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Tag: energy

Framatome plans $49.4M expansion, creating 515 jobs

Framatome, a French nuclear power company with its United States headquarters in Lynchburg, will invest $49.4 million to expand, modernize and enhance its facilities, creating an estimated 515 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Thursday.

The expansion will meet increased demand for servicing existing nuclear power plants and developing solutions for advanced and small nuclear reactors. At the end of October, Framatome had 1,350 employees in Lynchburg, where it has had a presence since 1989. Framatome designs, services and installs components, fuel and instrumentation and control systems for nuclear power plants worldwide.

“We are building the world’s leading nuclear energy hub right here in Virginia, thanks to the continued growth of industry leaders like Framatome,” Youngkin said in a statement. “The commonwealth is implementing an all-of-the-above energy plan to ensure abundant, reliable, affordable and clean energy, and Framatome is key to increasing our workforce in this critical technology for our future. Virginia can set the standard when it comes to energy innovation and has a pipeline of world-class talent prepared to meet demand.”

Virginia competed with North Carolina and Pennsylvania for the project.

In 2018, Framatome moved its North American headquarters from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Lynchburg and now has three operational and corporate sites in Lynchburg for its fuel, installed base and instrumentation and control (I&C) business units.

The company also operates its Framatome Nuclear Technology Academy at Lynchburg’s Central Virginia Community College, with the academy announcing a major revamp in May.

“The greater Lynchburg region and the commonwealth of Virginia have been Framatome’s North American base of operations for over a half-century. Now, we’re strengthening our commitment to our home and our shared goal of safe, reliable, low-carbon power generation,” Kathy Williams, CEO of Framatome North America, said in a statement. “Our extensive investments in facility expansion and modernization, broadening our labor pool and escalating recruitment will help energize our community and align us with the Commonwealth of Virginia as catalysts in the transition to a clean energy future.”

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with the City of Lynchburg to secure the project. Youngkin approved a $5 million grant from the Commonwealth’s Development Opportunity Fund to assist Lynchburg with the project. Framatome is eligible to receive state benefits from the Major Business Facility Job Tax Credit for full-time jobs created, as well as benefits from the Virginia Enterprise Zone program, administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. VEDP will also provide support to Framatome through its Virginia Talent Accelerator Program.

Clean energy development could draw $8.5B in investments

Wise County and neighboring localities may become home to a massive clean energy development that could attract up to $8.25 billion in capital investments, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Nov. 1.

An agreement between Wise County, the Energy DELTA Lab and Dallas-based Fortune 100 energy company Energy Transfer aims to develop 65,000 acres of former coal mining property into a hub for generating power from a variety of sources — including wind, solar, pumped storage hydropower, nuclear, natural gas and hydrogen — as well as energy storage. That “all-of-the-above” approach is in alignment with the Youngkin-backed Virginia Energy Plan, which aims to fulfill the Virginia Clean Economy Act’s renewable power mandates through a mix of energy sources beyond wind and solar.

The 2022 Virginia Energy Plan launched the nonprofit Energy DELTA Lab, which will be the primary developer of the Southwest project. More than a dozen projects are under consideration — they total $8.25 billion in potential private capital investment, according to the governor’s office, and could create 1,650 jobs and generate nearly 1 gigawatt of power.

Energy Transfer owns the 65,000 acres, which is primarily in Wise County, while Penn Virginia Operating Co. manages the land. Neighboring Lee, Scott and Dickenson counties and the city of Norton also could see related development, as the DELTA Lab conducts due diligence on several projects.

“The commonwealth’s power demand is skyrocketing, and now is the time to make strategic investments in energy infrastructure to meet our growing needs,” Youngkin said in a statement. “This agreement will make Virginia energy more reliable, affordable and clean while transforming Southwest Virginia into a
hub for innovation.”

The DELTA Lab is developing three industrial sites in Wise County, including on land owned by Energy Transfer:

  • The Nature Conservancy and Sun Tribe Solar are locating a solar farm on the 300-acre “Meade Fork” site near Pound;
  • A mixed-use development project, including an industrial clean energy component, will be built on the 2,000-acre “Junction” site near Appalachia;
  • The team will convert a 400-acre prev-iously mined property into a 1-gigawatt, multitenant data center campus on the 4,000-acre “Bullitt” site on the border with Lee County, which can hold multiple industrial projects with adjacent energy sites to power on-site demand.

“This is opening up land that otherwise would not be developed,” said Will Payne, managing partner of Coalfield Strategies and director of InvestSWVA.

A longer version of this story ran online on Nov. 1.

Va. could get $100M+ lithium-ion battery project

A $100 million-plus lithium-ion battery project could be coming to Virginia, the U.S. Department of Energy announced Monday, but a spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Mark Warner said North Carolina could also be in contention.

MP Assets will build a facility to manufacture separators for lithium-ion batteries, bringing 282 permanent jobs and at least a $100 million investment, according to the announcement. The announcement named Virginia but did not identify where the project would be located, saying only that the project will provide the jobs for “double dispersed coal and Justice40 communities.” Justice40 refers to a goal set by President Joe Biden that 40% of certain federal investments, including in climate change, and clean energy and transit as well as other workforce, housing and pollution remediation, go to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized, underserved and overburdened by pollution.”

While the energy department said the project would go to Virginia, it wasn’t immediately clear that that would be the case. Rachel Cohen, a spokesperson for Warner, said North Carolina had also been considered a potential location. Additional information about the project was not immediately available Monday and a company official could not be reached.

Lithium-ion batteries are used in a range of products, including power tools and electric vehicles. The Department of Energy award was one of seven announced Monday for former coal communities totaling $275 million, as well as the largest, and the projects are expected to be matched by $600 million in private investments. The projects are part of a Biden administration initiative to address critical energy needs while rebuilding a domestic supply chain for existing and emerging technologies.

Other projects include $50 million for Boston Metal, a company founded by MIT scientists, to build a plant in Weirton, West Virginia, to manufacture metal and alloy for clean energy industries while reskilling workers in the former coal community, as well as $20 million for a wind turbine manufacturing plant in Vernon, Texas.

 

 

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 of former coal mining land for “all-of-the-above” energy technology — including natural gas, nuclear, renewable energy and other emerging energy sources. That’s in alignment with the Youngkin-supported Virginia Energy Plan, which aims to fulfill the Virginia Clean Economy Act’s mandates by including a mix of energy sources beyond wind, solar and battery storage supported by Virginia Democrats.

The 2022 Virginia Energy Plan launched the nonprofit Energy DELTA Lab, which will be the primary developer of the Southwest project, and more than a dozen projects are under consideration for the land — they total $8.25 billion in potential private capital investment, according to the governor’s office, and could create 1,650 jobs and generate nearly 1 gigawatt of power. By contrast, Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project is expected to produce 2.6 gigawatts of power.

Energy Transfer owns the 65,000 acres, which is primarily in Wise County, and owns surface and subsurface rights, while Penn Virginia Operating Co. manages Energy Transfer’s land. Neighboring Lee, Scott and Dickenson counties and the city of Norton also could see development and have projects undergoing due diligence with the DELTA Lab.

Development could include wind, solar, nuclear, hydrogen and pumped storage hydro, as well as energy storage technologies.

“The commonwealth’s power demand is skyrocketing, and now is the time to make strategic investments in energy infrastructure to meet our growing needs,” Youngkin said in a statement. “This agreement will make Virginia energy more reliable, affordable and clean while transforming Southwest Virginia into a hub for innovation.”

The partnership plans to develop energy projects at scale, with its primary goals being creating jobs and local tax revenues. Other goals include creating career pathways for the regional workforce and manufacturing opportunities.

Readying industrial land

The Energy DELTA Lab is currently developing three industrial sites in Wise County, including on land owned by Energy Transfer: the 300-acre “Meade Fork” site, the 2,000-acre “Junction” site and the 4,000-acre “Bullitt” site.

The Meade Fork site is located near the town of Pound, and the Energy DELTA Lab is working with The Nature Conservancy and Sun Tribe Solar to locate a solar energy facility on it. The project received a $975,000 grant from the U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement’s Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization program, administered by the Virginia Department of Energy.

The Junction site, located near the town of Appalachia, will be a mixed-use development pilot combining four land uses on multiple sites of a singular property, including industrial, clean energy generation, agriculture and conservation uses. The initial focus is developing a 350-acre industrial site for a clean energy project.

The Bullitt site on the border of Lee County could hold multiple industrial projects with adjacent energy sites to power on-site demand, and the complex is situated over abandoned mines that contain nearly 10 billion gallons of water.

The team will develop the Data Center Ridge site on the Bullitt site, converting a 400-acre previously mined property to a 1-gigawatt, multitenant data center campus that will use the planned adjacent clean energy developments.

The lab’s “Oasis Mine-Based Water Cooling System,” an HVAC closed-loop water cooling system that uses water below 55 degrees Fahrenheit in underground mine cavities, can reduce energy requirements and costs for data center cooling. Data Center Ridge has a single deposit of nearly 10 billion gallons of naturally replenishing cold water.

The data center model is based on a 36-megawatt facility that would be owned and operated by the company it supports, such as Amazon Web Services, Alphabet or Microsoft. The 250,000-square-foot model has a raised floor space of 150,000 square feet to house IT equipment and servers, with remaining building space holding office space, telecom equipment, electrical/mechanical rooms, shipping/receiving areas and security.

For Wise County, one 36-megawatt facility is estimated to create $15.7 million in real estate and property tax revenues over the first five years of operation, support 2,048 jobs during the 18-month construction period, and create 40 data center jobs and support 59 additional jobs once data center operations begin, according to a Mangum Economics analysis.

“This is opening up land that otherwise would not be developed,” said Will Payne, managing partner of Coalfield Strategies, director of InvestSWVA and adviser to the Energy DELTA Lab. “That’s a huge game changer for them and their own development and the surrounding area.”

Energy Transfer is the largest operator of natural gas pipelines in the U.S. by revenue, according to Fortune, and reported $89.9 billion in 2022 revenue.

Energy DELTA (Discovery, Education, Learning and Technology Accelerator) Lab is a 501(c)3 nonprofit focused on deploying new and clean energy technologies to diversify Southwest Virginia’s economy and provide energy companies speed to market with testing and project development. The lab is a collaborative effort of energy industry companies, electric utilities, business development initiative InvestSWVA, Southwest Virginia Energy Research and Development Authority and the Virginia Department of Energy.

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 Offshore Wind project Tuesday. The decision represents the final step in the National Environmental Policy Act review process for its construction and operations plan.

“Today’s decision balances the orderly development of OCS renewable energy with the prevention of interference with other uses of the OCS and the protection of the human, marine and coastal environments,” BOEM said in the record of decision. “A decision that balances these goals where they conflict and does not hold one as controlling over all others is consistent with the duties required.”

Also Tuesday, Dominion earned approval from the Department of the Interior for its construction and operation plan.

“The Interior Department is committed to the Biden-Harris administration’s all-of-government approach to the clean energy future, which helps respond to the climate crisis, lower energy costs, and create good-paying union jobs across the manufacturing, shipbuilding and construction sectors,” Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland said in a statement. “Today’s approval of the largest offshore wind project in U.S. history builds on the undeniable momentum we are seeing. Together with the labor community, industry, trribes and partners from coast to coast, we are aggressively working toward our clean energy goals.”  

The final approval for the wind farm’s construction and operations plan is expected to come from BOEM on Jan. 29, 2024, with Dominion slated to begin construction in May 2024. Once fully constructed in late 2026, the turbines will power up to 660,000 homes. 

“Receiving a favorable record of decision from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is a monumental achievement for Dominion Energy and the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind team,” Dominion CEO, Chair and President Bob Blue said in a statement. “More than a decade of work has gone into the development, design and permitting of CVOW. Offshore wind is a vital part of our strategy to provide our customers with a diverse fuel mix that delivers reliable, affordable and increasingly clean energy.”

The project will be the nation’s largest offshore wind farm and aligns with a state mandate that the Richmond-based Dominion go carbon-free by 2045. 

In mid-October, the first eight monopiles, the foundation posts for the massive wind turbines, arrived at Portsmouth Marine Terminal and state officials and Dominion executives celebrated their arrival from Germany Friday.

The monopiles, which are each about 272 feet long — about the length of a football field  — and 31 feet in diameter, will be driven into the seabed. Each turbine, when fully assembled, will be 836 feet high. 

In late September, BOEM announced it completed its environmental assessment of the project, a little more than two years after the review began.

Dominion is already operating two wind turbines off the Virginia Beach coast as part of a pilot project. The company said that more than 750 Virginia-based workers, about 530 of whom are in Hampton Roads, are working on the project or with businesses supporting it. Another 1,000 jobs are expected to be created to operate and maintain the turbines.

The record of decision will be published in the Federal Register later this week.

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 of Botetourt County.

At first, the project seemed on track. County supervisors granted a permit in 2016, and a year later the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality granted final approval. But then Apex ran into issues finding a buyer for the proposed wind farm’s energy.

Years passed before Dominion Energy struck a deal to purchase the power and resell it to Virginia state government to help meet its goal of sourcing at least 30% of electricity for state agencies from renewable energy sources. More obstacles developed, and the contract expired and wasn’t renewed.

Wind technology also evolved, prompting Apex to reformulate its proposal, reducing the number of turbines from 25 to 13, but increasing the size of each to 643 feet high.

Additionally, a group of landowners in Botetourt and Rockbridge counties organized against Rocky Forge, joined by grassroots group Virginians for Responsible Energy. In 2020, 13 landowners filed a lawsuit challenging the DEQ’s approval. A circuit court upheld the permit, but the decision was appealed to the Virginia Court of Appeals. The group also has challenged the county’s extension of a site plan deadline and its approval of a temporary concrete-making facility near the Rocky Forge site.

Botetourt County spokesperson Tiffany Bradbury says county staff are still reviewing the newest plans for Rocky Forge. The county is allowing tree cutting and forestry at the site, “but we have issued no approvals for construction,” writes Bradbury.

Onshore wind projects require willing private landowners and proximity to transmission lines that can move the power to where it’s needed, says Dan Crawford, chair of onshore wind promotion for environmental group the Sierra Club’s Roanoke chapter, which supports the project.

“Some people tell me, ‘We don’t need turbines on our mountains; we’re going to have offshore wind,’” Crawford says. “We need everything we can get. We need offshore, especially for big consumption near the shore, and we need onshore. It’s competitive in terms of price, and it works. People just don’t want to see it.”  

Former Siemens exec charged in Dominion bid-rigging case

A retired Siemens Energy executive is facing a felony charge in an alleged conspiracy to steal its competitor’s trade secrets, helping the German energy company prevail in a winning bid to build a gas turbine “peaker” plant in Chesterfield County for Dominion Energy in 2019.

John Gibson, of Winter Park, Florida, was charged in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia’s Richmond Division on Oct. 24 with one count of conspiracy to convert trade secrets, according to a charging document. His employer is referred to as “Company 1” in court filings, however, he is identified in a 2021 civil lawsuit filed in the same court by General Electric against Germany-based Siemens.

According to court documents, in May 2019, Siemens, GE and Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. submitted bids to provide and maintain gas turbine equipment for Dominion’s planned Chesterfield peaker plant, which was to run at times of high energy demand, in a deal valued up to as much as $340 million. Gibson is accused of conspiring with others from May 2019 and into June of that year to pass along confidential information about GE and Mitsubishi’s products and bids to other Siemens employees, with the help of Theodore Fasca, a former manager in Dominion’s generation system planning group, and Michael Hillen, who worked as an account manager in power generation for Siemens and was responsible for sales to Dominion Energy.

Fasca, of Richmond, and Hillen, of Midlothian, have previously pleaded guilty in the case.

As part of the scheme, Hillen and other employees at Siemens, including another unnamed person, sought to influence its winning bid by providing gifts, including hotel accommodations, dinners and football game tickets to Fasca and other Dominion employees during the bid process. Then, on or about May 30, 2019, Gibson allegedly authorized and gained approvals to resubmit a lower bid to Dominion, which ultimately awarded the project to Siemens.

Court documents note that Gibson did not financially benefit in the alleged scheme, and Dominion, GE and Mitsubishi are each named as victims. Gibson formerly worked as executive vice president of power generation and head of sales for North America for Siemens Energy, and retired in June 2020, according to his LinkedIn account. He did not respond to an interview request Friday and his attorney was not listed in available federal court records.

GE and Siemens settled the civil lawsuit in September 2021. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. Siemens’ alleged theft impacted GE’s ability to compete “fairly,” Boston-based GE said in its complaint, and the Fortune 500 conglomerate lost eight projects to Siemens valued at more than $1 billion.

Dominion canceled plans for the Chesterfield plant in 2020. Aaron Ruby, a spokesperson for the Richmond-based Fortune 500 utility, told Virginia Business that the conspiracy case was not connected to the plant’s cancelation. Dominion is now seeking to revive plans for the plant, known as the Chesterfield Energy Reliability Center, following a shift to more renewable energy, according to Virginia Mercury. Spain-based Siemens Gamesa, a subsidiary of the German company, is a partner in Dominion’s $9.8 billion, 2.6-gigawatt Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, which is expected to receive federal approval during the week of Oct. 30.

“Dominion Energy takes very seriously its obligation to conduct prudent and compliant procurement practices, and we’ve cooperated fully with authorities in this case,” Ruby said in a statement. “Mr. Fasca is a former Dominion Energy employee, and the project that he was involved with did not go forward. Dominion Energy has never been accused of any wrongdoing in this case. This matter is completely unrelated to the proposed Chesterfield Energy Reliability Center.”

Fasca pleaded guilty in July to a single count of criminal information. He is scheduled for sentencing March 1, 2024. Hillen pleaded guilty to a count of criminal information on Sept. 26 and is scheduled for sentencing on April 11, 2024. Both face a maximum term of five years in prison, a fine and a maximum three-year term of supervised release.

Gibson’s initial appearance and bond hearing is set for Nov. 8 in Richmond.

 

 

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 marked the arrival of the monopiles, instrumental components in the construction of the planned 176 wind turbines to be erected 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, making up a 2.6-gigawatt wind farm that will power 660,000 homes. 

Dominion’s proposed Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project will be the nation’s largest offshore wind farm and aligns with a state mandate that Richmond-based utility Dominion Energy generate all power from carbon-free sources by 2045. The Biden administration also has a goal of reaching 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030.

Stephen Edwards, CEO and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority, Gov Glenn Youngkin, Virginia Transportation Secretary W. Sheppard “Shep” Miller III and Dominion Energy Chair, CEO and President Bob Blue signed a monopile Friday at Portsmouth Marine Terminal.
Photo by Robyn Sidersky

The monopiles, which are each about 272 feet long — about the length of a football field  — and 31 feet in diameter, will be driven into the seabed. Each turbine, when fully assembled, will be 836 feet high. 

Construction on the wind farm is set to begin in May, and the turbines will be operational by the end of 2026, Blue said. 

“This is the real beginning of the offshore construction part of the project,” Blue said. “To get the first delivery of them, on time and on budget, is critical for our company, for our customers, for the state, and we’re very excited to have all those partners here,” he said. 

He described seeing the monopiles arrive at Portsmouth Marine Terminal as “a great moment. … Seeing these and seeing the size makes it even more real.”

Massive single vertical steel cylinders, the monopiles are manufactured in Germany by EEW SPC, and the trip to ship the. across the Atlantic takes about 2 1/2 weeks. Eight will be delivered at a time until all 176 arrive in Hampton Roads.  

In late September, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced it completed its environmental assessment of the project, a little more than two years after the review began. Approval of the entire project from BOEM is expected in the coming days.

Should the project attain approval, Dominion would still be required to receive BOEM’s final OK for its construction and operations plan, which could occur by February 2024. Virginia’s State Corporation Commission approved the project in August 2022.

Dominion is already operating two wind turbines off the Virginia Beach coast as part of a pilot project. The company said that more than 750 Virginia-based workers, about 530 of whom are in Hampton Roads, are working on the project or with businesses supporting it. Another 1,000 jobs are expected to be created to operate and maintain the turbines.

Dominion pitches new solar projects to SCC

Dominion Energy is pitching the State Corporation Commission on several solar projects that could generate enough carbon-free electricity to power nearly 200,000 homes.

The projects, presented in the Fortune 500 utility’s fourth annual clean energy filing with the state, include six solar projects totaling 337 megawatts and 13 power purchase agreements totaling 435 megawatts with independent solar projects that were picked through competitive solicitation, Dominion said in a news release Wednesday.

“These projects support our ongoing efforts to deliver reliable, affordable and increasingly clean energy to our customers,” Ed Baine, president of Dominion Energy Virginia, said in a statement. “They will also bring jobs and economic benefits to communities across the commonwealth.”

If approved, the company will surpass 4,600 megawatts of solar across the state, enough to power more than 1.1 million homes at peak output.

Construction of the projects would be complete between 2024 and 2026 and would support more than 1,600 jobs while generating more than $570 million in economic benefits across Virginia, Dominion said. Projects include:

  • Alberta Solar, 3 megawatts, Brunswick County;
  • Beldale Solar, 57 megawatts, Powhatan County;
  • Blue Ridge Solar, 95 megawatts, Pittsylvania County;
  • Bookers Mill Solar, 127 megawatts, Richmond County;
  • Michaux Solar, 50 megawatts, Henry and Pittsylvania counties;
  • Peppertown Solar, 5 megawatts, Hanover County.

Dominion said the costs of the projects would add an estimated $1.54 to the average residential customer’s monthly bill.

The company’s latest proposal to the state follows news in late September that the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management had completed its environmental assessment of Dominion’s proposed $9.8 billion, 2.6-gigawatt Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, planned for construction 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. The nearly 700-page report was published Sept. 29 in the Federal Register, which kicked off a minimum 30-day waiting period before the BOEM could issue its final decision on whether to approve the project. The SCC approved the project in August 2022.

Dominion Energy Virginia is also asking the state to allow it to test a $70 million battery storage pilot facility that it says could lengthen the time its batteries can electrify the grid from an average of four hours to longer than four days.

Richmond-based electricity and natural gas provider Dominion Energy has about 7 million customers in 15 states. Its Virginia division has about 2.7 million customers in Virginia and northeastern North Carolina.

Reid retiring as Dominion Energy Services president

Carter Reid, executive vice president, chief of staff and corporate secretary of Dominion Energy, as well as president of Dominion Energy Services, will retire Jan. 1, 2024, the Richmond-based utility announced Monday.

Carlos Brown, Dominion’s senior vice president, chief legal officer and general counsel, will be promoted to president of Dominion Energy Services and Dominion Energy executive vice president, chief legal officer and corporate secretary.

Reid joined Dominion in 1996 as its assistant general counsel and held roles in its law department and at Dominion Energy Services, one of the utility’s subsidiaries. She was promoted to her current role in 2019. She’s a graduate of James Madison University and the University of Richmond School of Law, and previously was an associate at McGuireWoods and Hunton & Williams (now Hunton Andrews Kurth).

Brown
Carlos Brown

“Carter Reid has been a key executive and faithful friend for the company as a whole, for her own team at the Services company, and for our board,” Dominion Chair, President and CEO Robert Blue said in a statement. “She helped the company maintain best-in-class governance, relentlessly focused on recruiting and retaining the best talent, and built an unparalleled security and cybersecurity organization, among her many other accomplishments. The company will miss her as she enjoys her retirement years.

“When Carter retires, Carlos Brown will pick up most of her duties. Carlos has a depth and breadth of experience that will serve him well as he leads Dominion Energy’s law, corporate governance, environmental, IT, supply chain, corporate facilities and corporate safety and security teams.”

Brown, who holds two degrees from the University of Virginia, joined Dominion as senior counsel in 2007 and has served as chief compliance officer and general counsel, among other positions.

Regina J. Elbert, senior vice president of human resources, also will be promoted, becoming vice president and chief human resources officer, effective Jan. 1, 2024. She has been at Dominion since 2011, holding leadership roles in HR and the law department. Elbert has a bachelor’s degree from U.Va. and a law degree from Harvard.