Utilities regulator will reconsider approval of Dominion’s Chesterfield CPCN

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Press Release | December 18, 2025

RICHMOND, Va. — This week the State Corporation Commission granted reconsideration of the final order it issued previously granting Dominion Energy a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) for the utility’s proposed gas plant in Chesterfield.  

The final order issued November 25 is now suspended pending the SCC ruling on the merits of a petition SELC filed December 15 on behalf of Appalachian Voices, the Chesterfield NAACP, and Mothers Out Front.  

In their petition, the Community Groups said the final order does not follow the standards laid out in the Viriginia Clean Economy Act or in the Virginia Environmental Justice Act.  

“We, Appalachian Voices, the NAACP, and Mothers Out Front, appreciate the Commission’s willingness to take another look at its approval of this unnecessary, dirty, and expensive gas plant,” said SELC Senior Attorney Grayson Holmes. “We hope that the Commission will see and acknowledge the unfairness of continuing to force particular communities to bear the brunt of pollution from fossil fuel infrastructure. Since this is the first case assessing what constitutes a ‘threat to reliability,’ sufficient to overcome the Clean Economy Act’s presumption against building new gas plants, we also hope the Commission will recognize that permitting Dominion to claim this narrow exception on flimsy evidence sets a bad precedent—effectively suggesting that any future gas proposals could easily clear this hurdle, even if they are not the cleanest or most economic option.” 

These issues were also raised in the petition.  

• The SCC ignores the health impacts of the projected air pollution from the gas plant, which the Environmental Justice Act requires it to analyze. In this case, those impacts would be severe and disproportionate enough that they should mean denial of the CPCN. .  

• Dominion has not met its energy savings goals under Virginia code and therefore should not be able to recover the costs of the gas plant through a rider. 

• The SCC lacked sufficient information to support its finding that the costs of the gas plant are reasonable. Based on the evidence, it is far from clear that the Chesterfield Gas Plant is the cheapest solution for customers. 

• The Final Order accepts at face value the minimal evidence Dominion put forward showing that there is a threat to reliability that can only be satisfied by a new gas plant, and disregards substantial proof that new gas is not required to meet Virginians’ energy needs.

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