Tag: Dominion
-
Gas Worse Carbon Polluter than Coal, Says Sierra Club
by James A. Bacon The Sierra Club has attacked the idea of natural gas as a “clean fuel” in a new broadside against the proposed construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) and the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) through Virginia. When viewed over the “natural gas fuel cycle” — including production, transportation and combustion — natural…
-
Putting a Price on the Priceless
How does the state put a dollar value on historic, cultural and environmental assets threatened by eminent domain? by James A. Bacon In its high-stakes effort to win regulatory approval to build a 500 kV electric transmission line to the Virginia Peninsula, Dominion Virginia Power proposed in December to spend $85 million to mitigate the project’s impact…
-
Clash of Competing Values
Virginians need pipelines and transmission lines to keep the economy humming. But we also value our historical, cultural and historical heritage. The trade-offs are getting harder and harder. by James A. Bacon In the 1970s engineers at Dominion Virginia Power envisioned the need to increase the supply of electric power to the Virginia Peninsula one day.…
-
Clean Power Plan Will Cost Virginia “Billions” Says Dominion Chief
by James A. Bacon Thomas F. Farrell II might have publicly stated his opinions about the Clean Power Plan before, but I haven’t read or heard them. Comments he made Friday at a conference sponsored by the Virginia Bankers Association and the Virginia Chamber of Commerce provide insight into what the CEO of Dominion Resources, Virginia’s…
-
SCC Asks Tough Questions about Nukes, CO2 Emissions
by James A. Bacon Given the legal and regulatory uncertainties associated with Clean Power Plan, which requires Virginia to reduce CO2 emissions 30% by 2030, Dominion Virginia Power’s 15-year strategic plan filed in July 2015 is reasonable and in the public interest, the State Corporation Commission (SCC) ruled in a final ruling released today. However, the SCC…
-
Commissioner Questions Constitutionality of Electricity Rate Freeze
by James A. Bacon The Virginia state Constitution clearly delegates to the State Corporation Commission the power to set electric rates. States Article IX, Section 2: “Subject to such criteria and other requirements as may be prescribed by law, the Commission shall have the power and be charged with the duty of regulating the rates,…
-
McAuliffe, Dominion Ink 110 Megawatt Solar Deal
by James A. Bacon Wow, it’s electricity overload here at Bacon’s Rebellion global command headquarters, as important energy-related stories keep rolling in… Dominion Virginia Power has reached an agreement with Governor Terry McAuliffe in which the Commonwealth of Virginia will purchase 110 megawatts of solar power from Dominion under a long-term agreement. Dominion will build up to 75…
-
Radiation, Hormesis and Nuclear Power
by James A. Bacon I belong to a generation that grew up with a fear of nuclear war, fall-out and slow, agonizing death by radiation poisoning. We’d seen the horrors of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. We lived through the scare of Three Mile Island and, years later, had our fears reinforced by catastrophes at Chernobyl and Fukushima.…
-
Dominion’s Proposed Six-Year, Virginia Infrastructure Spend: $11.7 Billion
by James A. Bacon Dominion Resources proposes to expend $11.7 billion over the next six years on energy infrastructure serving Virginia, including new generating plants, electric transmission lines, a gas pipeline and environmental clean-up, the company announced today. Of that amount, an estimated $5.7 billion will be spent in Virginia, producing a direct and indirect economic…
-
How Much Is It Worth to Preserve Dominion’s Nuclear Option?
by James A. Bacon Perhaps the biggest question facing Virginia as it implements the Clean Power Plan, which mandates a 37% reduction in CO2 emissions from Virginia power plants by 2030, is what fuel mix to rely upon. Compelled to cut coal use sharply, Virginia’s power companies effectively have a choice of natural gas, nuclear and…
-
A Whimsical Proposal for Defusing the Skiffes Creek Controversy
Two weeks ago the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued “preliminary finding” that Dominion Virginia Power’s preferred route for building a 500 kV transmission line across a historic stretch of the James River is the lowest-cost alternative for meeting the electricity needs of the Virginia Peninsula while remaining compliant with federal environmental laws. While the Corps continues to…
-
Tracking Hurricane Outages Online
by James A. Bacon Last month Dominion Virginia Power rolled out an interactive map that allows the public to report and track power outages and restoration. A nice touch, I thought at the time, but no big deal. That was before Hurricane Joaquin was bearing down on Virginia. All of a sudden, I’m very interested. According to…
-
Towards a Smarter Grid
Dominion Virginia Power is using big data to increase the reliability of its electric distribution network. The result: Fewer disruptions and shorter outages for customers.
-
The Rule of Firsties
by James A. Bacon I was chatting the other day with a friend, a William & Mary professor living in Williamsburg, about the Surry-Skiffes Creek transmission line project (see “An Intractable Dilemma“). Despite the high stakes involved, he said, he hadn’t paid much attention to the controversy, finding it hard to generate sympathy for a…
-
An Intractable Dilemma
When Dominion shuts down the Yorktown Power Station, Virginia’s Peninsula will need another source of electric power. Dominion says a 500 kV transmission line over the historic James River is the the best. Conservationists disagree.