Co-op America’s Climate Change Program today applauded a decision by Dominion Power to cancel three of four new dirty coal-fired power plants originally slated for construction by the company.

More than 20,000 Co-op America members and other concerned citizens sent messages to Dominion urging the power company to focus more on alternative energy sources. Co-op America renewed its call in April 2007 for Americans to speak out against the plans of the Richmond-based energy company. The petitions from consumers join the concerns of shareholders who called on the company at its annual meeting to address the pressing climate change issues at stake.

Co-op America Climate Change Program Director Todd Larsen said: “Co-op America and its members have been calling on Dominion Power to stop relying on dirty coal power, and transition toward cleaner energy solutions that will reduce global warming emissions. Last year, after we first began taking action on Dominion, we saw the company begin to invest in wind power for the first time. Now Dominion and Royal Dutch Shell are pledging to triple wind power investments in West Virginia over the course of this year.

Dominion has recently cancelled plans for two coal-fired power plants totaling 2250 megawatts, according to the Department of Energy (http://www.netl.doe.gov/coal/refshelf/ncp.pdf). Dominion has also confirmed that a 600 MW plant scheduled for Ohio has been cancelled.

Larsen emphasized that the public needs to keep up the pressure on Dominion, which still has plans to build a dirty coal-fired power plant and a nuclear power plant in Virginia. Dominion has also failed to comply with shareholder requests that it disclose its potential financial exposure from foreseeable climate regulations.

Earlier this spring, Co-op America joined allies in Virginia to oppose Dominion-sponsored legislation in that state to allow the company to reap greater profits without making additional investments in renewable energy. Co-op America members contacted the governor’s office to ask for changes to make the bill better serve consumers and the environment. The final legislation was improved to include a doubling of the state’s voluntary renewable energy use and demand consumption goals by 2022.

Co-op America:

Co-op America is a non-profit membership organization founded in 1982 with the mission to harness economic power-the strength of consumers, investors, businesses, and the marketplace-and to create a socially just and environmentally sustainable society.

Source for this article: Co-op America, Washington, D.C.

Contact:

Patrick Mitchell, +1-703-276-3266, pmitchell@hastingsgroup.com,
for Co-op America,

Web site: http://www.netl.doe.gov/  

Related posts:

1. Dynegy Decision to Pull Plug on Five Planned Coal-Fired Power Plants Heralded as Important Anti-Coal Victory (U.S.A.) Step Seen as “Outstanding Clean Energy Start to New Year,”...
2. The Beginning of the End for Dirty Power Plants The accession of ten new member states to the EU...
3. First near-Zero Emissions, Coal-Fired Power Plant to be Designed and Built by Washington Group International A first-of-its-kind, coal-fired, near-zero emissions electric power plant is planned...
4. New Energy in America for 2008 Trumps Coal (U.S.A.) This year’s plans for 24 new coal-fired power plants were...
5. Proposed Taylorville Energy Center (U.S.A.) Would Employ a “Clean Coal” Process Under development for five years, the 630-megawatt Taylorville project received...