Economic Development
Nothing is more critical to the sustainable success and stability of the economy than abundant and reliable energy. Our mission is to meet these expectations – and do so in an environmentally responsible manner.
Renewable Power Plant to Boost Local Economy
The planned conversion of Dominion’s Southampton Power Station in Franklin, Va., from coal to renewable biomass could pump as much as $25 million a year into the economy when it becomes operational in 2013. It is also expected to create about 100 jobs in the forestry and trucking industries.
The converted power station will burn about 600,000 tons of biomass in the form of waste wood, which is left over from logging sites located within a 60-mile radius of the station. The ash produced from burning the waste wood will be given to area farmers as a replacement for lime used in their fields.
Dominion currently operates the nation’s largest biomass power station near Pittsylvania, Va., and is planning to convert two other small coal stations to renewable biomass in the next couple of years.
Virginia's Favorable Business Climate
Our home state of Virginia has long enjoyed a reputation as one of the nation’s best places in which to live and do business. Site Selection Magazine ranked Virginia No. 1 in business competitiveness in 2011, based on such things as new and expanded facilities, total capital investment, new jobs created and the state unemployment rate.
Dominion’s Economic Development team supported the location or expansion of 18 companies in 2011, including facilities for such well-known names as Amazon, Green Mountain Coffee and Microsoft. All together, these 18 companies will create about 3,000 jobs and more than $780 million in new capital investment in Virginia.
Competitive Electric Rates
Affordable energy is a key factor in attracting and retaining business investment. As of Jan. 1, 2012, Dominion’s typical industrial rates were extremely competitive: 26 percent below the national average and 55 percent below the East Coast average.
Energy Projects Support Sustainable Growth
Dominion’s current and planned infrastructure modernization program and environmental investments will help meet Virginia’s rising power needs and improve air quality by reducing emissions.
A study by research firm Chmura Economics & Analytics reports that the company’s power station construction and environmental protection projects will produce more than $3 billion in benefits for the state by 2015, including more than 14,000 construction jobs and 750 permanent jobs.
Data Centers Fuel Economic Growth
Our Virginia electric service area is home to one of the nation’s largest concentrations of data centers, the computer-filled complexes that run the Internet and store vast amounts of corporate and government data. These data centers are among Dominion’s largest customers. Their electricity demand is comparable to a big manufacturing plant, the only difference being the constancy of their needs.
In 2011, we connected nine new data centers to the grid, each one consuming about the same amount of power as 9,000 residential households. That brings the total in operation to about 50, most of which are located in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.
Dominion’s building program, called Powering Virginia, is designed to support the state’s steadily increasing demand for power – expected to rise by about 4,000 megawatts over the coming decade. That is enough power to supply the needs of about 1 million typical households.
