Dominion $1.47B gas plant proposal back on track in Chesterfield

:   

Dominion Energy’s Chesterfield County natural gas plant is back on track, following the Virginia State Corporation Commission‘s dismissal last week of a petition by opponents of the project.

In November 2025, the SCC approved Dominion’s $1.47 billion plant known as the Chesterfield Energy Reliability Center (CERC), but in December, the body issued a ruling that it would consider a petition from Appalachian Voices, the NAACP and Mothers Out Front that put the project temporarily on hold.

On Thursday, the SCC issued a new order dismissing the petition and reaffirming its approval of CERC. Known as a peaker plant, the facility would provide electricity at peak demand hours, according to the Fortune 500 utility. It is projected to be in operation by June 1, 2029.

Opponents objected to the SCC’s November decision approving the 944-megawatt power plant’s certificate of public convenience and necessity, which Dominion applied for in March 2025.

The groups’ legal counsel, Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), had argued that the SCC’s final order did not follow the standards laid out in the Virginia Clean Economy Act, the 2020 state law that mandates that 100% of energy consumed in the commonwealth be generated by renewable energy sources by mid-century, or the Virginia Environmental Justice Act, which defines communities which have carried a disproportionate amount of industrial pollution and requires state agencies to promote environmental justice.

Additionally, the petition stated that the SCC’s approval ignored the health impacts of the projected air pollution from the gas plant and that the commission lacked information to support its finding that the costs of the gas plant are reasonable.

In Thursday’s order, the SCC stated that upon review it once again found that Dominion established that not building CERC presents a threat to energy reliability and that the issue “cannot be addressed by non-carbon-emitting resources.”

Additionally, the commission found the cost of the facility to be reasonable and that its approval complied with the Virginia Environmental Justice Act.

On Dec. 19, 2025, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) approved an air permit for the project, but last week, the SELC appealed the DEQ decision in Richmond Circuit Court on behalf of the Chesterfield County branch of the NAACP, CASA, Appalachian Voices and Mothers Out Front.

Chesterfield County NAACP President Nicole Martin stated in a news release that her neighbors have already carried the burden of too much industrial pollution.

“The pandering to corporations while passing monetary costs and health costs on to those who can least afford it needs to stop not today, but yesterday,” she said. “Decades ago, even. We are still fighting this gas plant.”

The appeal, filed Friday, pointed to alleged violations of the Virginia State Air Pollution Control Law, the Virginia Administrative Process Act, the Environmental Justice Act and the federal Clean Air Act.

“It’s good news the State Corporation Commission reaffirmed its decision, and we fully stand behind the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s approval of the project,” Dominion said in a statement Monday. “Both state regulatory agencies conducted thorough reviews with extensive public participation from thousands of Virginians. The Chesterfield Energy Reliability Center will provide reliable power for hundreds of thousands of homes, businesses, schools and hospitals in Chesterfield and beyond. As part of our all-of-the-above energy strategy, it will ensure our region has the reliable power we need to continue growing and thriving.”