As a Department of Forestry workgroup tries to determine the carbon footprint of biomass, the woody materials burned to generate electricity, it is running into problems obtaining information from Dominion Energy on how the utility procures the different types of material it uses.
In 2023, environmental groups agreed to drop their opposition to a law that pushed back a deadline for most of the state’s biomass plants to close in exchange for a state “life-cycle carbon analysis” of biomass.
Virginia groups struck a deal on biomass plants. Amendments from Youngkin are more controversial.
But as that work has gotten underway, the group has struggled to get information about exactly what types of wood are being harvested for biomass or burned at biomass facilities. Dominion has said the data is “market sensitive,” and Virginia’s state forester has indicated contracts with the utility could also prevent the Virginia Loggers Association from sharing some of its information.
“If they have the information it would help if they could share it,” said David Carr, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center in an interview with the Mercury. “It’s an important piece of information.”
The holdup comes as the workgroup, composed of forestry, logger, environmental and Dominion representatives, has less than two months to complete its work.
Biomass refers to the use of forest material or forest, saw- and paper mill residuals to generate electricity. Dominion operates three biomass facilities in Altavista, Hopewell and Southampton — commonly referred to as “the triplets” — that generate 51 megawatts each and burns some biomass at the Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center. Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative has a 49.9 megawatt biomass facility in Halifax. Two paper mills, WestRock in Covington and International Paper in Franklin, also use their residual material to generate electricity for their facilities.
In 2020, the Virginia Clean Economy Act ordered that Dominion shut down the “triplet” biomass plants by 2028 as part of the sweeping legislation seeking to decarbonize the electric grid by 2050. But that deadline was removed by last session’s legislation.
During a workgroup meeting Thursday, Dominion said it doesn’t expect