Four Years in a Row Business Facilities Magazine Names Dominion Energy as a Top Utility

This is an excerpt from a larger article which can be found at: https://businessfacilities.com/2021/02/top-utilities-power-players/

DOMINION POWERS GROWTH IN VIRGINIA

In its most recent “Top States for Business” ranking, CNBC named Virginia the top state for business in America in 2019, and Dominion Energy is proud of the role it plays in helping attract businesses to the Commonwealth. The company serves more than 7 million electric and natural gas customers across 16 states, and is headquartered in Richmond, Va. In 2020, the utility tallied wins in the data center, medical, manufacturing and logistics industries, adding more than 350 megawatts of new capacity to support them. Dominion Energy continues to be a utility of choice when attracting new prospects because of its ability to maintain strong relationships with stakeholders at local and state levels.

“At Dominion Energy, we are focused not just on providing electricity, but on actively partnering with customers to help define and advance their energy needs and sustainability goals,” said Felicia Howard, vice president of Economic Development Strategy for the company. “We are committed to responsiveness and customer service.”

Companies ultimately choose to locate within Dominion Energy’s service area because of that customer service, as well as the utility’s competitive rates, reliable energy, strategic location, renewable energy options and the expertise afforded by its team of experienced energy and site-selection experts. A few key factors attract companies to the utility’s service area:

Dominion Energy’s retail electricity rates for large commercial and industrial customers consistently remain around 25 percent below the national average. When you pair that with robust reliability metrics, Dominion Energy offers a significant value to companies looking to locate within its service area.
The utility has a prime location in the mid-Atlantic region, adjacent to Washington, D.C. Its location offers world-class transportation and logistics infrastructure and provides easy access to major U.S. and international markets.
Dominion Energy is establishing itself as a national leader in renewable energy. The company currently has the nation’s largest utility-owned offshore wind project under development off the coast of Virginia Beach and is planning to deploy more than 16,000 megawatts of new solar generation over the next 15 years.
The utility has a skilled economic development team that helps get facilities up and running quickly and effectively, prioritizing site selection, siting and permitting, construction design, service agreements and relationships. The economic development team also works to support businesses interested in contracting on clean energy infrastructure projects and to expand job opportunities by supporting development of the clean energy workforce in the commonwealth.
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the continued need for digital infrastructure as many employees across the country shifted to remote work. The effects of the pandemic continued to drive data center project activity in Northern Virginia, home to the largest data center market in the world. Dominion Energy is the largest worldwide energy provider to this industry and continues to see a strong pipeline of data center development projects from customers such as AWS, CloudHQ and QTS, all of which continued their growth in 2020 with new projects totaling more than 300 megawatts of new facility capacity. Dominion Energy also was an integral part of CSX’s Intermodal facility in Rocky Mount, NC, along the I-95 corridor, which will bring 300 new

jobs to the area. In addition, Hershey announced an expansion of its existing manufacturing facility in Augusta County, Va., which is projected to add 110 new jobs. These projects highlight both the scale and diversity of industries Dominion Energy has helped attract to both Virginia and North Carolina.

Dominion Energy is committed to providing sustainable, reliable, affordable and safe energy. The company continues to expand its footprint across the country with nearly 17,000 employees. With a goal of being the most sustainable energy company in America, Dominion Energy has made commitments to deliver clean energy to customers through new, renewable sources. The company operates the third-largest solar portfolio among utility holding companies in the U.S., with more than 2,200 megawatts in operation across its nationwide footprint. It also has announced the largest offshore wind project in the U.S., which will produce enough clean, renewable energy to power 660,000 homes by 2026. Dominion Energy also is committed to achieving net zero carbon dioxide and methane emissions from its power generation and gas infrastructure operations nationwide by 2050.

More information about Dominion Energy Economic Development can be found here.