominion Energy Virginia has produced an ad touting renewable energy and the smart grid. What if more of the energy we used came from renewable resources? What if the electric grid…
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Water Board Gives Atlantic Coast Pipeline Conditional Approval
In a 4 to 3 vote, the State Water Control Board gave a provisional water-quality certification for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline today, but added a big condition reports WHSV television: The permit won’t take effect until several additional studies are reviewed and approved by the Department of Environmental Quality. Dominion Energy, managing partner of the ACP, is…
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ACP Foes, Supporters Contend in ACP Environmental Hearing
After issuing a water-quality certification for the Mountain Valley Pipeline last week, the State Water Control Board held a public hearing today to consider a comparable certification for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP). Public comment this morning tended to focus on the question of whether new Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) rules designed to cover…
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Digging into Your Electric Bill
Monthly electric bills for a typical Virginia household (using 1,000 kilowatt hours) increased by $48.64 for Appalachian Power Co. customers over the past 10 years, and $26.61 for Dominion Energy Virginia customers. Those numbers come from a presentation by Kimberly B. Pate, director of the division of utility accounting at the State Corporation Commission, at…
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Dominion Open to Ending Rate Freeze
Take surplus revenue and invest it in modernizing the electric grid, the Richmond utility proposes. Dominion Virginia Energy has proposed ending a controversial freeze in base electric rates and plow surplus revenues owed to rate payers into modernizing the electric grid. “We believe it is time to transition away from the rate freeze as the…
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Follow the Dark Money
Yes, it’s a legitimate story when Dominion spend big bucks supporting grassroots groups that favor the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Why isn’t it also a story when out-of-state billionaires underwrite pipeline foes? We learn from the Washington Post today how Dominion Energy, its partners in the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, and the American Gas Association poured resources…
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Virginia Could Get Its Own Clean Power Plan
Terry McAuliffe’s days as governor of Virginia are rapidly drawing to a close, but proposed carbon-dioxide regulations working through the administrative process could prove to be his most lasting legacy. If adopted, the rule would cap carbon emissions at large power plants in 2020 and then require 3% reductions annually for 10 years, reports the…
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This Ain’t Your Father’s Electric Grid
Is Thomas Edison’s electric grid ready for the future? In some ways yes, and in other ways not yet. So says Kevin Curtis, vice president-technical solutions for Dominion Energy Virginia. The challenges of integrating renewable energy sources and protecting against cyber-threats have created the need for a smarter, modernized grid, Curtis said today in a…
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The Politicization of Energy Regulation in Virginia
Earlier this week the Richmond Times-Dispatch published an in-depth series tracing the history of the relationship between Dominion Energy, the General Assembly and the State Corporation Commission over the past twenty years. Michael Martz and Robert Zullo conducted dozens of interviews and reconstructed the complex history of electric utility oversight during a tumultuous period that…
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Dominion’s 3,000-Megawatt Battery
The Bath County pumped-storage facility has worked out so well for Dominion that the utility wants to build a smaller version in Southwest Virginia. Since its completion in 1985, the Bath County Pumped Storage Station has functioned like a giant battery, supplementing Dominion Energy Virginia’s base-load coal, nuclear and gas-fired plants with its variable output.…
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FERC Approves Atlantic Coast, Mountain Valley Pipelines
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) and Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) in rulings issued Friday. The three-person commission was divided on the issue of granting the pipelines a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity, with two commission members appointed by President Trump ruling in favor while an Obama administration…