Victory for Virginia as another unregulated pipeline gets canceled

In another win for clean energy and surrounding communities, Chickahominy Power, LLC has announced the cancelation of its Chickahominy Power Station, a 1,600-megawatt power plant that the company planned to service with an unregulated gas pipeline cutting through five counties in central Virginia. 

“As the cost of clean energy continues to decline — and the cost of gas projects continues to climb — the Chickahominy Power Station and its associated pipeline would have been a backwards-looking investment,” says Senior Attorney Greg Buppert. 

The Southern Environmental Law Center fought on behalf of our clients Concerned Citizens of Charles City County, Hanover Citizens Against a Pipeline, Appalachian Voices, and Chesapeake Bay Foundation, for greater oversight of an ill-conceived, poorly planned project that would have routed a methane pipeline right through the heart of Virginia. The announced cancelation of the power plant came just before the State Corporation Commission ruled that the proposed pipeline be subject to its oversight, setting an important precedent for necessary SCC authority over intrastate pipelines. 

“We will continue to experience spikes in energy costs as long as we are dependent on fossil fuels like oil and so-called ‘natural’ gas, whose prices are determined by a global market,” the attorney adds. “To achieve true energy independence, we must transition to clean, homegrown energy sources like wind and solar, which will never run out and which provide a stable, low-cost energy supply that stands in sharp contrast with the enormous price volatility of gas.” 

This cancelation comes on the heels of the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board’s denial of a permit for a Mountain Valley Pipeline compressor station. SELC will remain vigilant about any further gas infrastructure buildout plans with the potential to harm our Southern communities.