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When will Laurel Branch Solar start construction? That’s one of several questions we asked Dominion Energy officials, as we took a look at their solar projects around the region.

But before we look elsewhere, let’s go over Laurel Branch. For those who need a refresher, this project is an 80-megawatt one located southwest of Kenbridge, primarily between Plank Road and Sneads Store Road and along Oral Oaks Road. The site is currently used for timbering and agriculture.

“We’re working toward getting the project permitted,” said Tim Eberly. He works as senior communications specialist for media relations at Dominion. According to the Lunenburg County website, the original submission for the project from 2022 is still pending. Most recently, Dominion added a 24-acre parcel to the proposal in 2022, plus deleted an area of panels in the northwestern area of the site in 2023.

The project would power up to 20,000 homes at peak output and could begin construction as early as spring 2026 if permitted. This project also includes a “switchyard,” which would serve to transfer generated power to the grid. Construction is set to finish and the project is expected to go active by early 2028.

Looking beyond Laurel Branch Solar

Beyond Laurel Branch Solar, what about the rest of the region? Some of Dominion’s solar facilities locally have been online for years, while others are in the development stages. Dominion is working on solar projects across its footprint.

“Dominion Energy has the second-largest solar fleet among utility companies in the nation, with nearly 2,700 megawatts of solar in operation in Virginia,” Eberly said. That’s enough to power 650,000 homes.

The future for solar in Virginia looks even brighter. Plans are to have solar and other forms of renewable energy developing enough electricity to power 4 million homes, according to Dominion’s solar energy website, located at dominionenergy.com/solar-in-virginia.

“Each solar project presents a unique set of circumstances and challenges,” Eberly stated. “But Dominion Energy is committed to all of them, as solar energy is an important part of the company’s all-of-the-above strategy of power generation.”

Eberly said the solar projects have a benefit to the counties, too. For the three still under development, county governments would be eligible to receive up to $1,400 per megawatt of capacity annually in revenue sharing, with the amount increasing in subsequent years. That’s a total of $1.3 million yearly to these localities.

Charlotte County

Randolph Solar is in development in Charlotte County. One of the largest solar projects on the East Coast, this project is expected to produce 800 megawatts of power, which could power 200,000 homes at peak output.

“We’ve completed the project’s design and are wrapping up the development phase,” Eberly stated. “Construction could start as early as 2025.”

The project, located in the Wylliesburg/Red Oak area, could begin service as early as 2027, with final completion in 2030, according to Dominion’s solar website. The county’s Board of Supervisors approved a conditional use permit request for this project in July 2022.

Buckingham County

In Buckingham County, two solar facilities are operational, and one is proposed.

The Buckingham Solar project went online in 2017 and provides power only to one commercial customer, Amazon Web Services. It is a 20-megawatt facility that generates enough electricity to power up to 5,000 homes at peak output, Eberly said.

More recently, Black Bear Solar went operational in September 2023. This smaller facility generates about 1.6 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 400 homes at peak output. This electricity is going onto the electric grid and supplying energy to all Dominion customers in Virginia, Eberly stated.

Dominion is still working on the proposed Pineside solar project, with plans to reintroduce it to the county in the future, Eberly stated. At a request from Dominion, consideration of the project in the Planning Commission stage was suspended in August 2022.

This project will be located in the northern part of the county and would generate about 75 megawatts of electricity — enough to power more than 18,000 homes at peak output.