NO MORE GAS PLANTS
Dominion Energy is proposing a 1000 - megawatt methane gas plant in Chesterfield County. This project will pollute the surrounding community and could raise your electric bills.
Sign up below to help us stop this project and scroll down to learn more.
About the gas plant
Dominion Energy is proposing a 1000 - megawatt methane gas plant in Chesterfield County.
Financial impacts
The type of gas plant Dominion is proposing is typically very expensive to build and operate, especially when compared to other energy sources. In fact, gas plants that run on combustion turbines like this one generate electricity at a minimum cost of $115 per MWh. That’s nearly five times more expensive than utility-scale solar.
On top of the costs to run the plant, Dominion estimates construction costs will start at $600,000,000 (according to 2019 estimates). These costs will be passed on to Dominion’s customers through charges on their electric bills.
Gas plants like these also come with serious health risks for the surrounding community. Because this type of plant is designed to turn on and off very quickly, they often run on dirtier fuel and have fewer pollution controls to protect nearby residents.
​
According to Dominion, the plant could emit up to 28 tons of sulfur dioxide, 344 tons of nitrogen oxides and 819 tons of carbon monoxides every year (source). All of these are toxic air pollutants that pose serious health risks to the surrounding community, which includes more than 6,000 households within three miles of the plant and the children who attend the Bellwood Elementary School two miles away (source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency).
Health impacts
Environmental impacts
According to Dominion Energy's permit application to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, the plant will run approximately 37% of the year (3,240 hours) and will generate the equivalent of 4,500,000,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide emissions per year.
That's 13% of Dominion's total emissions across its entire service territory (including North Carolina), and the equivalent of 470,000 more cars on the road each year.
Proposed location of the plant
