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Wind Power News: Virginia
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch in its noncommercial educational effort to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch. They are the products of and owned by the organizations or individuals noted and are shared here according to “fair use” and “fair dealing” provisions of copyright law.
Third dead whale found miles from offshore wind farm in less than a week
The third dead whale was discovered in less than a week off the southeastern coast of Virginia, miles from Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW), one of two operational wind farms in federal waters. Over the weekend, a critically endangered North Atlantic right whale was discovered washed ashore near Chic’s Beach which is located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) confirmed to Fox News Digital on Monday. According to local news outlets, there was no immediate . . . Complete story »
Regulators grant critical approval for Dominion wind farm
“The magnitude of this project is so great that it will likely be the costliest project being undertaken by any regulated utility in the United States. And the electricity produced by this Project will be among the most expensive sources of power — on both a per kilowatt of firm capacity and a per megawatt-hour basis — in the entire United States,” the order said. Complete story »
Proposed wind farm in Botetourt County gets new state approval
Slowed for nearly seven years by lawsuits, design changes, the pandemic and a lengthy search for a buyer of the renewable energy it will produce, a mountaintop wind farm in Botetourt County continues to inch forward. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality recently reaffirmed its approval for the Rocky Forge Wind project, which will entail building 13 turbines, each one 634 feet tall, along a ridgeline of North Mountain. Apex Clean Energy, a Charlottesville-based company that first proposed the wind . . . Complete story »
Youngkin plan calls for reevaluating major clean energy law
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin called Monday for expanding nuclear power generation in Virginia, reevaluating a recent clean energy law celebrated by environmentalists, and restoring greater authority to state regulators who oversee the state’s powerful utilities. His administration laid out those and other goals in a 29-page state energy plan unveiled Monday morning before a crowd of elected officials and hard-hat-wearing workers at a power transformer manufacturing company in Lynchburg. The energy plan, an exercise required by state . . . Complete story »
Dominion may end $10b offshore wind project over performance clause
The SCC will allow Dominion to bill the cost of CVOW's development to household ratepayers in the form of a minuscule rider fee - but only if its turbines perform at a 42 percent capacity factor or better in any three-year period. Any shortfalls would be Dominion's to cover. Complete story »
SCC to hear more arguments on wind farm ratepayer protection
A range of groups, from the Sierra Club to Walmart, have participated in the regulatory proceedings. Wednesday’s commission order directs all participants who object to Dominion’s petition to file a response by Sept. 13. Dominion must then respond to those arguments by Sept. 22, the order said. Complete story »
The spinning of Virginia’s wind farm
Now that their climate spending bill has been signed by President Biden, Democrats might go to bed dreaming of wind farms. What they’re sleeping through is the green logrolling and corporatism already evident in the clean-power transition. A good example is an offshore wind farm that Virginia regulators approved recently under obvious duress. Dominion Energy plans to build 176 wind turbines 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. That’s enough to power about 660,000 homes. The capital cost is . . . Complete story »
Utility: Guarantee for large offshore wind farm ‘untenable’
A ratepayer protection that state regulators included in a recent order approving Dominion Energy Virginia’s application to build and recover the costs of a massive offshore wind farm would force the utility to scrap the project, Dominion said in a filing this week. The State Corporation Commission granted approval this month for the 176-turbine, multibillion-dollar project off Virginia Beach. Dominion immediately raised concerns about the commission’s inclusion of a performance guarantee for the wind farm and in a petition Monday . . . Complete story »
Wind project not worth the collateral damage
Dan Crawford, chapter president of the Roanoke Sierra Club, has had commentaries published in The Roanoke Times asserting that the Rocky Forge Industrial Wind Project is perfectly suited for North Mountain. But what about locating a concrete batch plant in a Forest Conservation Area immediately next to Mill Creek, a Class IV trout stream? The Botetourt County zoning ordinance clearly prohibits a concrete batch plant located in a Forest Conservation Area, and yet the county has said that it is . . . Complete story »
State regulators approve Dominion’s nearly $10 billion wind farm off Virginia Beach coast
RICHMOND – State regulators on Friday approved an application from Dominion Energy Virginia to build an enormous offshore wind farm off the coast of Virginia Beach and recover the cost from ratepayers. No parties to the monthslong proceeding had opposed the approval of the project, which will help the utility boost the proportion of its generation that comes from renewable resources. But many had raised concerns about affordability and possible risks to the utility’s captive ratepayers. In its Friday order, the . . . Complete story »
