Neighbors in Chesterfield raise concerns about Dominion Energy’s power plant plan

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. — Dominion Energy is considering building a new peaker power plant along the 500 block of Coxendale Road in Chesterfield County, where an old coal-fired power plant once operated. The plant would support the existing power grid during extreme heat or cold.

“I cannot stress enough how vital this project is to the reliability of the power grid that serves more than 100,000 people in Chesterfield County,” said Jeremy Slayton, spokesman for Dominion Energy, of the planned Chesterfield Energy Reliability Center.

Although the county approved the plan, some Chesterfield residents expressed concerns about the plant’s potential impact on the environment and the health of people in the area.

“According to their own website, it will run 37% of the time,” said Jason Woodby, a science student at the high school. “That will result in about 2.0 billion kilograms of carbon pollution every year.”

WTVR

While Woodby said there was public outcry against the project, Slayton said Dominion Energy’s decision to proceed with investigating the site was a direct result of community feedback.

“One piece of feedback we got from those residents was, ‘Why don’t you try to install it at the Chesterfield power plant?’ And that’s exactly what we’re doing. We’re doing our due diligence,” Slayton said.

Dominion stated that it is not trying to bypass community input and participation, Nicole Martin disagrees.

Martin, president of the Chesterfield County NAACP and a member of the Friends of Chesterfield, said local residents “don’t want this plant.”

“Companies like Dominion Energy have been locating in black and brown communities for decades, and we’re finally here to stop that,” Martin said. “This community has been fighting for environmental justice for the last 80 years with the coal-fired power plant, and now they’re proposing this natural gas power plant that is completely unnecessary and unfair.”

Martin suggested that Dominion focus its energy on wind, solar and battery power.

She also said she has attended several board meetings to express her concerns about the plant’s environmental and health impacts. She said the relocation makes “absolutely no difference” because the plant is still in close proximity to the community.

WTVR

Dominion said the proposed site was within its approval.

Martin disagreed.

“They currently have a gas permit for the old power plant. This is depriving the population of the opportunity to express their opinion. They are being excluded from this process. This is unacceptable,” she said.

Glen Besa, president of Friends of Chesterfield, said the group recently filed an appeal with the county Board of Zoning Appeals.

He said he believed Dominion did not have the necessary building permits, claiming the utility’s current permits related to the former coal-fired power plant that operated at the site.

“The county has never considered a zoning application for this project,” he said. “This is a new facility and they need to take another look at it.”

WTVR

He said the nearest air pollution monitor is located several miles from the plant and is unable to adequately monitor air conditions for people living closer to the plant.

He said this could have negative impacts on the health of people living in the community.

Aliya Farooq, chair of the board of directors of Virginia Interfaith Power and Light and a member of the Governor’s Environmental Justice Council, said she has seen the impact a lung disease can have on a family.

“My two in-laws, who lived with me for 20 years, suffered from lung diseases and eventually died from them. I saw how they suffered,” said Farooq.

In addition, Farooq said she is caring for her elderly parents, who live even closer to the planned power plant than she does. Her mother was recently diagnosed with asthma, she said.

“For nearly 80 years, this community has lived with the effects of a coal-fired power plant that closed just last year, and we have just gotten some relief. Of course, we are still dealing with the effects of coal ash. It is very possible that it had something to do with my in-laws’ lung problems and my mother’s diagnosis,” Farooq said.

WTVR

As a member of the Interfaith community, Farooq said this is a topic of conversation that comes up frequently.

“Everyone will be affected,” she said. “Climate change doesn’t discriminate.”

Farooq is “frustrated” with the new initiative.

“We should work to help the communities we have harmed in the past, not to do it again,” Farooq said.

Martin called this a “trickle-down effect,” meaning that the existing health problems of members of this community would only get worse.

“People who normally cannot afford adequate health care are now burdened with pre-existing health conditions, exacerbating their respiratory disease, asthma, heart disease and potentially cancer. We wonder why, with all this information, Dominion has not moved on to cleaner, better options at this time?” Martin asked.

A Dominion Energy spokesman said energy demand is growing at an “unprecedented pace.”

WTVR

“Renewable energy is not enough to provide power to our customers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We need more natural gas power plants like the one we are proposing in Chesterfield that are always available and reliable so we can provide power even when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing,” Slayton said.

Friends of Chesterfield said its appeal of the recent zoning approval will likely be denied or it will take months to receive a response. In the meantime, Dominion Energy said it has held several community meetings about the project and will continue to do so.