"Supporters of the Virginia Energy Reliability Alliance were out in force at an air permit hearing last month for the utility’s controversial natural gas “peaker” plant in Chesterfield County. Dominion Energy, Virginia’s largest utility, says it’s been “transparent” with regard to its support for the group."

"CHESTER, Va.—A crowd packed a meeting room at the SpringHill Suites here in September for a public hearing on an air permit for a controversial “peaker” plant that Dominion Energy has long been lobbying to build to enhance grid reliability. 

Brent Archer, former president of Columbia Gas of Virginia, stood at the podium and told officials of the state’s Department of Environmental Quality that he strongly supported the project. 

“The dispatchable energy represented by this plant is essential for balancing demand with available supply on the electric grid in partnership with renewable energy,” Archer said, with dozens of other supporters at his back."

Charles Paullin reports for Inside Climate News October 23, 2025. [2]