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.