Tag: Dominion
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Turbine Costs Appear on Dominion Bills in 2022?
by Steve Haner Customers of Dominion Energy Virginia will begin to pay for its planned 176 wind turbines off the coast of Virginia Beach next September, years before the first electricity is produced, if the company’s request for initial project funding is approved by the State Corporation Commission. As with all such projects now, the…
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General Herring: Air All Data in Wind Application
An open letter to Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring: Dear General Herring: As was reported by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Dominion Energy Virginia filed on Friday its application for approval to build offshore wind turbines with a nameplate capacity of 2,600 megawatts. The very first motion made to the State Corporation Commission was a request to…
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Oops. Wind Farm to Cost $2 Billion More
by James A. Bacon Dominion Energy’s CEO Bob Blue acknowledged yesterday that the cost of the power company’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project will cost $9.8 billion — $2 billion more than previously stated. During an investor conference call, Blue blamed the 25% jump on “commodity and general cost pressures” as well as completion of…
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Personnel is Policy On Future Energy Reform
by Steve Haner Does Tuesday’s election result mean Virginia is going to move back towards a rational energy policy? Watch two key personnel decisions, both entirely matters for the next legislature to decide. State Corporation Commissioner Angela Navarro was elected by the 2021 General Assembly to fill the unexpired term of Mark Christie, who moved…
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I Guess I Called that One Wrong
by James A. Bacon Steve Haner likes to yank my chain every so often, and he did so this morning — digging up my 2019 prognostication that Dominion Energy had lost the Democratic Party in Virginia. At the time Dominion was still committed to natural gas and the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, and opposition to the…
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Finally, Virginia’s Political Class Starts Thinking about Grid Reliability
by James A. Bacon At last — a serious discussion has occurred about the reliability of Virginia’s electric grid as the state moves toward zero-carbon electricity generation by 2050 (and 2045 in the Dominion Energy service territory). Reliability was a prime topic of conversation at the third Virginia Clean Energy Summit Tuesday. A panel discussion…
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More Proof Virginia Disclosure Laws are Crap
by Steve Haner In 2020, according to documents filed with the State Corporation Commission, Dominion Energy Virginia paid former state Senator John Watkins $92,297 for lobbying services. At the end of the reporting period, it officially claimed spending only $1,641 for him to influence the legislative process. In a similar manner, former Fairfax Delegate John…
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The Imperative for Reflection
by Bill O’Keefe Politicians are not known for engaging in reflection or looking back on legislation, but they should. The experience that Europe is having with its version of the Virginia Clean Economy Act is the reason why. Presently, Europe is experiencing energy shortages and surging prices. Some of this turmoil is due to global…
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Cost, Reliability and the Zero-Carbon Grid
by James A. Bacon Kevin Hennessy, Dominion Energy’s senior director of state affairs, expresses confidence that the electric power company can meet the Northam administration’s goal of creating a zero-carbon electric grid in its service territory by 2045. It does take a leap of faith that electric batteries or some other energy storage system will…
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McAuliffe Promise to Accelerate VCEA Schedule Will Accelerate VCEA Consumer Bill Increases
by Steve Haner When a State Corporation Commission staff analysis warned last year of $808 annual increases in Dominion Energy Virginia residential bills by 2030, that 58% increase was based on the existing deadlines set for Dominion’s conversion away from using fossil fuels. Change the deadlines, change the cost. Shorten the deadlines by half, as…
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Dominion Dips Toe into Battery Storage
by James A. Bacon Last week Dominion Energy announced a slew of new solar and energy-storage projects, which it describes as a “significant step” toward achieving the net-zero carbon goals for Virginia’s electric grid under the Virginia Clean Energy Act. The proposed investments include 11 utility-scale projects, two small-scale distributed solar projects, one combined solar…
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SCC Staff: Dominion Should Refund $312M, Cut Rates, Due to $1.14B Excess Profits
by Steve Haner Customers of Dominion Energy Virginia are due a refund of $312 million and the company’s future base rates should be reduced by another $50 million annually, the utility accounting staff at the State Corporation Commission concluded in testimony filed September 17. Patrick W. Carr, deputy director of the division of utility accounting…
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Nantucket Wind Suit May Have Virginia Echoes
by Steve Haner First published this morning by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy. A group of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts residents have filed suit challenging the pre-construction environmental review on a massive offshore wind complex planned off its shores. The issues raised may have a direct impact on the similar wind energy project planned off…
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Dominion Plans Low-Carbon Vehicle Fleet
by James A. Bacon In pursuit of its goal to achieve net-zero carbon-dioxide and methane emissions, Dominion Energy will transform its fleet of more than 8,600 vehicles across 16 states. After 2030, all new vehicles purchased, from passenger cars to heavy-duty vehicles, will be powered either by electricity or alternative fuels, the company announced today.…
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SCC Hikes Electricity Bills For New PIPP Subsidy
By Steve Haner All customers of Dominion Energy Virginia and Appalachian Power in Virginia will begin soon to pay an extra monthly charge related to the coming Percentage of Income Payment Program, the General Assembly’s new electricity cost subsidy for low-income residential customers. The PIPP was initially created in the 2020 Virginia Clean Economy Act…