Dominion Power 2009 Annual Report Download - page 23

2009 Dominion 21
Atlantic. The project is fully subscribed by output
from Marcellus Shale production and other Appala-
chian natural gas producers. If approved, the proj-
ect would see construction begin in 2011, with an
expected in-service date of 2012.
Millstone Power Station, an uprate of 77 mega-
•
watts. A nuclear facility, Millstone is the anchor of a
Dominion merchant generating fleet that produced
more than 20 percent of electric power generated in
ISO-New England, the regional transmission entity
serving that region, in 2009.
A renewable portfolio expansion that includes
•
the commercial operation of Fowler Ridge I Wind
Farm, which is jointly owned by Dominion and BP
Wind Energy. It entered service in 2009 and pro-
duces 300 megawatts, enough electricity to power
75,000 residences and businesses. Dominion’s own-
ership of wind farms under development or in op-
eration would supply more than 900 megawatts of
generating capacity to the grid. Overall, the compa-
ny’s renewable portfolio exceeds 1,500 megawatts
in operation or development.
North Anna Power Station and Surry Power Sta-
•
tion, where uprates over the next three years would
result in more than 200 megawatts for the Virginia
grid. At North Anna, we are also evaluating the ad-
dition of a third nuclear reactor. This large-scale, car-
bon-free source of electricity can have a positive im-
pact on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
Marcellus Shale Acreage: Increasing Potential Value
I earlier referenced our strong home court economic
advantages in Virginia. Let me also point to another
terrific natural advantage of our Appalachian E&P
properties. We own a significant tract of Marcellus
Shale acreage, an asset of emerging value that we
expect to monetize in 2010 and 2011.
We retained certain E&P properties following our
sale of the vast majority of them in 2007. Our deci-
sion to retain this portion of the business stemmed
from our decades-long involvement in those prop-
erties, their strategic location along our gas trans-
mission and storage system, and their less-capital-
intensive and more predictable earnings profile. The
decision to keep Appalachian E&P is paying off.
As natural gas gains a more prominent role in the
nation’s energy mix, record acreage prices are being
paid by developers seeking to utilize this increasing-
ly popular source. Now made economically acces-
sible by advances in technology, the Marcellus Shale
formation is believed to hold hundreds of trillions
of cubic feet of recoverable natural gas. Moreover,
Let me also point to another terrific
natural advantage of our Appalachian
E&P properties. We own a significant
tract of Marcellus Shale acreage, an
asset of emerging value that we ex-
pect to monetize in 2010 and 2011.
An LED streetlamp instal-
lation in Charlottesville, Va.
This is an important part of
Dominion’s broader energy
conservation aims.
A recent expansion at Domin-
ion Cove Point in Southern
Maryland nearly doubled the
facility’s output.