SCC approves Virginia Power plant in Buckingham

Dominion Virginia Power received permission from the State Corporation Commission yesterday to build a new 580-megawatt electricity-generating facility in Buckingham County.

"We are pleased with the decision and the SCC's recognition that new generation is needed in Virginia," said Mark F. McGettrick, president and chief executive officer of Dominion Generation, which will operate the plant for Dominion Virginia Power.

The $619 million Bear Garden Generating Station will burn natural gas and will also be able to use oil as a backup fuel source.

Dominion Virginia Power will build the combined-cycle power plant on a site across the James River from its Bremo Power Station.

The company wants to start construction as soon as possible in order to have the plant in operation by the summer of 2011, according to company spokesman Jim Norvelle.The Bear Garden project should generate 500 construction jobs, Dominion Virginia Power said, as well as 25 full-time positions when it comes online.

Dominion Virginia Power also received permission to build a 230-kilovolt transmission line that will run 1.4 miles from the generating station to the existing Bremo electricity substation in Fluvanna County.

In its order, the commission said Dominion Virginia Power needs new generating capacity in its Virginia service zone to meet growing energy demand and changing system conditions.

"New generation within the zone provides a greater certainty that additional capacity will be available within the Dominion zone as needed than can reliably be provided through existing resources within or outside of the zone," the SCC said.

"Virginia imports more electricity than any other state except California," McGettrick said, "and an over-reliance on imports is inconsistent with the needs of our customers and the goals of the Virginia Energy Plan."

Demand for the company's electricity is projected to grow by about 4,000 megawatts during the next decade, McGettrick said.

In March 2008, the Virginia utility company purchased the development rights for the Bear Garden project from Tenaska Virginia Partners II, L.P., which has its corporate headquarters in Omaha, Neb.

The state's largest electric utility, Dominion Virginia Power provides electricity to almost 2.3 million customers in the Old Dominion.

Contact Peter Bacqué at (804) 649-6813 or .