Dominion Energy Virginia unveils long-term plan to meet growing power demand

In its 2024 Integrated Resource Plan filed with the Virginia State Corporation Commission and the North Carolina Utilities Commission, Dominion Energy Virginia laid out multiple portfolio options to meet rising power demand through significant investments in new power generation from every source, expansion and modernization of the power grid, energy storage, and energy efficiency programs. Each portfolio was developed to meet the growing needs of the company’s customers. The IRP is not a request to build any specific project, but rather a long-term planning document based on a snapshot in time of current technology, market information and load projections. The plan demonstrates the company’s commitment to reliable, affordable and increasingly clean electricity. Nearly 80% of the plan’s incremental power generation over the next 15 years is carbon-free, including: about 3,400 megawatts of new offshore wind in addition to the 2,600-MW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project currently under development off the coast of Virginia Beach. CVOW is the largest offshore wind project under development in the U.S. and remains on-time and on-budget; roughly 12,000 MW of new solar, a more than 150% increase to the 4,750 MW of solar the company currently has in operation or under development; about t4,500 MW of new battery storage, and; small modular nuclear reactors beginning in the mid-2030s. About 20% of the plan’s incremental power generation will come from natural gas, which is a critically important source of reliable backup power to ensure the lights stay on when the company’s growing wind and solar fleet are not producing electricity. The IRP is based on a forecast developed by PJM, which projects that power demand will continue growing at unprecedented levels in the coming decades. Power demand within the company’s delivery zone is forecasted to grow 5.5% annually for the next decade and to double by 2039.