Dominion’s Energy Roadmap Keeps Fossil Fuels in the Mix, Expands Solar

Dominion Energy plans to add more than 39 gigawatts of new power generation over the next 20 years as electricity demand surges across Virginia, according to the company’s latest filing with the State Corporation Commission.

Over that period, Dominion plans to build more than 21 gigawatts of new solar energy, 3.5 gigawatts of battery storage, 9 gigawatts of natural gas, 3.3 gigawatts of wind, and 2 gigawatts of small modular reactors.

The filing is part of the annual update to Dominion’s integrated resource plan (IRP). It is not a concrete list of projects but a roadmap of how the company expects to meet energy demand.

While this year’s update will not be litigated or subject to changes through final order, the filing outlines where the company expects demand to go and how it plans to meet it.

Dominion’s Scott Solar pilot battery project in Powhatan. (Courtesy of Dominion)

A key part of the plan is continued reliance on fossil fuels despite the Virginia Clean Economy Act’s mandate to retire carbon-emitting energy sources – namely coal and natural gas.

The company’s filing states green energy sources are not commercially viable or dispatchable enough to meet annual load growth of roughly 4%, or 500 to 700 megawatts, with power demand expected to double by 2045.

Those figures do not include load growth for the cooperative utilities that also rely on Dominion for power and transmission.

“To meet the energy and capacity needs associated with the load forecast, and in the absence of a commercially viable carbon-free, dispatchable generation alternative, natural gas generation will remain a critical component of the (Dominion’s) strategy to reliably meet generation demand,” the filing stated.

Projections for increases in the average residential customer’s bill will vary depending on whether they use the company’s preferred calculation or the method directed by the SCC. Under the company’s calculation, a household using 1000 kilowatt-hours a month would see its monthly bill rise to an estimated $258.03 by 2036 and $283.65 in 2046.

Under the SCC’s mandated calculation method, monthly bills are projected to reach $320.26 in 2036 and $458.22 in 2046. Dominion has continued to push back on the SCC’s methodology for calculating bills in later years.

“(Dominion) believes that this methodology results in overstated bill projections because it does not reflect anticipated growth in sales over the period on which each portfolio is based,” the filing stated.

The company says bringing more energy generation projects online will reduce its reliance on power purchases from the regional grid operator,  PJM. Virginia is one of the largest importers of energy on the East Coast.

“Our preferred plan calls for more than 39 gigawatts of new power generation assets over the next 20 years – more than three-fourths of which is carbon-free solar, offshore wind, energy storage and advanced nuclear technology – and a decreasing reliance on more costly purchases from the PJM market,” Dominion spokesperson Jeremy Slayton said.

The SCC will review the filing and accept the plan if it is deemed sufficient. A full trial on the updated integrated resource plan is scheduled for fall of 2027.

By Shannon Heckt, Virginia Mercury

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