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Va. regulators accept Dominion's update to its resource plan

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Va. regulators accept Dominion's update to its resource plan

Virginia regulators accepted Dominion Energy Virginia's update to its 2018 integrated resource plan, which calls for as much as 7,080 MW of new solar generation by 2044 and up to 2,425 MW of additional natural gas capacity.

The Virginia State Corporation Commission wrote in a Sept. 20 order that the Dominion Energy Inc. subsidiary's update to its integrated resource plan, or IRP, is "legally sufficient." The SCC, however, wrote that the ruling does not "express approval ... of the magnitude or specifics of Dominion's future spending plans, the costs of which will significantly impact millions of residential and business customers in the monthly bills they must pay for power."

Dominion Energy filed updates to its IRPs in North Carolina and Virginia on Aug. 29. The company operates as Dominion Energy North Carolina and Dominion Energy Virginia in the respective states, and both entities are known legally as Virginia Electric and Power Co.

In its IRP updates, Dominion outlined a baseline plan and two alternative scenarios that include the potential to add another 840 MW of solar capacity by 2022 while expanding its solar fleet by between 5,400 MW and 7,080 MW by 2044. The company's two alternative scenarios include potentially retiring the 881-MW Clover coal-fired plant and the remaining operating coal-fired units at the 1,032-MW Chesterfield power plant.

The utility also said natural gas and nuclear will be part of "an economical blend of resources capable of meeting the future energy needs" of customers amid further decarbonization in the power sector. This includes adding 2,425 MW of natural gas-powered combustion turbine capacity by 2044 and receiving 20-year license extensions for its Surry and North Anna nuclear plants from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

As part of its short-term action plan over the next five years, Dominion said it expects to continue developing energy storage alternatives, including a new pumped hydroelectric storage facility in western Virginia.

Dominion also is building the 12-MW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind pilot project off the coast of Virginia Beach as it moves forward with plans to develop the first tranche of more than 2,600 MW of utility-scale offshore wind generation.

All of Dominion's plans call for retiring Possum Point unit 5 in 2021 and Yorktown unit 3 in 2023.

(SCC docket PUR-2019-00141)