Dominion Energy Virginia, Office of Attorney General, Walmart, Sierra Club and Appalachian Voices File Settlement Agreement for Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind

• Proposed settlement balances stakeholder pursuits; retains the challenge on schedule, on price range
• If accepted, vital buyer advantages embody safety from unexpected will increase in development prices above the challenge’s price range & enhanced SCC assessment of efficiency in lieu of a efficiency assure
• Buyer-focused regulated utility framework permits Dominion Vitality to prioritize reliability, affordability for purchasers whereas making investments in clear, fuel-free power initiatives

RICHMOND, Va., Oct. 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Dominion Vitality Virginia, the Workplace of the Lawyer Normal, Walmart, Sierra Membership and Appalachian Voices as we speak filed a settlement settlement within the firm’s pending petition to the State Company Fee of Virginia (SCC) to rethink the efficiency assure included within the Ultimate Order approving the event of the two.6-gigawatt Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) challenge to be constructed 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Seaside. If accepted by the SCC, the settlement would resolve the pending petition and supply vital buyer advantages.

The settlement settlement supplies a balanced and affordable method that helps continued funding in CVOW to satisfy the Commonwealth’s public coverage and financial growth priorities and the wants of Dominion Vitality Virginia’s 2.7 million clients representing greater than 5 million individuals and companies.

CVOW’s schedule requires development to be accomplished in late 2026, when it might generate sufficient clear power to energy as much as 660,000 properties. The August 5, 2022 Order from the SCC affirmed that CVOW meets all Virginia statutory necessities for rider value restoration and the issuance of a Certificates of Public Comfort and Necessity for the onshore infrastructure. The settlement settlement substitutes the beforehand ordered efficiency assure with a cost-sharing method for unexpected prices that exceed the challenge price range, in addition to enhanced Fee assessment of working efficiency.

The settlement settlement aligns with the customer-focused, state regulated utility framework in Virginia. That framework has resulted in nation-leading decarbonization targets, buyer charges decrease than nationwide and related regional averages, and excessive ranges of reliability for purchasers, made doable by a state regulatory mannequin that embraces long-term planning, a variety of era sources, and resiliency safeguards. 

“I respect the considerate effort of all events in reaching a constructive settlement to permit the challenge to proceed shifting ahead,” mentioned Bob Blue, Dominion Vitality chair, president & and chief government officer.

“Because the August Order, now we have additional mitigated a few of the challenge’s growth dangers that strengthen our confidence of remaining on-time and on-budget. We’ve got:

• Continued to work intently with Bureau of Ocean Vitality Administration and different stakeholders to assist the challenge’s timeline;
• Superior engineering and design in preparation of speedy launch of main gear for fabrication;
• Superior procurement and different pre-construction actions for the onshore scope of labor; and
• Accomplished impartial challenge assessment and development readiness evaluation, together with a complete evaluation of schedule and value.

“Improvement of the challenge has continued uninterrupted to take care of the challenge’s schedule. We anticipate over 90% of the challenge prices, excluding contingency, to be mounted by the top of the primary quarter in 2023 as in comparison with about 75% as we speak, additional de-risking the challenge and its price range.

“We’ve got lots of work forward as we proceed to construct on our lengthy document of finishing initiatives on-time and on-budget whereas safely delivering reasonably priced, dependable, and clear power to our clients.  Offshore wind is anticipated to alleviate strain on buyer gas charges for 30 years as soon as the challenge is in-service.  Our clients anticipate dependable, reasonably priced power – and offshore wind is vital for engaging in that mission.”

The corporate has beforehand introduced its third-quarter 2022 earnings name will happen at 10 a.m. ET on Friday Nov. 4, 2022.  Administration will focus on issues of curiosity to monetary and different stakeholders, together with current monetary outcomes and the settlement settlement for CVOW.

CVOW represents a clean-energy funding of roughly $9.8 billion and is nice for power variety, the setting and is transformational for Virginia’s financial system, significantly in Hampton Roads.

As a renewable power useful resource, offshore wind generators don’t have any gas prices, which is very useful contemplating the current rise in gas prices throughout the nation. The challenge is anticipated to save lots of Virginia clients greater than $3 billion throughout its first 10 years in operation. Nonetheless, if ongoing commodity market strain traits proceed, these financial savings may complete as much as almost $6 billion – virtually double the financial savings.

Offshore wind’s financial growth and jobs advantages are transformative for Hampton Roads and the Commonwealth, together with in its numerous communities. CVOW may create over 2,000 direct and oblique jobs throughout development and operations, whereas attracting corporations to make investments in Virginia making it a hub for offshore wind.

Along with the Workplace of the Lawyer Normal, the settlement is joined by Dominion Vitality Virginia, Walmart, Sierra Membership and Appalachian Voices.  Key parts of the settlement, which requires approval from the SCC, would supply for pragmatic value sharing within the occasion of unexpected value will increase previous to completion and different vital buyer advantages, together with the next:

• Within the context of the challenge’s present capital funding of $9.8 billion, the corporate voluntarily agreed that shareholders will share 50% of any prices within the vary of $10.3 billion to $11.3 billion, if any.
• The corporate has additional voluntarily agreed that shareholders will likely be liable for 100% of any prudently incurred prices within the vary of $11.3 billion to $13.7 billion, if any.
• There is no such thing as a voluntary cost-sharing settlement for any prices that exceed $13.7 billion.
• The corporate won’t be required to ensure future power manufacturing ranges or elements past its management as was outlined within the August Order. As a substitute, the corporate will present an in depth rationalization of the elements contributing to any shortfall in power output from projected quantities in a future SCC continuing.

The corporate may even make sure that clients obtain the advantages of the Inflation Discount Act, which may present potential further buyer financial savings.

“Given the now-significantly de-risked standing of the challenge’s growth and given its continued ‘on-budget’ standing, we really feel that this settlement displays a balanced sharing of monetary impacts in what we presently see as unlikely eventualities of fabric delays or value overruns,” added Blue.

Along with photo voltaic, power storage, and nuclear, offshore wind is a key part to Dominion Vitality’s numerous power era technique to satisfy the Commonwealth’s clear power targets and the corporate’s personal Internet Zero goal. Offshore wind enhances the corporate’s rising photo voltaic portfolio in Virginia, since offshore wind and photo voltaic generate peak power at totally different instances all through the day and 12 months.

View the proposed settlement submitting on the Dominion Vitality web site.

About Dominion Vitality

About 7 million clients in 15 states energize their properties and companies with electrical energy or pure gasoline from Dominion Vitality (NYSE: D), headquartered in Richmond, Va. The corporate is dedicated to soundly offering dependable, reasonably priced and sustainable power and to reaching Internet Zero emissions by 2050. Please go to DominionEnergy.com to be taught extra.

This information launch contains sure “forward-looking data.” Examples embody data as to expectations, beliefs, plans, targets, goals and future monetary or different efficiency or assumptions regarding issues mentioned on this launch. Our enterprise is influenced by many elements which are troublesome to foretell, contain uncertainties that will materially have an effect on precise outcomes and are sometimes past our capability to manage or estimate exactly.  We’ve got recognized and can sooner or later determine in our SEC Studies on Types 10-Okay and 10-Q plenty of elements that would trigger precise outcomes to vary from these within the forward-looking statements. We refer you to these discussions for additional data. Any forward-looking assertion speaks solely as of the date on which it’s made, and we undertake no obligation to replace any forward-looking assertion to mirror occasions or circumstances after the date on which it’s made.

For additional data: 

Media: Jeremy Slayton, 804-297-5247 or [email protected]

Investor Relations: David McFarland, 804-819-2438 or [email protected]

SOURCE Dominion Vitality