WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Dominion Virginia Power plans to invest nearly $2 billion per year through 2020 to add new, clean generation, including solar energy, and to expand, secure and upgrade the electric grid in Virginia and northeastern North Carolina.
The planned $9.5-billion spend builds on a substantial record of new capital investment by the company in recent years for new electric infrastructure designed to meet growth, enhance reliability and promote cleaner air and water. The company made $1.8 billion in similar investments in 2015.
The investments are in addition to the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a $5 billion natural gas pipeline that is being built by a sister company to serve Dominion Virginia Power and other electric and natural gas utilities.
Virginia Power's electric rates remain significantly lower than national, regional and state averages even while making major expenditures for new infrastructure.
In recent years residential rates have increased by an average of less than 1 percent annually. This was achieved in part by the company increasing its efficiency and holding down operating costs.
Of the $9.5-billion planned capital expenditures through 2020, $2.4-billion is slated for the company's distribution system, $3.6-billion for transmission lines and substations, and $3.5-billion for new generation and environmental improvements. Included in those amounts are $700 million for new solar generation and additional funds for undergrounding vulnerable distribution lines, if approved by the Virginia State Corporation Commission.
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