Virginia Utility Submits Plan for the Future

In May, Dominion Virginia Power submitted its multi-year forecast for meeting energy and financial demands while complying with the federal Clean Power Plan.

The proposal presents alternate approaches for meeting its goals and compares the estimated cost of each. In announcing its plan, Dominion claims that it is “lessening dependence on coal and significantly increasing use of renewable resources such as solar power.”

Environmental groups are unconvinced and are challenging the proposal, particularly Dominion’s suggestion of building a third nuclear reactor at its North Anna facility in Louisa County. This multi-billion dollar investment would come at the expense of more renewable alternatives. According to nonprofit advocacy group Natural Resources Defense Council, it “is all about dramatically boosting company profits by asking its hundreds of thousands of Virginia electricity customers to pay for unnecessary and overpriced construction.”

“That loud sucking sound is Dominion vacuuming money from its customers’ pockets for a $19 billion dollar boondoggle,” Glen Besa, director of the Virginia chapter of the Sierra Club, told the Associated Press. — Elizabeth E. Payne