Tag: Dominion
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Campaign Contributions and Selective Indignation
Steve Nash, author of “Virginia Climate Fever,” is on a crusade against Dominion Energy, electric utilities, the coal industry and other corporate special interests that donate vast sums of money to Virginia politicians. He has been submitting op-eds to newspapers around the state taking Dominion and Appalachian Power to task for their outsized campaign contributions.…
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On the Fine Art of Forecasting Peak Load Demand
Billions of investment dollars ride on the long-range forecast of Dominion’s peak load electricity demand. But whose projections do we believe — Dominion’s or PJM’s? In its 2017 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), Dominion Energy forecasts the increase in its peak electric load and anticipates what combination of new gas, solar and nuclear facilities it will…
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Dominion Explores Pumped Storage in SW Virginia
Much to my astonishment, Dominion Energy is taking a serious look at building a pumped-storage hydro-electric power plant in Virginia’s coalfields. I wrote about the idea back in February but it struck me as a long shot. So much for my superficial impression. It now transpires that Dominion is identifying potential sites in far Southwest…
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Yorktown Units Allowed to Operate on Emergency Basis
U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry has issued an order allowing the coal-fired Yorktown Units 1 and 2 to operate on a limited basis for three months this summer to prevent uncontrolled power disruptions in the North Hampton Roads area of Virginia. Dominion Energy had planned to shut down the two units to meet Environmental…
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Why Would Dominion Want a $19 Billion Nuclear Plant?
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has indicated it will issue a license within the next few days to build a third nuclear reactor at Dominion Energy’s North Anna power station, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported earlier this week. Dominion has spent $600 million so far on planning, engineering and developing the 1,450-megawatt facility, which has been widely…
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Building on Virginia’s Data-Center Boom
Data centers are the hottest trend in Virginia economic development these days. But the state is only beginning to think through the implications. Loudoun County, home to 75 facilities, has developed the largest cluster of data centers in the country (and perhaps the world), and next-door-neighbor Prince William County is rising fast. Rural Mecklenburg County…
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Anyone Remember the Coal Ash De-watering Controversy?
Environmental controversies are flying so fast and furious in Virginia these days that it’s hard to keep track of them all. As for last year’s disputations, they are quickly forgotten. Remember, for instance, the wrangling over Dominion Energy’s plans for de-watering coal ash ponds at its Bremo and Possum Point power stations? After intense negotiations,…
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Dominion Urges Citizens to Report Suspicious Activity
Dominion Energy issued an unusual press release a couple of days ago, urging customers to “report suspicious activity.” “Suspicious activity includes anything from someone recording or monitoring Dominion Energy facilities to someone who doesn’t seem like they belong in a certain area or is behaving strangely,” said Marc Gaudette, Director of Corporate Security, Safety and…
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McAuliffe Moves to Cap Utility Carbon Emissions
Big news yesterday: Governor Terry McAuliffe issued an executive order to cap greenhouse gas emissions from Virginia power plants. Unfortunately, I’m out of town on personal business today, so I don’t have time for anything more than a cursory analysis. Said McAuliffe in a press release: ““The threat of climate change is real, and we have a…
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Shareholders Pressure Dominion on Climate Policy
At Dominion Energy’s annual meeting earlier this month, shareholders submitted numerous shareholder proposals requiring the energy giant to adopt more environmentally friendly measures. I took note of some of them in my story about the event but never bothered to inquire about the vote results. I’ve attended plenty of annual meetings in my time, and I’d never…
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Farrell Defends Dominion’s Environmental Record
Under continual pressure from politicians, protesters and even shareholders to develop more renewable energy, Dominion Energy (which has changed its name from Dominion Resources) offered a vigorous defense of its environmental policies at its 108th annual meeting in downtown Richmond today. Since 2000 the company has cut nitrogen-oxide emissions 81%, sulfur dioxide emissions 95% and…
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The Failed Mountain “Decapitation” Narrative
Environmentalists say the Atlantic Coast Pipeline will “decapitate” pristine mountaintops in western Virginia. They have no evidence to back the claim. Last week foes of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) leveled their most rhetorically heated charges against the 600-mile pipeline project yet. Construction teams would have to excavate some 247,000 dump-truck loads of rock and…
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Dominion Sings New Tune, Embraces Solar
Dominion expects to install up to 5,200 megawatts of solar generating capacity by 2042 — about thirteen times its current commitment and enough to power 1.3 million homes — according to forecasts contained in its 2017 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). That represents a dramatic shift from forecasts in previous versions of the long-range planning document, which is filed…
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Avoiding Blackouts with a Remedial Action Scheme
Two years ago Dominion Virginia Power warned of dire consequences to the Virginia Peninsula if the company could not build a 500 kV transmission line across the James River. An analysis prepared by engineering consulting firm Stantec and submitted to the U.S. Corps of Engineers left little to the imagination: Dominion will be required to implement…
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Time to Panic Over the Closing of Yorktown Units? In a Word… No
The day, April 15, is fast approaching when Dominion Virginia Power will be compelled by federal regulations to shut down two coal-fired generating units at the Yorktown Power Station, exposing the Virginia Peninsula to the risk of blackouts. When the Yorktown units are shuttered, the utility will have enough electric power to supply the half…