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Tag: electricity

Charging up

Virginia Del. Richard “Rip” Sullivan Jr.  is one of the General Assembly’s biggest advocates for electric vehicles. But when the Fairfax County Democrat went to buy a car in 2018, he started feeling anxious about the electric cars on offer — particularly their relatively limited range, given the lack of electric vehicle (EV) chargers in the commonwealth.

“My local travels and commutes in-district would be perfect,” Sullivan says, but he got nervous thinking about his regular drives to Richmond for legislative business. “So, I blinked, and did not get my EV.” Instead, he bought a gas-powered Hyundai Elantra.

Sullivan told that story on the Virginia Capitol floor during the 2021 session. Electric vehicles, also known as EVs, have progressed in leaps and bounds in the year and a half since then — and Sullivan’s anxiety likely will completely evaporate by the time he buys his next car.

Manufacturers have gone all in on EVs. In a Super Bowl ad this year, General Motors Co. committed to an all-electric lineup by 2035. Last fall, Ford Motor Co. announced it would build would build a manufacturing campus in Tennessee to make an electric F-150 pickup and batteries for the vehicle, plus two more vehicle battery plants in Kentucky. Rivian Automotive Inc. and Hyundai Motor Co. both announced new electric vehicle factories in Georgia. Toyota Motor Corp. will build an electric vehicle battery plant in Greensboro, North Carolina. And Mercedes-Benz U.S. International is adding an EV assembly line at its Alabama plant, while Virginia-headquartered Volkswagen Group of America began production of an electric compact SUV at its Tennessee factory in July.

The federal government is getting in on the act, too. In November 2021, President Joe Biden signed into law the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which will make available nearly $5 billion for states to build out a coast-to-coast network of 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations by 2030. Virginia’s share is $106 million over five years, beginning with a $15.7 million installment in fiscal 2022.

That investment will “enable families to make the transition to electric and get where they need to go safely and efficiently,” says U.S. Sen. Mark Warner. “Electric vehicles offer a clean and affordable alternative to traditional fuel vehicles. That’s one of the reasons I worked so hard to negotiate and pass our bipartisan infrastructure law, which included a record investment in electric vehicle charging stations.”

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine is still calling for Congress to do more to spur the production and purchase of electric vehicles.

“Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in both Virginia and the United States,” Kaine says. “That means if we’re going to be serious about addressing climate change to protect Virginians from more torrential flooding and the dangers of rising sea levels, we need to do everything we can to make it easier for people to get from Point A to Point B in a more sustainable way.”

Sparking investment

The February announcement of the EV charging infrastructure funding prompted states to draw up their plans to build out their EV charging networks ahead of an August deadline — essentially the starting gun in a race to pave the way for electric vehicles.

Details around commercial electric vehicle charging are hazy so far. Many EV owners charge at home, but beyond that, the process quickly gets tricky. Some developers have added EV chargers at apartment complexes and shopping centers, but these vary. Some are universal chargers, and some are model-specific. Some stations charge much more rapidly than others. And some require payment to charge, while others are free.

Toward this end, Roanoke-based Virginia Transformer Corp. is manufacturing its E2V large-scale power modules (approximately 14,000 pounds and 8 feet by 9 feet by 14 feet) that commercial clients can use to develop custom commercial vehicle chargers. Each E2V unit includes multiple components needed to build charging stations, including transformers, switchgears, distribution circuits and breakers.

Another Virginia company that’s moving to fill the gap for EV chargers is Reston-based Electrify America. Volkswagen, which has its North American headquarters in Fairfax County, established the subsidiary company in 2016 after a highly publicized emissions scandal in which VW admitted cheating on U.S. emissions tests.

Electrify America has installed more than 800 charging stations with more than 2,500 chargers across 46 states. The company partners with Kia Corp., Hyundai and Ford to offer complimentary charges for some vehicle models. (Read more about Electrify America in our September 2022 cover story.)

The federal infrastructure bill should significantly boost the availability of chargers like those around the nation. Details of Virginia’s plan to access federal funding weren’t available as of early August, but federal officials generally seek to place EV chargers at least every 50 miles along interstates and major highways.

Virginia has a little bit of a policy head start on its Southeastern peers when it comes to electric vehicles.

During their two years in control of state government, Virginia Democrats passed landmark laws to decarbonize the state power grid by 2050 and begin the process of cutting vehicle emissions. In 2021, the General Assembly passed a law to implement a low- and zero-emissions vehicle program by adopting California’s emissions standards and electric vehicle sales targets.

The Virginia Automobile Dealers Association came out in support of the EV laws. VADA President Don Hall released a public statement during the 2021 session that was targeted as much at the organization’s members as it was lawmakers.

“As a dealer in Virginia, if you aren’t convinced EVs are your future, look at GM’s announcement of an all-EV fleet come 2035,” Hall wrote. “Look at your manufacturers and the direction they are headed. Start preparing. EVs are here to stay.”

State lawmakers also established a rebate program to lower the upfront cost of electric vehicle purchases but failed to budget any funding for it. Advocates’ hopes for new EV funding and legislation took a hit when Republicans won control of the governor’s mansion and the House of Delegates in the 2021 elections, but the ensuing General Assembly session hinted at the potential for bipartisan compromise.

Youngkin spokesperson Macaulay Porter points to a bill carried by Sen. T. Montgomery “Monty” Mason, D-Williamsburg, that encourages state government to purchase EVs if their lifetime cost is cheaper than gas vehicles.

“The governor knows that we can bring down emissions in Virginia with a common-sense approach that protects our natural resources and economic interests,” Porter says. “The administration continues to emphasize the importance of these products and this industry in our ongoing economic development strategy.”

Sullivan and Sen. Dave Marsden, D-Fairfax, co-sponsored legislation this year to establish a transportation decarbonization program to disburse up to $20 million annually in grants for private developers to install EV charging stations, covering 50% of nonutility costs in most localities and 70% in economically disadvantaged communities.

The bill didn’t survive budget negotiations, “but it spurred debate about how we implement infrastructure in rural areas,” says former state Del. Greg Habeeb, now a lobbyist and president of Richmond-based Gentry Locke Consulting.

“When people talk about electric vehicles and think about Teslas and people charging them in their garages, that’s great, but it’s really a tiny, tiny fraction of the public,” Habeeb says. That’s why the policy conversation is evolving to include consideration of multifamily rental housing and rural areas, he explains — “not highway corridors, not McLean [in Northern Virginia], but really getting into urban environments, rural environments [and] underserved environments.”

Sullivan and Marsden’s bill attracted bipartisan support. A related budget amendment by Del. Terry Kilgore, the House GOP majority leader, for rural charging infrastructure drew a handful of Republican votes in both chambers, but ultimately fell by the wayside after federal infrastructure money was announced for charging networks.

“That became a reason not to do anything at the state level,” Habeeb says.

The federal infrastructure money is intended to establish a network of chargers along interstates and major highways, easing “range anxiety” and encouraging more people to buy electric vehicles.

“The key is to get enough infrastructure so people buy vehicles, and the market can become self-sustaining, and then government doesn’t have to be involved anymore,” Habeeb says.

But, he says, that federal funding excludes many rural and urban areas not located along primary highway corridors. State incentives for “economically disadvantaged” areas in the Marsden/Sullivan bill were aimed at getting private developers to target those places, but once the federal money became available, state lawmakers put those considerations on hold.

Powerful advocate

Electric utilities like Dominion Energy Inc. also have some ideas about how the EV charger network buildout should be handled. Kate Staples is Dominion’s electrification manager. Part of her job entails helping people and businesses transition from gasoline and diesel vehicles, as well as from propane or natural gas in homes and factories.

Dominion has three priorities regarding EVs: Ease the process for customers to switch; expand access to charging infrastructure; and ensure the utility can meet growing demand with a grid increasingly powered by renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.

Dominion has been working with Virginia officials to assist in developing the state charger plan to receive federal infrastructure funding. The utility is also working with private companies to deploy chargers now.

For example, she says, Dominion “partnered with The Current, a mixed-use development in [Richmond’s] Manchester area with apartments and office space, to provide electric vehicle charging stations for tenants.” Dominion provided about half of the development’s 50 charging stations, which residents can use without additional fees.

Tension is already developing between Virginia’s monopolistic, regulated electrical utilities and its gas stations, which tend to be owned by independent franchisees. Gas stations might profit by adding chargers and selling high-margin retail goods to customers who are waiting for their cars to charge. But station owners are faced with the uncertain prospect of investing in chargers before the market has clearly taken shape.

“Our gas station clients are not aggressively proposing a shift toward EVs,” Habeeb says. “They want to find a way to preserve businesses for their families. I’m cynical about the role of utilities. Tomorrow, if you took every gas-powered vehicle off the road and replaced it with an EV, that would drive huge demand, deployment and distribution. All of that is investment for utilities to get a [guaranteed] return on.”

Staples, of course, sees it differently.

“I am an electric vehicle driver,” says the Dominion executive. “I charge at my house, so every morning I wake up with a full … tank. A gas driver can’t do that, so they have to go to gas stations. There needs to be significantly more gas stations than charging stations, because everyone can fuel up on electricity at home or a business.”

While Dominion Energy and Gentry Locke’s gas station-owning clients differ on the best ways to build charging infrastructure, they’re more aligned when it comes to electrifying school buses.

In 2019, Dominion launched an initiative to help Virginia school districts replace diesel buses with electric models. In its first phase, 15 localities received 50 electric buses that have clocked more than 300,000 miles so far. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also is assisting with the transition. It named more than 80 Virginia school districts as “priority” recipients for its $500 million Clean School Bus Program.

The program funds about $375,000 toward each bus, and another $20,000 for charging, although it can vary by school district. In April, the program awarded $1.5 million to five Virginia school districts to replace 32 old diesel buses.

Replacing diesel buses makes a big difference in air quality. One diesel bus emits more than 54,000 pounds of greenhouse gases each year, according to Dominion — and air quality inside a diesel bus is five times worse than outside. Additionally, electric buses build grid stability because they can be used as batteries when not in use. EV makers are making this part of their pitch: Ford, for example, says the batteries in its electric F-150s can be used to power homes for days in the event of a grid outage.

Meanwhile, Campbell County bus dealer Sonny Merryman Inc. has started selling electric school buses, including to its home county, with the aid of an Appalachian Power grant.

“While this technology is still in its infancy, I think we can all agree it is the future of human mobility and global sustainability,” Sonny Merryman Executive Chairman Floyd Merryman III said during the ribbon-cutting event.

Dominion Energy’s electrification manager, Kate Staples, charges her own electric vehicle every morning at home, an advantage electric vehicles have over gas-powered vehicles. Photo by Caroline Martin

Energetic outlook

Other companies also are investing in electric vehicles with massive economic development announcements entailing enormous incentives and thousands of jobs. Virginia’s Southeastern U.S. peers have snatched a disproportionate share of these factories, including the neighboring states of Kentucky, North Carolina and Tennessee. Georgia pledged $1.5 billion in incentives to land a $5 billion Rivian EV assembly plant, and $1.8 billion in incentives for a $5 billion Hyundai EV plant — the latter of which nearly landed at the Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill in Pittsylvania County, according to Danville Economic Development Director Corrie Bobe, adding that “making it to the final stage shows how well prepared the Southern Virginia Megasite is for large-scale manufacturing.”

The General Assembly approved $150 million in its budget this year to shore up utility infrastructure at sites such as the Southern Virginia Megasite. That may not sound like much, compared with the incentives Georgia is paying, but infrastructure improvements can help attract smaller companies in the EV supply chain — or in the supply chains for Virginia’s rapidly growing solar and wind energy industries. Or, for that matter, to entice companies like Amazon.com Inc. or Google LLC, which may not be directly involved in energy but want EV chargers and renewables to attract a talented, savvy workforce.

“That’s where we’ve been behind,” Marsden says. “These other states are ready to go. We haven’t been.”

That doesn’t mean Virginia hasn’t had EV-related wins.

Volkswagen announced in 2020 it had signed a lease to move its North American headquarters from Herndon to a 196,000-square-foot space at Reston Town Center. The German auto manufacturer is moving into the electric vehicle space in a big way, announcing a $7 billion investment in North America to boost its digital and electric technology over the next five years. That includes a battery lab in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where it also began producing its electric flagship ID.4 SUV in June.

Volvo Trucks, which manufactures all its North American tractor-trailer trucks in Pulaski County, set a global target to have electric vehicles account for half its truck sales by 2030. The Pulaski plant is contributing toward that target by making electric trucks, although Electromobility Product Marketing Manager Andy Brown says Volvo’s trucking customers also want vehicles that can run on hydrogen and cleaner diesel fuels.

Volvo Trucks manufactures all its North American tractor-trailer trucks in Pulaski County, where it’s expanding production of electric trucks. Photo courtesy Volvo Trucks

Volvo announced in 2019 it would invest nearly $400 million to upgrade the Pulaski County plant, with a portion of that going to prepare for more electric production, says Mary Beth Halprin of Volvo Group North America. By 2022, the company had sold 62 models of its electric VNR truck.

“We prepared and adjusted our production processes, so that we are assembling all powertrain variants of the Volvo VNR (battery-electric, compressed natural gas, diesel) on the same assembly line,” Halprin says. “There was specific training developed so that the battery-electric trucks could be — and are — assembled by the same skilled, trained employees who assemble all VNR models.”

In addition to the huge investments being made by global automakers like Volvo and Volkswagen, perhaps the greatest predictor of EVs’ success is the fact that their economic development potential has brought Democrats and Republicans together in other Southeastern states. Lawmakers who usually are at odds are finding bipartisan consensus around deals that carry billions in investments and create thousands of well-paid manufacturing jobs.

While electric vehicles might still feel futuristic, their ability to bring political parties together seems like the most obvious indicator of their coming ubiquity on American highways.

Virginia Transformer Corp. launches EV charger module

Roanoke-based power transformer manufacturer Virginia Transformer Corp. has entered the electric vehicle market by launching a manufacturing division to create components for commercial electric vehicle power chargers, with plans to expand the initiative, the company announced Monday.

Commercial customers can build self-contained, scalable power modules from VTC’s new product, E2V. The unit includes multiple elements needed for charging stations, including transformers, switchgears, distribution circuits and breakers.

“Instead of the developer needing to source all of the items separately and then trying to piece them together onsite, we build it all together and ship it [and] a customer … can be up and running in a day instead of a month,” Virginia Transformer Director of Communications Kevin Lowery told Virginia Business.

The module will serve commercial clients who will charge fees for EV users to use their chargers, similar to a gas station model. Charging stations require transformers to provide power, connecting the station to the power grid, which is where the E2V comes in.

Each E2V unit weighs approximately 14,000 pounds and measures 8 feet by 9 feet by 14 feet.

“EV infrastructure’s biggest challenges are procurement, logistics, coordination and field integration. Virginia Transformer’s E2V solution addresses these issues by housing and connecting the main components (switchgear, transformer, breaker) into an integrated unit, allowing us to quickly deliver a plug-and-play, easy-to-install power solution supporting EV infrastructure’s rapid deployment across the U.S.,” VTC CEO Prabhat K. Jain said in a statement.

Right now, many EV owners charge their vehicles at home. Commercial chargers available at shopping centers and other locations vary in charging universality, speed and cost. The E2V unit is customizable, making it easier for commercial operators to adapt it to their needs, Lowery emphasized.

The $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that President Joe Biden signed in November 2021 includes almost $5 billion for states to build out electric vehicle charging networks. Virginia will receive $106 million of that funding over five years, starting with $15.7 million in fiscal year 2022. Federal officials generally plan to have EV chargers available at least every 50 miles along interstates and major highways. The E2V module is aimed at the companies building these new charging stations across the nation, Lowery said.

Virginia Transformer Corp. expects to create 30 jobs at its Troutville facility as it shifts its production to focus on manufacturing end products. The company will build two complete production lines in Troutville and anticipates beginning initial production on them in the fall.

“As the largest U.S.-owned power transformer manufacturer in North America, Virginia Transformer has a reputation for designing and building innovative solutions for flexible deployment,” Jain said in a statement. “With 50 years of experience and the industry’s shortest lead time, the EV market is a natural fit for us.”

With 2,000 employees, Virginia Transformer Corp. provides custom-engineered power transformers for markets including data centers, utilities and bitcoin/cryptocurrency farms.

Dominion offshore wind farm cost climbs to $9.8B

Dominion Energy Inc.’s offshore wind farm will cost about $2 billion more than expected, the Richmond-based Fortune 500 utility’s chair, president and CEO, Bob Blue, said during a third quarter earnings call Friday.

Instead of the previously estimated $7.8 billion, the 2.6-gigawatt Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) commercial project will cost approximately $9.8 billion, Blue said, attributing the roughly 25% cost increase to rising commodities expenses and general cost pressures across a number of industries right now amid mounting inflation. Additionally, Blue cited costs associated with the need to build about 17 miles of new transmission lines and other onshore infrastructure associated with the project.

Dominion plans to build the 180 wind-turbine farm 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, with construction beginning in 2024. When completed in 2026, the wind farm is expected to power 660,000 homes. The wind farm will cost residential customers about $4 per month over the estimated 30-year lifespan of the wind farm, a Dominion spokesperson said.

Dominion submitted its application for the wind farm project to the Virginia State Corporation Commission Friday. As part of the filing, Dominion is also requesting SCC approval to build the 17 miles of new transmission lines and other onshore infrastructure needed to deliver the energy generated by the wind turbines to homes and businesses across Virginia. The route chosen was the shortest of the potential routes and would impact private property the least, the utility maintains, with 92% of the route within the former Southeastern Parkway and Greenbelt corridor, owned primarily by the city of Virginia Beach and/or co-located with existing Dominion Energy transmission line corridors.

Blue also outlined agreements in the competitive bidding process. Five major agreements represent about $6.9 billion, he said, and the remaining project costs are $1.4 billion for onshore transmission facilities and projected system upgrades and another $1.5 billion for other project costs including contingency onshore transmission facilities necessary to interconnect offshore generation components reliably and to maintain the structural integrity and reliability of the transmission system in compliance with mandatory North American Electric Reliability Cooperation (NERC) standards.

“We believe decisions we’re making around onshore engineering configurations will result in the best value for customers,” he said.

Last month, Dominion announced that Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy S.A., a Spanish wind turbine company, will invest $200 million to build the first U.S. offshore wind turbine blade manufacturing facility at the Port of Virginia’s Portsmouth Marine Terminal. Siemens Gamesa will make 176 14.7-megawatt turbines to be installed in the 112,800-acre commercial lease area.

Dominion also announced other contractors on the project Friday.

“We are moving the CVOW project forward by working with industry leaders as we bring utility scale offshore wind generation to our Virginia customers,” Joshua Bennett, Dominion Energy vice president of offshore wind said in a statement. “These contracts will allow us to manage costs for the benefit of our customers and take advantage of the developing domestic supply chain to deliver on our promise to bring clean-energy jobs to Hampton Roads.”

Germany-based EEW SPC will produce steel pipe and corresponding pipe components to manufacture 176 steel monopile foundations, the largest of which will be 268 feet long and weigh 1,175 tons. EEW SPC will process more than 200,000 tons of steel and production is scheduled to begin in 2023.

Denmark-based Bladt Industries will manufacture 176 transition pieces, which weigh as much as 800 tons and bind the monopile foundation and turbine together while providing physical access to the turbines.

Bladt and Denmark-based Semco Maritime will manufacture components for the three offshore substations, which are multi-story units weighing 4,000 tons each, a topside platform with helicopter landing pad 157 feet above the water and support structures installed in the sea floor.

Belgium and Boston-based DEME Offshore U.S. LLC and Italy-based Prysmian Group, as a consortium, will provide balance of plant services, including the transportation and installation of the foundation and substation components, and install the subsea cables. DEME Offshore U.S. LLC said in a news release that the contract value is up to $1.9 billion.

Prysmian Group will also provide all of the subsea inter-array and export cables that will deliver energy to shore. The cables will be produced in Arco Felice, Italy, and Pikkala, Finland, while the inter-array cables will be manufactured in Nordenham, Germany, Prysmian said in a news release.

The monopile foundations, transition pieces and turbine components will be staged on 72 acres Dominion will lease at Portsmouth Marine Terminal, as part of a 10-year-agreement with the Virginia Port Authority. The lease is valued at $4.4 million annually and has an option for two five-year renewals.

The CVOW wind farm will help Virginia reach its target, mandated by the Virginia Clean Economy Act, of having 100% carbon-free energy production by 2045, and Dominion Energy’s goal of net zero carbon and methane emissions by 2050. President Joe Biden’s administration has set a 2030 target to have installed 30,000 megawatts of U.S. offshore wind power capacity.

The offshore wind project is expected to create 900 jobs and generate $5 million per year in local and state tax revenue and $143 million in economic benefits annually during construction, according to Dominion. During operation, it will create 1,100 jobs, generating $11 million per year in local and state tax revenue and almost $210 million in ancillary economic benefits annually.

In July, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management began its two-year permitting and environmental review of the project.

Dominion announced third-quarter earnings of $654 million and 79 cents per share, compared with a net income of $356 million and 41 cents per share for the same period in 2020. Operating earnings for the three months ending Sept. 30 were $918 million, compared with $916 million for the same period in 2020.

Siemens Gamesa to build first U.S. offshore wind blade factory in Portsmouth

Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy S.A., a Spanish wind turbine company, will invest $200 million to build the first U.S. offshore wind turbine blade manufacturing facility in Portsmouth, creating 310 jobs, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced Monday from the Port of Virginia’s Portsmouth Marine Terminal.

Siemens Gamesa is a partner in Dominion Energy’s 2.6-gigawatt, $7.8 billion Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project. Expected to be the nation’s largest offshore wind farm when completed in 2026, the project will see about 180 wind turbines erected in federal waters 27 miles off the Virginia Beach coast, with construction beginning in 2024. At its peak, the wind farm is expected to generate enough energy to power 660,000 homes.

Siemens Gamesa plans to invest more than $80 million of the project’s estimated $200 million budget to erect buildings and equipment at an 80-acre site it will lease at Portsmouth Marine Terminal. When completed, the facility will be capable of producing blades for 100 turbines per year, a company executive said.

About 50 of the 310 jobs being created by the turbine blade manufacturing operation will be service jobs to support the CVOW wind farm. Dominion is leasing 72 acres at the Portsmouth Marine Terminal to use as a staging and preassembly area for the project’s massive foundations and turbines.

The facility will be the first offshore wind turbine blade manufacturing facility in the United States. 

“Virginians want renewable energy, our employers want it and Virginia is delivering it,” Northam said. “The commonwealth is joining these leading companies to create the most important clean energy partnership in the United States. This is good news for energy customers, the union workers who will bring this project to life and our business partners. Make no mistake: Virginia is building a new industry in renewable energy, with more new jobs to follow, and that’s good news for our country.”

The General Assembly passed the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) into law in 2020, requiring Dominion to generate all electricity produced for consumption in Virginia from renewable energy sources with zero carbon emissions by 2045.

Officials gathered at the Portsmouth Marine Terminal for Monday’s announcement included U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, who spoke about how Virginia’s offshore wind project lines up with President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better agenda to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power in the United States by 2030. She also noted the economic impact of shifting to clean energy.

“[Biden] sees the opportunity that is presented in this clean energy economy globally,” she said. “It is [a] $23 trillion market. … [and] America is going to get a big chunk of that. We’re not going to stand by and watch our economic competitors claim that market and that means manufacturing and that means generating clean energy and that means all kinds of energy, whether it’s nuclear or wind or solar or geothermal or hydropower.”

Grandholm said the announcement Monday was symbolic for the entire country. It’s also monumental for Hampton Roads’ and Virginia’s economy.

“People are talking about long-term effects but Americans tend to think about long-term effects in one year, five years, 10 years; we’re talking about decades if not generations, generational changes for the entire area, the entire commonwealth,” said Brian Ball, Virginia’s secretary of commerce and trade. 

He and Northam said it’s a major step in diversifying the state’s economy.

“We have always been dependent on the military and government contracting and we always will be, but something we recognized four years ago is we really needed to diversify our economy,” Northam said. “We did that by bringing in companies like Amazon, Micron, Microsoft, Facebook. … Dominion Energy is doing that by bringing in Siemens Gamesa.”

Siemens Gamesa and the project’s boosters also see it as a major step in creating a supply chain hub in Hampton Roads for other wind farm projects up and down the East Coast.

“We are hopeful that as states, including Virginia, commit to offshore wind, this facility will continue to be able to supply those projects that are located in other states,” said Steve Dayney, Siemens Gamesa’s head of Offshore North America. “What is important is that there is long-term certainty for investment of hundreds of millions of dollars. … We need that long-term certainty that the demand for the product is going to be there.That’s critically important.” 

Dayney said Siemens Gamesa chose Portsmouth for the site because there’s deepwater access, no overhead obstructions, plenty of room to build and the infrastructure is largely in place, compared with other locations.

Dominion Energy Chair, President and CEO Robert M. Blue said Dominion chose Siemens Gamesa as a partner in the project because the company built the Dominion offshore wind project’s first two pilot wind turbines, which went online in 2020, and “they’re a leader in this industry.”

Having the manufacturing facility will help speed development of Dominion’s planned 180-turbine wind farm, Blue said, but he added that starting a new supply chain also takes time and investment.

“When you’re starting a new supply chain, obviously there’s time associated with building a new factory, but creating jobs here, the economic activity here is going to pay great dividends for Hampton Roads and for Virginia,” he said. “And this is an industry that’s just starting in this country, so getting early pieces of the supply chain here increases the chances that Virginia will get more of the supply chain, which will be more jobs, and then ultimately, as we’ve all learned recently, having a local supply chain can be a real advantage.”

Appalachian Power issues RFP for solar, wind projects

Appalachian Power Co. on Monday issued a request for proposals (RFPs) for up to 300 megawatts of solar and/or wind generation resources. 

This is the first in a string of RFPs that the company will issue this year to comply with the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which requires that the company achieve 100% carbon-free energy generation in its Virginia service territory by 2050.

“This is Appalachian Power’s largest request yet in a single year for renewable energy bids,” Appalachian Power President and Chief Operating Officer Chris Beam said in a statement. “We look forward to reviewing the proposals and issuing more requests for bids later this year as we expand our portfolio and reliance on clean energy.”

Under the RFP, Appalachian Power may consider a single project or multiple facilities. Solar projects must be located in Virginia, while wind projects don’t have to be located in Virginia, but it is preferred. 

Appalachian Power is seeking facilities of at least 50 megawatts that can be commercially operational by mid-December 2023. Proposals with an operational date by Dec. 15, 2024, will still be considered, however.

Proposals must be submitted by March 31.

Appalachian Power has more 1 million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee. Last year, the company sought a rate increase from the State Corporation Commission, which was denied in November 2020. The company was seeking to increase rates by approximately $10 per month for a typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity.

 

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Appalachian Power denied rate increase by SCC

A rate increase sought by Appalachian Power Co. has been denied by the State Corporation Commission.

According to a statement issued by the SCC on Tuesday, Appalachian Power was seeking to increase rates by approximately $10 per month for a typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity. Appalachian Power earned profits that were within the range authorized by Virginia utility law for calendar years 2017, 2018 and 2019, determined by the SCC’s triennial financial review of the utility, through which it was seeking a rate increase.

The company will not receive a rate increase, and customers are not due refunds.

The company’s authorized rate of return on equity during the three-year review period was 9.42%. After reviewing the reasonableness of the company’s expenses and revenues during the period, the SCC determined the company earned slightly above that level. The commissioner also set a new authorized rate of return on equity of 9.2%, the rate that will be used to evaluate the company’s earnings during the next triennial financial review case in 2023. It will also be the return used for any new rate riders or adjustments to existing riders.

The SCC also made the following determinations:

  • Denial of the company’s request to apply the 2015 planned retirements of three coal-fired power plants to 2019 earnings
  • Denial of a request to increase the residential basic service charge from $7.96 to $14
  • Denial of implementation of a residential rate design that would have charged higher rates during summer months and lower rates during the winter.
  • The company will continue charging the same residential rate year-round.
  • Approval of voluntary energy efficiency rate schedules to provide residential customers with pricing signals that shift consumption to hours when demand and prices are lower

Appalachian Power serves about 1 million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee. Its Virginia service area includes Southwest Virginia and the Roanoke and New River Valley regions.

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Va. offshore wind industry could create 5.2K jobs, study finds

The offshore wind industry could create up to 5,200 jobs in Virginia (with a majority in Hampton Roads) and an estimated $740 million in total economic activity during the next several years, according to an economic impact analysis conducted by Henrico County-based Mangum Economics and released Tuesday by the Hampton Roads Alliance. 

Richmond-based Dominion Energy Inc. recently completed installation of the first two turbines in federal waters as part of its Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project. The next phase of the approximately $8 billion project is a large-scale, 2.6-gigawatt commercial operation, which will be enough to power approximately 660,000 homes. 

“Offshore wind energy is an established industry in Europe, but in its infancy here in the United States,” Mangum Economics founder and CEO Fletcher Mangum said in a statement. “Our estimates are informed by the experience of the offshore wind industry in the United Kingdom, currently the country with the most installed offshore wind capacity in the world. Our confidence in the robustness of our modeling is bolstered by the fact that our estimates closely parallel the recent findings of other researchers on comparable offshore wind projects.”

During the next six years, construction on Dominion’s proposed offshore wind farm expansion will create an estimated 900 jobs. And after manufacturing and construction are completed, it’s estimated that the continued operation of the project will create 1,100 direct and indirect jobs across the state. Jobs sectors would include engineering, wind technology, marine maintenance, logistics, construction, real estate, home improvement, hospitality and health care. The project is projected to generate more than $209 million in economic activity and nearly $6 million in local tax revenue for Hampton Roads. 

Dominion’s project is only part of the total development planned on the East Coast, with states from North Carolina to Massachusetts announcing plans to develop offshore wind along the coastline, which in turn has potential to spark development of East Coast manufacturing supply chain hubs, according to a statement from the Hampton Roads Alliance. 

“Hampton Roads is uniquely positioned to support the growing $100 billion East Coast offshore wind industry,” according to the alliance. “The region boasts unmatched port infrastructure, America’s largest and most skilled maritime workforce, no overhead bridge restrictions between key port facilities and the open ocean, and abundant waterfront land.”

A $529,788 grant from the Department of Housing and Community Development and GO Virginia will allow for the recruitment of offshore wind companies to establish operations in the region and identify Virginia companies for the supply chain.

“The offshore wind industry brings with it unparalleled potential to further diversify the economy of Hampton Roads,” Douglas L. Smith, Alliance president and CEO, said in a statement.  “The economic impact showcased in this report is the reason why the Alliance is committed to helping our region build a supply chain and prepare sites across the region to house companies that will participate in the manufacturing and operation of wind turbines. Our maritime workforce and unique geographic assets make us well positioned to secure this industry, but only if we come together as a region and commonwealth to present our compelling case to industry leaders.”

 

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Hitachi AAB Power Grids expanding in Bland County

Hitachi ABB Power Grids will invest $6.2 million to upgrade equipment and increase manufacturing capacity at its operations in Bland County, where it is the county’s largest private-sector employer. The expansion will add 40 jobs, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Monday.

“Hitachi ABB Power Grids has made tremendous contributions to Southwest Virginia and the commonwealth for nearly 50 years, and we look forward to our continued partnership with this expansion,” Northam said in a statement. “The company’s decision to invest in its Bland County facility is a testament to the region’s accessibility, integrated transportation network and skilled manufacturing workforce. We thank Hitachi ABB for its commitment to sustainable energy and for helping advance our Clean Energy Virginia initiative in rural parts of the commonwealth.”

The Hitachi ABB Power Grids’ Bland facility has been in operation since 1972, designing and manufacturing medium voltage dry-type power transformers to be used to adjust and stabilize the voltage of electricity flowing between the electric grid and businesses, homes and factories. The company employs 800 people throughout Virginia, with approximately 332 working at its Bland County facility. The Bland County operation competed with other Hitachi manufacturing facilities across the United States for the project.

“With its proximity to key markets and range of transportation options, Virginia provides the right combination of location and access that makes it easy to get our products where they need to be,” Steve McKinney, Hitachi ABB Power Grids senior vice president and hub manager for transformer business in North America, said in a statement. “Perhaps most importantly, the commonwealth has a skilled workforce and is able to meet our advanced manufacturing needs. We look forward to building on our long, successful track record in Virginia.”

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) worked with the Bland County Economic Development Authority, the Virginia’s Industrial Advancement Alliance and the Port of Virginia to secure the project for Virginia. Northam approved a $140,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist Bland County with the project, and the company is eligible to receive benefits from the Port of Virginia Economic and Infrastructure Development Zone Grant Program. VEDP’s Virginia Jobs Investment Program will provide funding and services to support employee training.

“It is always good news when a multinational corporation like Hitachi ABB Power Grids chooses to expand, due in part, to the benefits provided by The Port of Virginia,” Virginia Port Authority CEO and Executive Director John Reinhart said in a statement. “We are expanding our capabilities to attract more companies like Hitachi ABB Power Grids, and we look forward to serving as its international trade gateway for decades to come.”

 

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Energy

Blue

ROBERT M. ‘BOB’ BLUE

PRESIDENT AND CEO, DOMINION ENERGY INC., RICHMOND

In October, Blue takes over as Dominion’s president and CEO, though he’ll still answer to his predecessor, Thomas Farrell II, who’s taking on the title of executive chair.

Blue joined Dominion in 2005, serving in various leadership roles, including, most recently, as executive vice president and co-chief operating officer. He also served as president of Dominion Energy Virginia, with 2.6 million customer accounts. He has led Dominion’s efforts to build the nation’s largest offshore wind farm 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, as well as Dominion’s investments in solar energy and its partnership with Smithfield Foods to convert methane from hog waste into natural gas. Blue was also president and CEO of Dominion’s power delivery business unit until 2017.

A graduate of the University of Virginia and Yale Law School, Blue holds a master’s degree in business administration from U.Va.’s Darden School of Business. He sits on U.Va.’s board of visitors and is also a trustee for the Virginia Health Care Foundation. From 2002 to 2005, he served as counselor and director of policy for Gov. Mark Warner.

THOMAS F. FARRELL II

Farrell. Portrait courtesy Mark Mitchell

EXECUTIVE CHAIR, DOMINION ENERGY INC., RICHMOND

One of the most prominent business leaders in Virginia, Farrell has led the Fortune 500 power and energy company since 2006 and is also one of the highest-paid executives in his industry, making about $15 million annually. Under his leadership, Dominion, with more than $13 billion in annual revenues, has tripled its philanthropic giving and come close to doubling its earnings per share.

July was an eventful month for the utility, with Farrell announcing he was passing his responsibilities as president and CEO to Robert Blue. Dominion also completed construction on the first offshore wind farm in federal waters, part of an effort to meet a state mandate to generate 100% of Virginia’s electricity from carbon-free sources by 2045. And Dominion walked away from its plans to build the controversial $8 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline and sold its natural gas transmission and storage assets in a $9.7 billion deal, with Farrell saying Dominion was narrowing its focus to its utilities business.

Earlier this summer, Dominion made $40 million in commitments towards racial equity, including supporting social justice nonprofits and historically black colleges and universities.

Farrell chairs the board of directors for the state-funded GO Virginia economic development initiative. He’s also chairman of the board of directors for Henrico County-based Fortune 500 tobacco manufacturer Altria Group Inc.

Gluski

ANDRÉS R. GLUSKI

PRESIDENT AND CEO, AES CORP., ARLINGTON

When Gluski took the reins of the Fortune 500 global power company in 2011, 60% of its power generation operations were fueled by coal. But Gluski began an aggressive push toward producing more sustainable and greener energy in the 14 countries AES serves.

Gluski has reduced AES’s coal generating power to 30%, and by 2022, he expects to have halved the company’s carbon footprint from its 2016 levels. Simultaneously, he has increased the company’s credit rating, initiated a quarterly dividend, which has grown at an 8% annual rate, and overseen more than 5,000 megawatts of new power generation, while vastly expanding the company’s use of battery storage capacity, wind and solar energy.

“The basic want-to-do-good DNA of this company made this easier,” Gluski told Forbes magazine in December 2019.

Raised in Venezuela, where he was director general of public finance for the Ministry of Finance, Gluski earned his master’s and doctorate in economics from the University of Virginia. He serves as chairman for the Council of the Americas’ board of directors.

Kibler

JIM KIBLER

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, SOUTHERN COMPANY GAS; PRESIDENT*, VIRGINIA NATURAL GAS INC., VIRGINIA BEACH

Kibler oversees the delivery of natural gas to almost 300,000 customers in southeastern Virginia, a customer base that continues to swell.

Lately, Virginia Natural Gas has been working to gain approval from the State Corporation Commission for its controversial $346 million Header Improvement Project, which would connect pipeline infrastructure in Northern Virginia to Hampton Roads. It has until Dec. 31 to fulfill a raft of SCC requirements. Though it’s been met with opposition from landowners and environmentalists, Virginia Natural Gas says the project will upgrade the state’s natural gas infrastructure and provide a reliable method for meeting the region’s growing energy needs.

The civic-minded Kibler serves on the boards of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce and the Mead Endowment at the University of Virginia. He also sits on the GO Virginia Region 5 Council and is vice rector of the board of visitors at Radford University.

A graduate of the University of Virginia, Kibler holds a law degree, with honors, from the University of Richmond.

*Editor’s Note: Kibler announced his retirement after the Virginia 500 went to press. As of Sept. 4, former Virginia Natural Gas President Robert Duvall will take his place as president.

Leopold

DIANE LEOPOLD

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, DOMINION ENERGY INC., RICHMOND

Leopold landed her first job in the energy industry as a power plant engineer because she was willing to climb 500-foot smokestacks. Her career since has reached even loftier heights.

In October, Leopold will become the company’s sole chief operating officer, responsible for all the company’s operating segments. She previously served as executive vice president and co-COO, overseeing Dominion Energy South Carolina (with 1.1 million customers) and the company’s gas distribution segment. She’s also responsible for its gas transmission and storage division, which is being sold to a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary by the end of 2020.

A graduate of the University of Sussex in England, she holds a master’s degree in engineering from George Washington University and an MBA from Virginia Commonwealth University. Leopold joined Dominion in 1995, holding a number of executive roles. She is chair of the American Gas Association and serves on the board of trustees at Virginia Union University. She also serves on the boards of Markel Corp. and the GO Virginia Foundation.

And Leopold still isn’t afraid of reaching new heights. She has made more than 450 skydiving jumps, and, a few years ago, even rappelled down a 20-story building in downtown Richmond to raise money for the United Way. “I’ve learned to embrace the journey just as much as the reward,” she says.

Westerbeek

KRAIG WESTERBEEK

SENIOR DIRECTOR, SMITHFIELD RENEWABLES, SMITHFIELD FOODS INC., SMITHFIELD

As the point man for the world’s largest pork producer’s ambitious goal to lower its greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2025, Westerbeek is tackling the problem of methane gas released by manure at the many hog farms that supply the ham and bacon for which Smithfield is famous. Methane is 25 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, and it is responsible for as much as 40% of Smithfield’s carbon footprint.

Westerbeek has helped Smithfield engage 80% of its grain supply chain in efficient fertilizer and soil health practices, but perhaps even more crucially, he has been overseeing an aggressive effort to harness the energy of methane now being released into the atmosphere.

He is a leader in Align Renewable Natural Gas, a $500 million joint venture between Smithfield and Dominion Energy to convert methane from Smithfield’s hog farms into saleable natural gas. The enterprise is projected to remove about 105,000 metric tons of methane annually, the equivalent of taking half a million cars off the road.

A North Carolina State University graduate, Westerbeek began working for Smithfield in 1993 as an environmental technician. He was most recently vice president for environment, engineering and support services for Smithfield’s hog production division in North Carolina.

 

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SEC files federal suit against Dominion Energy’s South Carolina utility

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against Dominion Energy South Carolina Inc., South Carolina-based utility provider SCANA Corp. and two former SCANA executives, alleging that “SCANA and its senior executives repeatedly deceived investors, regulators and the public over several years about the status of a $10 billion nuclear energy project,” between 2015 and 2017. Richmond-based Dominion Energy Inc. acquired SCANA Corp. for $7.9 billion in an all-stock deal in January 2019.

Filed in the U.S. District Court of South Carolina, the  SEC lawsuit also seeks to force the utility’s former CEO, Kevin Marsh, and former executive vice president, Stephen Byrne, to pay back any ill-gotten gains and be banned from running any publicly traded companies. The complaint says that.

The complaint, which is not a criminal proceeding but also does not preclude federal criminal charges, refers to a failed nuclear project that led to hundreds of millions of dollars in losses to SCANA and South Carolina investors. “Despite knowing that the schedule was unreliable and the tax credits were at risk, SCANA’s senior management publicly touted the construction schedule and the company receiving $1.4 billion in federal tax credits for the expansion project,” the SEC’s complaint reads.

“This is a disappointing development related to a long-standing investigation by the SEC regarding pre-merger activities,” Dominion Energy said in a statement released Thursday . “Dominion Energy has been fully cooperating with the SEC in this investigation. That cooperation began prior to completion of our merger. We are taking this matter very seriously, and are reviewing the complaint to determine our next steps.”

On Feb. 11, Dominion Energy attributed its $1 billion annual earnings drop last year to costs related to the SCANA acquisition, including refunds to retail electric customers of Dominion Energy South Carolina due to the failed nuclear project. The South Carolina-based utility holding company was a majority partner in a failed nuclear reactor construction project that SCANA abandoned in 2017 due to rising costs, work delays and the bankruptcy of its main contractor, Westinghouse Electric Co.

“A lot of it was customer refunds that we took below the line,” Dominion spokesperson Ryan Frazier says of the difference in annual earnings. “We bought the company after [SCANA] walked away from the project. … We worked on a plan to give ratepayers back a lot of the money they had put into the project previously.”

Dominion released a statement clarifying that in December 2019 the company had executed a settlement agreement with former SCANA shareholders for $192.5 million, which was approved by the federal district court of South Carolina in February this year. 

Dominion Energy has more than 7 million customers in 18 states and has more than $100 billion in assets.