RICHMOND, Va., April 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Dominion
Virginia Power is pleased with the Supreme Court of Virginia's
unanimous upholding of the State Corporation Commission's order
approving the construction of a proposed 500-kilovolt transmission
line over the James River from Surry to James City County. With
this ruling, the company will continue to move forward with plans
to construct this critical infrastructure so that reliable electric
service in the region can be maintained. Dominion will
continue to assess multiple options regarding the switching station
portion of the transmission line.
"There is an undeniable fact that there is an urgent need to
deliver more energy to the Peninsula and the court has affirmed
that the State Corporation Commission has chosen the best option,"
said Robert M. Blue, President of
Dominion Virginia Power.
The Supreme Court upheld the SCC's determination that "the
selected route reasonably minimizes adverse impacts on [historic]
resources in the Historic Triangle."
In June 2012, Dominion Virginia
Power proposed new transmission facilities to provide a new source
of power to provide reliable service to the Peninsula area in the
wake of the upcoming closure of Yorktown Power Station coal-fired
units 1 and 2.
The project was approved by the SCC in November
2013. Dominion is awaiting a decision by the U.S. Army Corp of
Engineers to begin construction.
The court found the SCC was correct when it weighed a multitude
of factors in approving the transmission line. "In this case, the
record shows that the Commission considered, in light of these
factors, numerous alternatives, proposed by not only Dominion, but
also James City County, BASF,
environmental groups, the Commission's staff, and the Hearing
Examiner. These alternatives included transmission in different
locations, lower voltage transmission, underground transmission,
generation (that is, power plant) options, combinations of
generation and transmission, and demand-side management (for
example, lower electric demand by consumers).
Three generating units (two coal and one oil) are still in
operation at Yorktown Power Station. In 2011, because of the EPA's
new environmental regulations, Dominion announced plans to close
Units 1 and 2 at the end of 2014, leaving Unit 3 available to
operate during peak times. The Virginia DEQ granted an extension of
the retirement date for Units 1 and 2 for one year until April
2016. The EPA has the authority to issue an Administrative
Order (AO) that could allow Units 1 and 2 to operate one additional
year until April 2017. Dominion plans
to file for the AO later in 2015.
To maintain compliance with North American Electric Reliability
Council standards to ensure the integrity and reliability of the
overall electric grid, the company will be forced to regularly
initiate rotating blackouts on the Peninsula during periods of peak
electric demand. Dominion estimates that this would be
necessary 80 times in a typical year, usually on the hottest or
coldest days if the line is not in service by the time the two
Yorktown coal units are
retired.
Additional information about the supreme court ruling can be
found at
http://www.courts.state.va.us/opinions/opnscvwp/1140462.pdf.
Dominion (NYSE: D) is one of the nation's largest producers and
transporters of energy, with a portfolio of approximately 24,600
megawatts of generation, 12,200 miles of natural gas transmission,
gathering and storage pipeline, and 6,455 miles of electric
transmission lines. Dominion operates one of the nation's
largest natural gas storage systems with 928 billion cubic feet of
storage capacity and serves utility and retail energy customers in
13 states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's
website at www.dom.com/.
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SOURCE Dominion Virginia Power