GOOCHLAND, Va.—Deborah Blackburn leaned on her cane in a line to enter the Central High Cultural and Educational Complex, angst-ridden over a giant transmission line proposal for reasons that are common refrains here: It’s all to benefit data centers in Northern Virginia, and it will disrupt the rural character here outside Richmond. “We don’t want […]

A utility megamerger announced this week would mean that the largest offshore wind project in the United States would be owned by the same company that already is the nation’s leading developer of renewables and battery storage. NextEra Energy of Florida, the largest U.S. utility by market value, reached an agreement to combine with Dominion […]

A proposed merger of the largest utility in the country by market value, NextEra Energy, with the sixth-largest, Dominion, would create a megacompany at a time when data centers and rapid increases in electricity demand are reshaping the industry. The proposal, announced Monday morning and contingent on state and federal regulatory approval, would result in […]

RICHMOND, Va.—Gov. Abigail Spanberger on Friday signed legislation that directs regulators to assign electricity costs to data centers and allows Dominion Energy to spend $900,000 a mile burying local distribution lines. The bills from Senate President Pro Tem Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, and Del. Destiny LeVere Bolling, D-Henrico, could have also required data centers to cover […]

RICHMOND, Va.—A bill backed by Virginia’s largest and most powerful electric utility is on Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s desk for final action after the legislature rejected some of her cost-saving suggestions. The legislation, sponsored by Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, and Del. Destiny LeVere Bolling, D-Henrico, would assign certain electric grid upgrade costs to […]

RICHMOND, Va.—Three climate and justice nonprofits filed a notice before the Virginia Supreme Court on Tuesday that they would appeal a state regulator’s approval of a new Dominion Energy natural gas plant in Chesterfield County. Filed by Appalachian Voices, Mothers Out Front and the Chesterfield County Branch of the NAACP, the appeal would be the […]