Dominion Energy has asked Virginia officials to approve its request to build a new 1-GW natural gas-fired power plant, as the company seeks to add more generation capacity to help serve surging demand from data centers.

Dominion asked Virginia’s State Corp. Commission for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity for the facility, known as the Chesterfield Energy Reliability Center (CERC). It would be built adjacent to the existing Chesterfield Power Station. The certificate would enable Dominion to move forward with the project, and would include necessary air quality and water permits.

Virginia is a U.S. hub for existing data centers and also data center development. Loudoun County in that state is known as “Data Center Alley.” Officials have said that some 200 data centers in the area carry more than 70% of global web traffic.

The new gas-fired power plant’s location was changed to the Chesterfield site last year. The facility originally was set to be built at the James River Industrial Center, near Interstate 95. The CERC is east of that location. The new gas-fired plant would be built near Units 7 and 8 of the existing 446-MW Chesterfield Power Station.

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The region is home to several power generation facilities and planned energy projects. James River Industrial Park, a site about 7 miles south of the James River Industrial Center, was recently chosen as the location for what could be the world’s first nuclear fusion power plant. Commonwealth Fusion Systems in December of last year said the company would a 400-MW fusion facility on a 100-acre site at the industrial park.

The Chesterfield station, which entered operation in 1952, as recently as 2018 had six operating units (four coal-fired, two gas-fired) generating nearly 1,800 MW of electricity, according to industry data. Dominion stopped using the coal-fired Units 3 and 4 in 2018, and closed them permanently on March 31, 2019. Coal-burning Units 5 and 6 were shut down on May 31, 2023.

Dominion in its filing said the new plant would have four, 250-MW simple-cycle gas turbines, and would not need new pipelines or transmission infrastructure. Dominion said it expects construction would begin next year, with commercial operation of the plant expected in 2029. The company said the turbines would be capable of combusting natural gas and natural gas with a blend of up to 10% hydrogen, along with low-sulfur #2 distillate fuel oil. The facility also would include six 3,500-kW black start generators firing ultra-low-sulfur diesel.

Environmental groups have opposed construction of the plant, saying the area has been plagued by pollution from existing gas- and coal-fired power facilities. Rachel James, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, in a statement about the recent filing said: “Adding more pollution to an already overburdened community is unacceptable, especially when there are clean energy alternatives that can meet the energy and capacity need the gas plant is meant to serve.” There also are ongoing court challenges to the zoning for the facility.

Dominion in a February earnings call said the utility had about 40 GW of power capacity for data centers in various stages of contracting as of year-end 2024. Dominion officials already have plans to expand capacity at other existing gas-fired facilities; the utility in January said it would add 44 MW of new generation to its 645-MW Possum Point Power Station in Prince William County, Virginia.

POWER has been reporting on the impacts of power demand from data centers on U.S. utilities, including how the energy-intensive industry would support natural gas-fired generation, along with nuclear power and renewable energy resources. Demand from data centers also is prompting some utilities to keep operating coal-fired power stations that had been slated for retirement.

The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis recently reported that utilities in four Southern states—Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia—have plans to build more than 20 GW of new natural gas-fired generation capacity in the next 15 years. The report said data centers would account for at least 65%, and perhaps as much as 85%, of projected growth in power loads in that region.

—Darrell Proctor is a senior editor for POWER.