The future of a massive wind project is in doubt, and state regulators are about to weigh how much risk should be assumed by utility customers.
Dominion Energy says the performance guarantee state regulators are imposing on them will make an offshore wind project off the coast of Virginia Beach untenable. But that's not a view shared by environmentalists, including some of the strongest proponents of the Clean Economy Act.
Harry Godfrey is executive director of Virginia Advanced Energy Economy.
"Not only will they be able to meet this. But I have every confidence in the years and decades to come, they'll be able to exceed it as well," says Godfrey. "This doesn't have anything to do with wind power. This has to do with the sort of financial obligations or risks Dominion is willing to undertake versus what they would prefer to pass on to the ratepayer."
At issue is what happens if the $10 billion project is completed, and more than 170 turbines are whirring away but it's not producing enough energy.
"They are afraid it's not going to work, and they'll end up having to eat the capital cost," explains Stephen Haner at the Thomas Jefferson Institute.
"This is an unusual project, and it's an unusual size. It's unusual to have that much of your capacity in one location. There's a lot of risk involved in this, and they wanted to put at least some of that risk on the stockholder."
In a written statement, a spokesman for Dominion says the company looks forward to completing the project. Meanwhile, state regulators will be reconsidering the performance guarantee later this year.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
