Dominion to close Unit 3 at Yorktown by 2020

Dominion Va. Power announced on Thursday that it will begin to cease operations of its oil-burning unit at the Yorktown Power Station.

The plan to close the oil-burning unit coincides with the plans to close the two coal-burning units at the Power Station. Both the coal units and the oil unit are closing due to regulation changes made by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the amount of emissions a generator can produce and what kinds are allowed.

The coal-burning units are allowed to operate until 2016 and the company has issued a request for an extension into 2017. With the new regulatory measures the oil-burning unit would violate them with any usage above eight percent of capacity.

The clean power plan proposed by the EPA would limit the amount of carbon emissions a facility is allowed to produce to 810 pounds per megawatt hour by 2030, current emission limits are 1,100 pounds per megawatt hour.

The company has proposed four possible scenarios in order to continue generating energy in the area. These include the addition of solar, wind and nuclear generators at other areas and power plants.

Director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network Mike Tidwell states that Dominion would need to seriously consider renewable and more environmentally friendly forms of energy generation.

“If Dominion were looking out for the best interests of Virginians,” Tidwell said, “it would prioritize aggressive investments in solar, energy efficiency and offshore wind, and stop doubling down on dirty fracked gas.”