Dominion plan undermines Virginia’s new Clean Economy Act

Charlottesville, VA—Dominion Energy’s recently released Integrated Resource Plan, lays out a plan that remains fossil fuel-intensive and will produce 10 million tons of carbon pollution in 2045, at a time when new Virginia law requires the utility to be at zero emissions.

“It is clear we can expect nothing positive at the federal level in the fight against climate change, which only heightens the critical role states must now play. This is a time for bold action, and we are disappointed that Dominion wants to keep one foot firmly rooted in fossil fuels, while publicly touting its commitment to renewable energy. Dominion is passing up the opportunity to show how a forward-thinking utility could lead in these uncertain times with plans to simultaneously reduce emissions and ratepayer costs,” said Southern Environmental Law Center Senior Attorney Will Cleveland.

Among the failures in Dominion’s Integrated Resource Plan are:

• Failure to correct Dominion’s years-long, chronic underuse of cost saving energy efficiency.
• Failure to meet new Virginia law requiring zero fossil fuel generation by 2045. Instead Dominion’s preferred plan relies on nearly 10,000 MW of fossil fuel generation that will emit tens of millions of tons of CO2 for the next 25 years and more.
• Failure to be transparent about Atlantic Coast Pipeline, omitting any mention of the $8 billion fossil fuel pipeline.