Eileen Woll
July 10, 2019
PEOPLE CAN ARGUE about the details, now that Dominion Energy has started building Virginia’s first offshore wind energy project off the coast of Virginia Beach. But no one should minimize the significance of this move toward a more sustainable future.
Among the questions are: Is Dominion moving too slowly as it takes its first steps toward generating offshore wind energy? And, will offshore wind projects lead to steep rate increases for Dominion’s power customers?
The answer to the first question is: Maybe so, but at least Dominion has started construction on this important source of clean energy, however cautiously it is proceeding. That first step is a big one.
The answer to the second is that the effects on customers’ rates remain to be seen. Officials will sort out how much of the cost of this and other improvements to the way Dominion generates and distributes power is passed on to customers in Virginia and North Carolina. Obviously, no one wants to see their electric bill go up.
But these are changes that need to be made, and the coast of Virginia has the potential of being a major center for offshore wind farms. The strong winds and relatively shallow waters off our shores make for an ideal location.
That’s why some groups that are pushing for more alternative energy are urging Dominion to proceed more ambitiously. They point out that other East Coast states are surging ahead of Virginia.
Dominion, however, says it is taking a measured approach, what it considers a test run. The company wants to make sure two giant wind turbines it will be installing 27 miles out into the Atlantic off Virginia Beach are going to work as expected before building additional turbines. It also wants to make sure there are no unexpected effects on marine life.
Work is underway on a substation at Camp Pendleton for the project. Any day now, a construction rig laying conduit under the Atlantic should be visible from Virginia Beach’s Oceanfront. Work on the turbines is to begin early next year, and they should be up and running later in the year.
The completed turbines won’t be visible from the Oceanfront.
They are expected to generate about 12 megawatts of power, enough to provide clean energy to about 3,000 homes.
Assuming the test run goes well, Dominion has plans to install enough turbines to generate 2,000 megawatts of power, capable of providing energy to half a million homes. It has leased a large tract of ocean from the federal government, the first tract of federal waters to be used for a wind farm.
Dominion will draw on existing revenues to pay for these first two turbines, expected to cost $300 million, so customers shouldn’t face rate increases because of them. Increases might come if and when Dominion expands the project — though it would be nice if Virginia still had an effective system of oversight to better protect consumers.
The project is possible because the General Assembly wisely passed a law last year making wind and solar energy public priorities and easing regulations.
Wind and solar energy are indeed priorities, and the time is right to pursue them. Other cities in Hampton Roads have joined Virginia Beach in pledging their support for offshore wind energy.
It’s crucial for our future to get serious about developing wind, solar and other renewable sources of energy. It makes sense to figure out how to make alternative fuels cost-effective rather than to continue to rely heavily on dwindling supplies of coal and other fossil fuels.
And it makes sense to develop cleaner ways of generating the power we need rather than increasing pollution and the climate change it’s causing. Hampton Roads — our homes, businesses and industry, military bases and way of life — is especially vulnerable to the rising seas that come with a warming climate.
Fortunately, this region also has important resources that can be used to generate offshore wind energy, one of the most promising, alternative, clean sources of fuel.
With the encouragement of the state, Dominion Energy is starting the process of developing that clean energy. Let’s hope this first step soon leads to many more.
Eileen Woll Offshore Energy Program DirectorVirginia Chapter Sierra Club
[email protected]
801 Boush Street, Suite 200
Norfolk, VA 23510
757-277-8537 (cell)
Source: https://pilotonline.com/opinion/editorial/article_83f1a430-a318-11e9-ac66-2367999c2eed.html