From Clean Virginia:
Dominion Energy Bidding Conspiracy Spurs More Federal Charges
Dominion employees accepted gifts in exchange for confidential information
Richmond, VA — A Virginia federal court charged an energy executive at Siemens this week for colluding with a Dominion Energy employee during the bidding process for a gas turbine plant in Chesterfield, Virginia in 2019. The court documents allege Dominion employees accepted gifts including football game tickets, hotel accommodations and dinners in exchange for confidential information that allowed Siemens to undercut other bidders and secure the contract to build the plant, a deal potentially worth as much as $340 million. The Dominion employee involved, Theodore Fasca, pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud earlier this year.
“These allegations of corruption and conspiracy sound serious alarms on Dominion’s business operations and its plans to revive the Chesterfield gas plant project. Without proper oversight, Virginia’s energy monopoly system incentivizes behavior like this, leading to higher costs for consumers and shady business dealings,” said Clean Virginia’s Executive Director Brennan Gilmore.
A complaint filed by General Electric against Siemens in 2021 also references Dominion’s “highly unusual” decision to award Siemens an additional contract for its $7.8 billion offshore wind project without a formal competitive bidding process.
“Virginians deserve better than this from the company responsible for keeping their lights on. All source competitive procurement with a third-party auditor and strong consumer protection guardrails from state regulators will help ensure ratepayers always get the best deal.”
Dominion recently revived its plans to build a 1000 MW gas-fired plant in Chesterfield County despite questions over its costs and health impacts on nearby residents.
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Clean Virginia is a 501(c)4 independent advocacy organization with an associated Political Action Committee, Clean Virginia Fund. Clean Virginia works to fight corruption in Virginia politics in order to promote clean energy, a robust, competitive economy, and community control over our energy policy. We are motivated by the core belief that our democracy should serve everyday Virginians over special interests.
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