Dominion Energy Virginia filed for a rider increase on Friday, April 3 related to its coal ash residue cleanup.
That work is ordered by a 2019 state law ordering the ash be sealed in a landfill or recycled. Concerns over contaminants leaking from unlined ponds containing coal combustion residuals, or CCR, into surrounding areas drove the legislation.
The ash residue contains toxins and heavy metals like arsenic and lead.
A 2018 study ordered by the Southern Environmental Law Center found elevated levels of contaminants found in CCR in surface water and sediment at Dutch Gap Conservation Area, which is adjacent to the Chesterfield Power Station. Dominion stopped burning coal at that plant in 2023.
The utility provided state regulators with a progress update on CCR removal work at its Bremo (Fluvanna), Chesterfield and Possum Point Power (Dumfries/Prince William) stations, as well as its Chesapeake Energy Center in its filings.
In that update, the utility requested an incremental bill increase of $0.53 for a typical residential customer, defined as using 1,000 kilowatt hours in a month. You can check your usage on your monthly billing statement.
The increase would be tacked onto Rider CCR, which specifically addresses costs of ash removal. It's less than it might otherwise be: Dominion found that it overcharged customers for work completed in 2025. The company expects to spend $224.7 million on work this year — it will charge ratepayers $7.6 million less than that to reflect the previous overcharges.
The 53-cent increase is related to work on new landfills, water treatment systems and ash removals.
Dominion said in State Corporation Commission filings that by the end of 2025, it had removed just over 4 million cubic yards of CCR from ash ponds at Chesterfield Power Station — roughly 1,224 Olympic swimming pools' worth.
There is an estimated 15 million cubic yards in the Chesterfield Station's ponds. About 6.8 million yards are planned to be recycled into useful materials like concrete, with the remaining deposited in a nearby lined landfill.
Dominion also reported that contractor WesTech treated 166,998,495 gallons of contaminated water from the Chesterfield location in 2025.
The other sites are still working through construction and permitting before removal work begins in earnest, the company said in filings.
Water treatment has begun at Possum Point, but permits for an on-site landfill have not yet been issued. Dominion estimated construction could begin later this year, with coal ash removals beginning at the Northern Virginia site in 2031.
Bremo Power Station's landfill is already under construction, and treatment of contaminated water has begun there.
At the Chesapeake Energy Center, Dominion plans to hire a contractor to recycle about 40,000 cubic yards of the ash residue later this year, with that work completed by mid-to-late 2027 — though landfilling the remaining ash is not slated to begin until 2031.
Removal is expected to be complete by 2033, ahead of a 2034 deadline.
Regulators at the SCC will review Dominion's filings — the final approved rider adjustment will likely take effect on Jan. 1, 2027.
Disclosure: The Southern Environmental Law Center is a VPM sponsor.
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