For Immediate Release
Tuesday, November 25, 2025
Richmond, VA – Today, the State Corporation Commission approved Dominion Energy’s request to construct the 944-megawatt Chesterfield Energy Reliability Center—a new methane gas plant slated to cost no less than $1.47 billion—and authorized a new Rider CERC that will begin charging customers as early as January 2026. Despite Dominion’s failure to meet Virginia’s required energy-efficiency targets and despite extensive public opposition, the SCC invoked a “reliability threat” provision of the Virginia Clean Economy Act to justify building new fossil fuel generation.
The Sierra Club Virginia Chapter issues the following statement in response to the SCC decision:
“By declaring a ‘reliability’ emergency and approving a new gas plant, the State Corporation Commission (SCC) has let Dominion Energy drive Virginia’s energy policy off course, benefitting utility shareholders and the data centers owned by the richest companies in the world, at the expense of Virginia families and our environment.
This case should prove once and for all that the publicly stated climate and clean energy commitments of big tech companies aren’t worth a thing.
The SCC had the opportunity in this case to send Dominion Energy down a path where they could power our communities with cleaner, cheaper, and faster to deploy resources. It is distressing that they chose not to do so.
Now is the time for lawmakers to strengthen the Virginia Clean Economy Act, protect communities, and put our money into solutions that actually make our grid cleaner, cheaper, and more reliable.
The patience of Virginians who are asked again and again to pay for overly expensive infrastructure and then endure its pollution is wearing more than thin.”