Dominion Profits Up -- For Now

Dominion announced its 2009 earnings today, according to the Associated Press via Forbes

Dominion Resources Inc. on Thursday estimated its operating earnings in 2009 will grow up to 4.4 percent from last year and predicted 2010 earnings that beat analyst expectations.

So far, so good, for Dominion's short-sighted corporate leadership. But as I wrote last December, these projections ignore "the huge risk that shareholders and customers face from the growing likelihood that the company will face charges for the 64 million tons of CO2 that it annually spews into the atmosphere.

Dump Dominion!

Wake Up Richmond and Dominion: Here Comes Decoupling

The Vine, the energy and environment blog at the New Republic, reports that

Henry Waxman just put a big "decoupling" provision in the House stimulus bill, an amendment that would require states seeking federal money to revamp the way their utilities operate. Right now, utilities profit based on how much electricity they sell, giving them scant incentive to promote conservation. But under various decoupling schemes, utilities would have financial incentives to boost efficiency—and sell less electricity. California's seemingly slashed energy waste under this arrangement...

How will Virginia and our dominant power public utility, Dominion Resources, respond if Waxman's decoupling requirement becomes law? Dominion's defenders sometimes argue that the company has no choice but to push for new coal-burning plants, because the regulations do not reward energy efficiency. I've always believed that Dominion Resources could have any sort of regulatory regime it wants, since it essentially writes its own regulations through its intensive lobbying efforts in Richmond, and the leverage it thus exerts over opaquely named State Corporation Commission.

Of course, tying federal stimulus funding to decoupling might finally wake up the state assembly and the regulators! Worth watching!

A note on the foolish inconsistency of the fossil lobby: they oppose Waxman's decoupling proposal on the grounds that it represents Federal interference in state regulatory affairs. Hang on a dogone minute! Aren't these the very same people who supported Bush's position that California should not be able to set its own automobile emission standards? (A position now being overturned by Obama's administration.)

New study shows investing in efficiency instead of Wise County coal plant would save most Virginia families up to $91 a year

If President-elect Obama and the new Congress want to see firsthand why dirty coal is not the energy solution for America, they need look no further than the coal-fired power plant proposed for Virginia’s nearby Wise County.

“investing in energy efficiency instead of building the Wise County coal plant to meet the same electricity demand would yield hundreds of millions of dollars more annually for the state and create at least 2,600 more jobs than the controversial 585-megawatt coal-fired power plant. The benefits would be even greater if, as anticipated, the federal government enacts controls on global warming emissions...
Because electricity from coal is much more expensive than electricity saved through efficiency, building the coal plant would result in higher electric bills for homes and businesses, which would diminish consumer spending and weaken Virginia’s economy. Improving energy efficiency, on the other hand, would lower electric bills, leave more money in the hands of consumers and businesses, and boost our economy, according to the analysis. In addition, efficiency policies will directly create jobs, especially in the contracting industry for retrofitting and weatherizing homes, businesses, schools and other buildings.

More at Wise Energy for Virginia

EPA Blocks N Dakota Coal Plant - Hope to stop Dominion's Wise County plant?

The terrific blog It's Getting Hot in Here has a great post on Obama's EPA acting within less than a week of the inauguration to revoke the permit for a massive coal-fired plant on the border of North Dakota and Minnesota (Big Stone II)

But what a difference a week can make. Today, Obama’s EPA revoked the original OK given for the South Dakota air permit, citing worries about the plant’s contributions to global warming and inadequate emissions monitoring. This action took place on the dead last day for review for the plant’s application. Talk about good timing!

What might this mean for Dominion's Wise Country power plant? It seems that many of the same conditions apply. Also of note: a recent independent study determined that

cost estimates for future coal power [from the plant] were far too low, considering an impending carbon price.

Also seems relevant to Wise County, no? Time to dump those Dominion Resources shares!!

Kingston Coal Ash Sludge Spill Over a Billion Gallons: Time to Take a Hard Look at the Coal Industry

Richard Graves at the wonderful blog It's Getting Hot In Here has an excellent update on the coal ash spill in Tennessee, which, as his title states, is now known to be A BILLION GALLONS.

Numbers aside, it is impossible to really comprehend the scale of the disaster in words - this is a very dramatic example of how our consumption and reliance on coal is quite literally reshaping our world. Whether by flooding 400 acres of beautiful Tennessee valleys and rivers with six feet of coal ash, or blowing the tops off of literally hundreds of mountains in Appalachia, or changing the global climate itself through massive releases of carbon dioxide - the coal industry has perhaps the greatest impact of any industry in the world - yet we barely know it. Coal plants intake almost 20% of the United States’ freshwater, uses almost half of our freight railroad capacity, and leaves behind scarred landscapes, poor and exploited communities, [and] kills vulnerable people.

How many such ponds does Virginia Dominion Power (aka Dominion, aka Dominion Resources) have in Virginia? Where are they located, and how much toxic coal sludge do they contain? I wrote to Dominion last week to ask these questions. Still no reply. Could there be ash ponds in Virginia with a billion gallons of sludge? Who knows?

Rainforest Action Network asks Dominion CEO Tough Questions

This dates back to September 15, 2008, the same day that RAN activists also staged a protest at the site of the planned Wise County coal burning plant in southwestern VA (where one quarter of the county has already been destroyed by mountaintop removal mining). It's no longer new, but it's good, and matches exactly my view that the CEOs of the big utilities should be confronted and held personally responsible for the actions of their firms. Especially when -- as with Thomas F. Farrell II -- they hold all the power in the firm (he is chairman of the board, president, AND CEO!).

Watch and enjoy

In the Wake of Roane Country, Let’s Ask Dominion Resources About Its Ash Ponds

The NYT today reported today that the Roane County, Tennessee, Coal Ash Spill is Much Larger than Initially Estimated . Shaila Dewan reports that the new estimate of 5.4 million cubic yards of toxic waste—enough to flood more than 3,000 acres one foot deep—is more than twice the amount that the Tennessee Valley Authority had initially said that the pond contained.

Authority officials offered little explanation for the discrepancy, telling reporters that the initial number was an estimate based on their information at the time. The aerial survey was done on Tuesday, but the results were not released until Thursday…Residents were stunned by the new numbers. “That’s scary to know that they can be off by that much,” said Angela Spurgeon, whose yard is swamped with ash.

All of which leads me to wonder: how many sludge ponds does Dominion Power maintain? Where are they located and how much toxic waste is contained in each? Are the ponds properly lined, to prevent toxic metals such as arsenic and mercury from leaking into ground water and nearby streams and rivers? The Dominion Resources website does not address this issue.

I’ve submitted these questions to Dominion Resources and will share whatever they tell me on this blog. Of course, they won't be in a hurry to release this information, so it would be better if they hear from a lot of us. You can ask Dominion to release information about it’s ash ponds here. You can also write to Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, and ask him to insist that Dominion release the information. The disaster in Tennessee should serve as a wake up call for Virginia.

(Hat Tip to Sandra Diaz at the cool Bloggers Challenge at iLoveMountains.org

for the e-mail alert that sent me in search of the NYT coverage of the Roane County disaster. Sandra also shared a link to Knox News great local coverage of the disaster, with lots of photos and video.)