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 […]
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 […]
Dominion pitches state on $70M battery storage pilot
Dominion Energy Virginia is asking the state to allow it to test two technologies that it says could lengthen the time its batteries can electrify the grid from an average of four hours to longer than four days. In a 117-page filing made Monday with the State Corporation Commission, Dominion said its Darbytown Storage Pilot […]
Gathering power
While working on a cellular tower a few years back, Kyle Mullins got what he describes as the “call of a lifetime” — an invitation to work on the first two pilot wind turbines for Dominion Energy‘s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project. A Navy veteran who received a telecommunications technical certification from Texas A&M University, […]
SWVA ‘ideal’ for small nuclear reactors, study says
Sites in Dickenson, Lee, Scott and Wise counties and the city of Norton would be “ideal” for installing small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs), according to a state-funded feasibility study released Monday. Examining the technical feasibility, safety considerations and economic viability of locating small reactors in Southwest Virginia, the study conducted by Reston-based Dominion Engin[...]
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, […]
Balance of power
Chris Rawlings was a mechanic who wanted to be a pilot. He left the Marine Corps in 2008 after deploying twice to Iraq, where he supervised an aircraft maintenance team, going on to perform similar duties as a civilian contractor in a hangar at Fort Eustis. But his plan was to get back into the […]
The 2023 Heavy Hitters list
Virginia Business’ annual list of the commonwealth’s 50 most powerful and influential leaders provides our editors’ take on the heaviest-hitting of heavyweights in business, government, nonprofits and higher education. Think of it as an executive committee for the leaders populating our annual Virginia 500 issue — the top 10% of the state’s power elite. And […]
SHARON SMOOT
Smoot is a unicorn — a Black woman overseeing 4,700 employees in the highly technical field of manufacturing components for nuclear reactors. Named last summer as head of the Lynchburg-based federal contractor’s nuclear division, Smoot spent 30 years as a civilian employee of the U.S. Navy, ultimately serving as executive director for logistics, maintenance and […]
BWX Technologies hires new chief admin officer
Lynchburg-based BWX Technologies Inc. has hired Robert “Bob” Duffy as its senior vice president and chief administrative officer, the nuclear components and fuel supplier announced Monday. He starts Aug. 29. Duffy will take the place of Rick Loving, BWXT’s current chief administrative officer, who announced his retirement after 43 years with the company. Duffy previously [&hellip[...]