Judge rules Youngkin’s RGGI exit was unlawful
A Floyd County Circuit Court judge ruled this week that Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s decision to withdraw Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative was unlawful, but the governor plans to appeal the decision, according to a spokesperson. Judge Randall Lowe ruled that “the only body with the authority to repeal th[...]
ODEC announces next president and CEO
Chris Cosby will become president and CEO of Glen Allen’s Old Dominion Electric Cooperative on Feb. 1, 2025. Cosby succeeds John C. Lee, who has been ODEC’s president and CEO since Sept. 8, 2023, initially serving in an interim capacity. ODEC announced Lee’s retirement, effective Feb. 1, on Monday. He will serve as a senio[...]
Appalachian Power plans small nuclear reactor in Campbell
Appalachian Power, an electric utility subsidiary of American Electric Power which serves more than one million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee, announced plans Thursday to bring a small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) project to Campbell County. The company, which has its headquarters in Charleston, West Virgin[...]
Dominion completes $2.6B sale of stake in offshore wind farm
Dominion Energy has completed its $2.6 billion sale of a 50% noncontrolling stake in its Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project to investor Stonepeak, the Fortune 500 utility announced Tuesday. This transaction and several other recent sales reduce Dominion’s debt by approximately $21 billion, meeting a goal the utility se[...]
Work begins on organics-to-renewable gas facility in Amelia County
Vanguard Renewables, an organics-to-renewable natural gas company with headquarters in Massachusetts, broke ground Wednesday on its newest facility at Oakmulgee Dairy Farm in Amelia County. An anaerobic digester system on the property will allow Vanguard Renewables to convert cow manure along with inedible and unsalable food m[...]
J-Lab scientist to receive nuclear physics prize
Volker D. Burkert, a scientist at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Newport News, aka the Jefferson Lab, has been chosen to receive the 2025 Tom W. Bonner Prize in Nuclear Physics, the lab announced Wednesday. Burkert has worked at the U.S. Department of Energy lab for 39 years of its 40-year history, and [&h[...]
As data centers grow, Amazon and Dominion explore small nuclear reactors
With power consumption by data centers and AI projected to more than quadruple in Virginia in the next 15 years, Amazon.com and Dominion Energy Virginia have entered into an agreement to explore potential development of small modular nuclear reactors at North Anna Power Plant in Louisa County, the two companies announced at an e[...]
Dominion files energy plan that includes more wind, nuclear
Dominion Energy Virginia filed its 2024 Integrated Resource Plan on Tuesday with the Virginia State Corporation Commission and the North Carolina Utilities Commission, setting out its long-term plans for energy generation over the next 15 years. The report calls for more offshore wind and solar energy development, as well as sma[...]
Siemens Energy agrees to pay $104M over Dominion bidding scheme
Siemens Energy pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $104 million this week to settle a federal criminal investigation into stealing trade secrets in order to undercut competitors’ bids in 2019 to build a Dominion Energy gas turbine “peaker” power plant in the Richmond metropolitan area. The settlement comes after t[...]
Virginia Natural Gas taps new CEO
Shannon O. Pierce will succeed Robert Duvall as CEO of Virginia Natural Gas when Duvall retires in April, according to an announcement by Southern Company Gas, parent company of the Virginia Beach utility. A native of Surry, Pierce stepped into the roles of VNG president and senior vice president of Southern Company Gas, VNGR[...]
A steady breeze
Dominion Energy’s long-anticipated $9.8 billion Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project is steadily taking shape as gigantic monopile foundations are installed in the ocean floor 27 miles off the Virginia Beach coast. This past spring, four years after two test turbines began generating power, Dominion installed the first monop[...]
Topsoe buys land for $400M plant in Chesterfield County
Topsoe, a Danish electrolyzer manufacturer, paid $4.95 million for about 57 acres in Meadowville Technology Park in Chesterfield County this summer, where the company plans to build a $400 million manufacturing plant. In April, Topsoe announced the investment, which is expected to create 150 jobs. The company will manufacture [...]