CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — A group of central Virginia lawmakers are pushing back on a proposal to bring a natural gas-powered power plant to Chesterfield County.
The “Chesterfield Energy Reliability Center” would consist of four natural gas-powered turbines that could produce enough energy to power up to 250,000 homes. It would serve as back-up generation when other resources aren’t available.
A letter, which was signed by nine lawmakers from the Richmond area, urged Dominion Energy to reconsider its plans. Delegate Mike Jones was one of the lawmakers who signed the letter.
“There’s other ways to tap in and get the type of peak production that they need,” said Jones. “And my colleagues in the central Virginia area, the Richmond area — we decided [they] should explore those things.”
Part of the letter reads “as members of the General Assembly, our concerns focus on the impact this proposed plant has on statewide efforts to reduce fossil fuel usage, lower carbon emissions, enforce the Commonwealth’s policy on environmental justice, and pursue renewable energy sources and technologies.”
The letter came after representatives from Dominion Energy met with residents in November to answer questions and address concerns about the proposal.
Multiple residents and local groups in the area have spoken out about the project over the last several months, including Chesterfield County NAACP president Nicole Martin, who said she’s worried the plant would bring another major pollution source to the same area in which a recently-shuttered coal plant left behind large piles of toxic coal ash.
“We know that there are other means of renewable energy that can be implemented, and more research can be done into that,” said Martin. “They have already started implementing solar energy, so why not continue on with that instead of further burdening the community?”
A Dominion Energy spokesperson sent the following statement to 8News:
“Dominion Energy is all-in on renewables. We’re building the largest offshore wind project in North America. We have the second largest solar fleet in the country, and it’s growing at a faster pace than any other utility in the country. We’re expanding battery storage in communities across Virginia, and we’re exploring the next generation of carbon-free nuclear.
About 95% of all the new power plants we’re building over the coming decades are carbon-free. The Chesterfield Energy Reliability Center represents part of the 5 percent of new power plants that will be natural gas.
Renewables alone cannot keep our customers’ power on 24/7, especially with power demand nearly doubling over the coming decades. That is why we need an all-of-the-above, balanced approach that advances the clean-energy transition, but without sacrificing on reliability. Most Virginians agree that combining renewables with carbon-free nuclear and always-reliable natural gas is a responsible, common-sense approach.
We have made tremendous progress in reducing emissions, and we are transitioning to clean energy as fast as we can. We will not sacrifice our responsibility to keep our customers’ power on along the way.”
For Dominion’s plan to move forward, the company will need a conditional use permit from the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors and an air permit from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. The company has confirmed it is in the middle of the permitting process for both.
A company spokesperson said that, after this process is done, they will need to apply for approval by the Virginia State Corporation Commission, which the company is likely to do next year.
According to the timeline on Dominion Energy’s website, the proposed project could be completed by 2028.
