For immediate release: July 25, 2025
Contact: Kia Smith, kia.smith@mothersoutfront.org
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Today, on behalf of Appalachian Voices, Mothers Out Front, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Southern Environmental Law Center filed testimony from Telos Energy before the Virginia State Corporation Commission showing that Dominion’s proposed Chesterfield gas plant is not necessary to ensure reliable power. The findings undercut not only Dominion’s public messaging around the gas plant, but also its legal argument that the plant should be exempt from Virginia law because of a threat to system reliability.
Telos Energy evaluated Dominion’s application to build the 944-megawatt Chesterfield gas plant — a proposal that would cost ratepayers more than $8 billion, including fuel costs, over its lifetime and continue to pollute a community that has borne the brunt of toxic coal emissions for decades.
Because Dominion has failed to generate required energy efficiency savings, Virginia law prohibits construction of new carbon-emitting facilities unless there is a demonstrated “threat to system reliability.” Dominion has repeatedly argued that such a threat exists and has even presented analyses claiming there could be power shortages. Telos Energy’s analysis shows, however, that the “threat” identified in the Company’s analyses is completely preventable and is, in fact, the product of illogical assumptions.
Flawed assumptions in Dominion’s analysis include:
- Out-of-state exports: Dominion would let its Virginia customers lose power rather than suspend power exports to Duke Energy customers in North Carolina.
- Inaccurate generator assumptions: Dominion’s power generators would perform significantly worse during future severe weather events than they have in the recent past, despite significant recent investments in upgrades.
- Failure to use all available resources: Dominion would not use fully charged batteries and all deployable gas resources to keep the lights on for customers in severe weather.
By replicating both studies and re-running them with corrected assumptions, Telos Energy demonstrated that Dominion can reliably meet customers’ needs—even in severe weather—without building a new polluting gas plant. Ultimately, the testimony recommends denying the application to build the Chesterfield gas plant on the basis that Dominion has failed to support its proposal with a rigorous analysis that meets the statutory requirements.
“We look forward to presenting our case,” said Grayson Holmes, a senior attorney in SELC’s Charlottesville office. “The Company’s analysis assumes that it would keep significant resources offline or producing below its capabilities, choosing instead to build a new, expensive gas resource.”
“Reliability analyses should be used to ensure a reliable system—not to manufacture
emergencies or misrepresent operations,” said Melissa Thomas, senior organizer for Mother’s Out Front. “Rushed and baseless utility planning won’t result in a good outcome for Dominion’s customers, or the Commonwealth, and will fall the hardest on communities that have borne the brunt of polluting plants for decades. Thoughtful planning and thorough oversight will benefit Virginians.”
“When you look under the hood of Dominion’s reliability claims, the data simply do not reflect the situation the company has been repeating in the press,” said Peter Anderson, Energy Policy Director for Appalachian Voices. “No one is denying that there is some load growth, and we will need new resources. But there is no justification for backtracking on clean energy progress and saddling communities with new polluting plants.”
The State Corporation Commission will hold a hearing beginning September 23, 2025, where the parties will present their evidence. Members of the public are invited to submit written comments on the Commission’s website or register to submit oral comments by telephone by September 16, 2025. Comments on the Commission’s website or register to submit oral comments by telephone by September 16, 2025.
Mothers Out Front is a member-led climate justice organization building the power of moms and caregivers to lead grassroots climate action. We are mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, and other caregivers organizing to transform unjust systems so that all children can live, play, and learn in a healthy and safe environment, for this generation and generations to come. mothersoutfront.org
The NAACP’s mission is to achieve equity, political rights, and social inclusion by advancing policies and practices that expand human and civil rights, eliminate discrimination, and accelerate the well-being, education, and economic security of Black people and all persons of color.
Appalachian Voices is a leading nonprofit advocate for a healthy environment and just economy in the Appalachian region, and a driving force in America’s shift from fossil fuels to a clean energy future. appvoices.org
About Southern Environmental Law Center
The Southern Environmental Law Center is one of the nation’s most powerful defenders of the environment, rooted in the South. With a long track record, SELC takes on the toughest environmental challenges in court, in government, and in our communities to protect our region’s air, water, climate, wildlife, lands, and people. Nonprofit and nonpartisan, the organization has a staff of 200, including more than 130 legal and policy experts, and is headquartered in Charlottesville, Va., with offices in Asheville, Atlanta, Birmingham, Chapel Hill, Charleston, Nashville, Richmond, and Washington, D.C. selc.org
Original Press Release published by Southern Environmental Law Center