By Ben Chafin

June 17, 2019 - In 2017, my Senate Bill 1418 and Del. Terry Kilgore’s House Bill 1760 authorized the construction of one or more hydroelectric pumped storage facilities in the Coalfield Region. Our goal was to create a substantial jumpstart to the regional economy that will create jobs and a consistent boost to local revenue.

Ben Chafin

Dominion Energy has taken another large step forward towards the construction of the pumped storage facility first envisioned by the legislators in Southwest Virginia.

Dominion Energy President & CEO Tom Farrell announced the company will commit $1 billion in the next three years to thoroughly and completely evaluate building a second power station in our region. This is an extremely important and positive step towards bringing new, good-paying jobs, economic development, and new industry back to Southwest Virginia.

Should Dominion Energy’s plans be realized, the potential benefits to our region will be significant and long-lasting:

Construction would bring more than 2,000 jobs to the coalfield region and about 3,000 statewide. This would make a significant dent in our unemployment problem in Southwest Virginia, where our jobless rates in some communities are now twice as high as the statewide average.

A 10-year development and construction period would bring almost $320 million in economic benefits to the coalfield region, and about $576 million to the Commonwealth as a whole.

Once the power station is operational, it would create about $37 million every year in new economic activity in Southwest Virginia, including approximately $12 million annually in tax revenue to be shared by local governments, which need new funds for our schools, law enforcement, and a host of other vital services.

These estimates of the economic boost that a new Dominion Energy facility in Tazewell County would produce are not made by the utility, but an independent economic forecasting firm.

In the event the pumped storage facility is built, it will transform our Coalfield Region in a way not possible before. Legislation I carried in 2018 allowed for the creation of a regional revenue sharing agreement between the counties of Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Tazewell, Wise and the city of Norton. This innovative legislation and revenue sharing agreement guarantees that all the citizens in our Coalfield Region would broadly share in the economic benefits of a new power station in Southwest Virginia. Since I represent six of the eight localities that may be positively impacted, I know full and well how important this measure will be as it comes to fruition. State and local elected officials representing these regions thought creatively, worked together, and deserve our thanks.

We know all too well about the recent declines in the coal industry and the challenges we face to re-energize our region and create new jobs. Our friends at Dominion Energy have already done a lot to help our region and prove that they are the best kinds of neighbors – ones that bring jobs and paychecks for hard working families in Southwest Virginia.

The Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center in St. Paul, which uses coal, gob coal, and biomass for fuel, is entering its seventh year of operation. Virginia City provides about $6 million every year in tax payments to Wise County and St. Paul, puts $25 million into the local economy, and has over 150 local employees and contractors. Virginia City also indirectly supports about 400 other jobs in the community.

Now, Dominion Energy has a serious plan to carefully study development of another energy facility in our region and to consider all the related issues of environmental protection.

We should roll out the red carpet for Dominion Energy and welcome their proposed pumped storage power station with open arms.

Senator Ben Chafin represents the 38th District in the state Senate of Virginia, which stretches from Wise County to Radford. He is a Republican from Russell County.