Chesterfield approves Dominion landfill

The Chesterfield Board of Supervisors gave Dominion approval late last month to create a landfill for coal waste.

The site is for the disposal of fly ash, a byproduct created by burning coal at the company’s electricity-generating plants. The facility will replace the existing fly-ash site about a mile away, which Dominion said will likely reach capacity sometime around 2018.

The proposed landfill will be located on 190 acres of company-owned land near the intersection of Old Stage and Coxendale roads. Ninety-two acres will actually be used for disposal.

Dan Genest, a spokesman for Dominion, told BizSense that the current facility, built in 1983, handles about 600,000 tons of material a year.

That volume will move to the new facility once the current one is out of use. The new landfill is expected to last for at least 20 years. Read more

The money trail

Richmond area businesses, associations and leaders rallied for Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell in the last month of the campaign by donating large sums of cash to the campaign.

McDonnell raised $67,400 from area businesses and associations in October and another $65,165 from executives and business owners. Read more

Cemetery goes under; two other companies file bankruptcy

Business bankruptcies skyrocketed this week.

Three businesses have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the past few days: a cemetery outside Petersburg, a business that ran two gas stations and an excavation company in Chesterfield.

Dinwiddie Memorial Park, which lists Ronald Hess as the president, owes between $500,000 and $1 million. Read more

Tides turning in race for campaign cash

Richmond-based companies and business associations gave more to Democrat Creigh Deeds than to Republican Bob McDonnell during the most recent round of fund-raising.

Deeds raised $152,500 between July 1 and August 31 from Richmond area businesses and groups. McDonnell raised $120,000 from area businesses and groups, falling behind Deeds for the first time since the campaign started.

But McDonnell still tops Deeds in the overall race for cash, $561,604 to $326,220. Read more

CenterStage, Inc.

The new downtown performing arts venue, Richmond CenterStage, opened with a lot of fanfare this weekend, selling out the almost 1,800 seats for its first performance.

The theater complex is funded by a combination of public and private donations, but a large share of it is funded by donations from Richmond-based corporations including Dominion, Altria and MeadWestvaco. Read more

High-energy rally takes on cap-and-trade bill

Fervor over a proposed energy bill attracted more than 100 people, mostly seniors, to a rally at the new Westin hotel at Reynolds Crossing.

EnergyCitizens, a nationwide alliance of organizations and people seeking to stop the cap-and-trade bill from passing the U.S. Senate, organized the event.

Notably, Dominion — the area’s largest energy producer — was not present.

EnergyCitizens is funded primarily by the American Petroleum Institute and is led by a coalition of pro-business groups including the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, the Virginia Petroleum Council and the state trucking and manufacturing associations. Read more

Dominion adds online power outage map

Sitting in the dark, waiting for the power to come back on can be a drag. Read more

Look who’s organizing now

Pro-business groups are taking a page from the grassroots playbook. Read more

Dominion applies for federal stimulus money

Dominion Virginia Power has applied for $200 million in federal stimulus money to install smart meters on residences and businesses.

Installing the meters will cost Dominion about $600 million, expenses that are passed on to customers. Read more

Electric bill lower, but hang on for more increases

The next time you get your power bill from Dominion, it might be a couple bucks cheaper, but don’t get used to it. When a handful of adjustments take effect, the average electricity bill in Virginia for residential customers will rise from $108.73 to $116.27.

Business owners can expect commercial rates to rise by 6.9 percent.

But in the short term, they will likely fall. As of yesterday, the average Dominion residential customer will see a reduction of about $3.64 because of lower commodities prices.

“The old fuel costs were calculated when gas was $4 a gallon, and we all remember what that was like,” said David Botkins, a spokesperson at Dominion. “There is a lot that goes into calculating an energy bill but the fuel costs that are part of it reflect the lower price of gas and other energy-producing commodities.”

Uranium and coal are also cheaper, Botkins said

The price drop is slightly larger for commercial customers. That’s because fuel costs play a larger role in the bill for commercial accounts, Botkins said.

But then costs will start rising, including a new $1.26 surcharge tol cover the cost of the regional transmission system, which was designed to save customers money by increasing reliability. An analysis by Chmura Economics stated that the system would save Dominion customers more than $800 million.
But according to Botkins, having access to the PJM’s energy is what saves consumers money.

“Dominion has access to their supply of electricity, rather than us having to import it from a more expensive source,” he said. PJM is an energy supplier based out of Valley Forge, Pa. Dominion joined with the company in 2005.

Electricity rates in Virginia are set by the State Corporation Commission, which regulates power companies. Both the surcharge and the fuel-cost adjustment are a part of a rate change that will take place over the coming months and will ultimately result in a 6.9 percent increase in rates by next year.
Other reasons for the increase include:

•    An increase of $77 million, or $1.40 a month per customer, for the Bear Garden Power Station in Buckingham County, effective Jan. 1. The SCC approved construction of the project Friday.

•    An increase of $99 million, or about $1.78 a month, for the Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center in Southwest Virginia, to take effect Jan. 1.

•    A notice of intent to file for an increase of about $20 million to $30 million, or about 40 cents to 50 cents a month, for new energy efficiency and conservation programs. This case is scheduled to be filed on or after July 1, and, if approved, will become effective by May 1.

You can read more on Dominion’s website.

David Larter is a BizSense reporter. Please send news tips to david@richmondbizsense.com

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