An $8 Billion Wind Farm Will Test Virginia’s Resolve to Be Green
- Some of utility’s biggest customers pressed for renewables
- Dominion offers a massive, ratepayer-backed wind project
Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
Dominion Energy Inc.’s customers have been pressing the Virginia utility giant for years to source more clean energy. On Thursday, the company heeded their call -- with a $7.8 billion, ratepayer-backed plan to build the largest offshore wind farm in America.
The proposal is unprecedented. Never has a utility pitched an offshore wind project of this size -- big enough to power 650,000 homes -- and in such a way that would have its customers shouldering the costs. It still needs the approval of state regulators, and the blessing of others including the region’s grid operator. But the Richmond-based company is already promoting the plan as a major means of curbing its global-warming emissions 55% by 2030.