Check out the following press release from the VA Sierra Club. Also, the rhetorical questions for the day are: 1) has Dominion Energy always sucked this badly (the answer is “obviously, no shit, YES!”) and 2) will Dominion Energy ALWAYS suck this badly (the answer is “obviously, no shit, YES…unless our elected officials force them to change, then force them some more).
Sierra Club Files Testimony in SCC Hearings on Dominion’s Integrated Resource Plan
Dominion’s proposed plans fail to comply with state climate mandates and come with heavy consequences for ratepayers and communities.
Virginia – The Sierra Club has filed testimony to the State Corporation Commision highlighting glaring flaws of Dominion Energy’s proposed IRP. None of the proposed plans by the utility comply with the Virginia Clean Economy Act – the legally binding commitment of the commonwealth to transition to 100 percent clean energy generation by 2050. Though Dominion is claiming that new fossil fuel projects are necessary to meet growing energy demand driven by data centers, the utility’s analysis fails to incorporate state-mandated energy efficiency targets as well as existing funds to improve energy efficiency in low-income communities. Both will have significant impacts in reducing energy demand.
Connor Kish, Director of the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter has issued the following statement:
Ratepayers shouldn’t be punished for poor investments of a monopoly utility, nor should they be forced to pick up the tab for more costly polluting projects that harm communities and conflict with state law. Dominion’s IRP asks for both.
The Sierra Club’s testimony to the SCC highlights the glaring flaws with Dominion’s alternative plans, from failure to comply with the VCEA to the unsupported massive build-out of new, expensive, dirty fossil fuel projects. The SCC should treat Dominion’s IRP for what it is – an expensive, and unrealistic proposition.
Since Dominion is using data centers as an excuse to build new polluting projects, it’s time for that industry to prove it is as serious about the climate responsibility commitments they claim to possess. Data centers can play a role in holding Dominion accountable, or they can follow the utility’s playbook of more pollution at the expense of people. It’s time for them to choose a side.
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The Sierra Club Virginia Chapter is a grassroots, non-partisan advocacy organization dedicated to building a commonwealth where all people may enjoy our natural treasures, access clean air and water, and thrive in a healthy community. At over 20,000 members strong, the Virginia Chapter coordinates action to promote climate solutions and oppose projects and policies that put the interests of polluters above the needs of communities through an inclusive, justice-centered movement.
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