SELC statement on SCC approval of coastal Virginia offshore wind project

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Virginia’s State Corporation Commission has approved Dominion Energy Virginia’s application to construct the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Commercial Project, an offshore wind generation facility off the coast of Virginia Beach.  

The offshore wind generation facility would consist of 176 14.7-megawatt wind turbine generators located in federal waters beginning approximately 27 miles off the Virginia Beach coast.  

In response to the approval, Will Cleveland, a Senior Attorney in Southern Environmental Law Center’s Virginia office, issued the following statement: 

“We applaud the SCC for greenlighting new offshore wind power in Virginia. As the largest offshore wind project in the country, this project is a critical piece of our clean energy transition because it complements solar by generating power at night when the sun isn’t shining. Wind also means cost savings for Dominion customers. In the past year alone, Dominion’s over-reliance on coal and ‘natural gas’ has caused its fuel costs to skyrocket, with Dominion recently asking the Commission for permission to charge its customers more than a billion dollars in unexpected costs. Since market forecasts show no sign of fuel price relief anytime soon, we need zero-fuel resources like offshore wind more than ever. We further applaud the Commission for approving this project with strong ratepayer protections to ensure Dominion delivers the turbines on time and on-budget and further operates the project at the high levels we’ve been promised.”