Power up
In October 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy‘s Grid Deployment Office awarded Dominion Energy a grant of $33.7 million to help make the state’s electrical grid more efficient. The funds, provided through the department’s $3.5 billion Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) program, will support increasing battery storage capacity in rural communities and facilitating[...]
North Anna gets federal OK to operate through 2060
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved 20-year extensions for North Anna Power Station’s two nuclear reactors, allowing them to operate through 2058 and 2060, Dominion Energy announced Wednesday. The two reactors in Louisa County were originally licensed to operate for 40 years, beginning in 1978 and 1980, and in 2003, the licenses were renewed for […]
Natural selection
Natural gas as a source of energy for Virginia power plants is set to reach its final days by the middle of the century — or is it? The Virginia General Assembly set that deadline in 2020 when it passed the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which requires the state’s two major electric utilities to shift […]
Dominion to sell 50% interest in offshore wind farm
Dominion Energy announced Feb. 22 it had reached an agreement with investment firm Stonepeak to sell a 50% noncontrolling stake in the utility‘s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project for nearly $3 billion. The deal is expected to close by the end of 2024, if approved by the Virginia State Corporation Commission and the North Carolina […]
Clarke County limits solar development
Clarke County prioritizes agriculture. That’s what drives most of its policy-making as the county navigates the complexities of renewable energy development while preserving its farmland, explains County Administrator Chris Boies. In January, the county’s Board of Supervisors approved new regulations for utility-scale solar projects. Boies says the ordinance has always required solar p[...]
Conservative groups sue to stop Dominion wind farm
A nonprofit conservative watchdog group based in Falls Church filed a lawsuit Monday against Dominion Energy, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the U.S. Department of the Interior and other government bodies, aiming to stop construction of Dominion‘s offshore wind farm expected to begin this spring 27 miles off the Virginia Beach coast. The […]
SWVA clean energy development could draw $8.5B in investments
Wise County and neighboring localities in Southwest Virginia may become home to a massive clean energy development that could attract up to $8.25 billion in capital investments, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Wednesday. An agreement between Energy DELTA Lab, Dallas-based Fortune 100 energy company Energy Transfer and Wise County will involve the development of 65,000 acres […]
Dominion offshore wind farm moves closer to final approval
Dominion Energy has passed another critical federal hurdle on its way to gaining approval to begin construction on its $9.8 billion, 176-turbine offshore wind farm 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management granted a favorable record of decision for the Richmond-based Fortune 500 electric utility‘s 2.6-gigawatt Coastal Virginia […]
Rocky Forge project faces stiff headwinds
Eight years after it was first proposed, Virginia’s first onshore wind farm remains grounded behind regulatory, legal and political obstacles. Charlottesville-based Apex Clean Energy first announced plans for its Rocky Forge wind farm in 2015. Apex aimed to have blades spinning by 2017 on 25, 550-foot-tall wind turbines on North Mountain, in a remote section […]
Massive foundation posts arrive for Dominion’s offshore wind farm
The first eight monopiles, the wind-turbine foundation posts for Dominion Energy‘s $9.8 billion offshore wind farm, arrived at Portsmouth Marine Terminal on Oct. 19, and state officials and Dominion executives celebrated their arrival from Germany Friday. In a ceremony Friday, Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Dominion Chair, President and CEO Bob Blue and state and local dignitaries […]
Lynchburg transformer manufacturer to add 149 jobs
Industrial power equipment manufacturer Delta Star Inc. will invest $30.2 million to expand its manufacturing operation and headquarters in Lynchburg, creating an estimated 149 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Wednesday. The company will add 80,000 square feet of mobile power transformer manufacturing space to its 300,000-square-foot facility located at 3550 Mayflower Drive and will consolidate[...]
Data center park headed for Surry County
A Middleburg developer plans to build at least 30 data centers on a 641-acre plot next to the Surry Nuclear Power Station in Surry County, with the possibility of a hydrogen and nuclear-powered green energy production facility in the future, the county announced Wednesday. John Andrews, CEO of Middleburg-based Green Energy Partners LLC of Virginia, […]