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Posts Tagged ‘Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind’

Dominion Energy vs. Dept. of the Interior et al

Posted in energy policy, Offshore Wind, Regulation, tagged , , , , , on December 30, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Dominion’s suit challenging the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind suspension order is attached.

Summary: “BOEM’s order sets forth no rational basis, cannot be reconciled with BOEM’s own regulations and prior issued lease terms and approvals, is arbitrary and capricious, is procedurally deficient, violates the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (“OCSLA”), and infringes upon constitutional principles that limit actions by the Executive Branch. This Court must therefore vacate the Order and enjoin BOEM from taking further action with respect to that Order.”

Key points raised by Dominion:

  • Dominion Energy Virginia (DEV) has spent approximately $8.9 billion to develop CVOW to date, which is over two-thirds of the total projected cost of $11.2 billion.
  • BOEM and Interior afforded DEV no advance warning or due process regarding the Order for CVOW.
  • The Order alleges no CVOW violation or deficiency.
  • The Order points to unnamed “national security threats” based on a November 2025 “additional assessment regarding the national security implications of offshore wind projects” by DoD, “including the rapid evolution of relevant adversary technologies and the resulting direct impacts to national security from offshore wind projects” generally.
  • The Order deems this information “new” and “classified” without any justification or detail. Moreover, as BOEM and DoD should know, certain DEV officials have security clearances to receive and review classified information, yet never were afforded such an opportunity prior to issuance of the Order.
  • DEV is suffering more than $5 million per day in losses solely for costs relating to vessel services associated with the Order. DEV is also incurring losses related to additional storage costs for the significant amount of equipment, idle workforce, contractual penalties, and additional costs.
  • BOEM’s Order comprises a single page, identifies no specific concerns, and provides no supporting documentation.
  • Agencies are required to consider costs and benefits in their decision-making
  • Agencies are required to consider alternatives in their decision-making.
  • The CVOW Order unlawfully deprives DEV of a property interest without due process.

    Dominion’s weakest argument follows (bad State legislation shouldn’t dictate Federal energy policy):

    CVOW is critical to Virginia’s legislative clean energy directive and DEV’s commitment to achieving net-zero emissions. The VCEA requires the transition of Virginia’s electric grid to 100 percent non-carbon producing energy generation by 2045. Va. Code § 56-585.5. The VCEA also states that the construction of Virginia offshore wind facilities is in the public interest. Va. Code § 56-585.1:11 (C)(1).

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      Excellent piece on the directed suspension of the nearly completed Virginia Wind project

      Posted in energy policy, Offshore Wind, tagged , , , , on December 23, 2025| Leave a Comment »

      Excerpts from an excellent opinion piece by Derrick Max of the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy:

      Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) is no ordinary renewable project. It was created by legislative command. The 2020 Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) declared Dominion’s 2.6-gigawatt wind farm “in the public interest,” effectively tying the hands of the State Corporation Commission and guaranteeing Dominion full cost recovery and profit. The risk doesn’t sit with shareholders — it sits with Virginia’s ratepayers.

      The Thomas Jefferson Institute opposed that structure from the start. We warned that forcing captive customers to underwrite an unproven, high-cost project located in a hurricane prone region would expose Virginians to escalating bills with little accountability. Yet when a group recently asked the federal government to shut CVOW down, we declined to join. Why? Because government shouldn’t pick winners and losers — not when it mandates projects, and not when it stops them. Especially when a project is in its final stretch and no economic analysis of such a decision has been completed (or shared). 

      Virginia’s offshore wind story shows how risky it is when government drives energy decisions by decree. One administration mandates a massive buildout; the next halts it over security fears. Businesses can’t plan around that. Ratepayers shouldn’t have to pay for it.

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