Dominion Energy Executive Vice President and co-COO Robert Blue sees a new era ahead for the generation of electricity.
Dominion Energy is diversifying.
Through its regulated utility in Virginia and the contracted generation assets it operates across the country—including its nuclear facility in Connecticut and various solar facilities—the company is making investments where its customers need them most and strengthening the reliability of the electric grid upon which its communities depend. “We’re privileged to work at a company that has a critical mission to provide safe and reliable energy to our customers all the time, every day, no matter what the circumstances, and to do that in the most efficient, customer-focused and sustainable way possible,” Robert Blue, EVP and co-COO, told CEO Magazine in an exclusive interview.
Dominion Energy Inc., the parent company for Dominion’s vast network of electric and natural gas businesses, was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. The company supplies electricity and natural gas to 7 million customers in 18 states. In 2019, Dominion Energy boasted revenues of $16.5 billion across both its natural gas and electricity segments.
“We are uniquely situated in the market because of the people who work here and the assets that we operate,” Blue insisted. “We’re blessed to have a group of colleagues who are focused on serving our customers and communities. That’s something that’s been important for decades and will continue to be as we move into the future.
Core assets
Dominion Energy is currently focusing its growth strategy on investments intended to improve the reliability and the responsiveness of the electric grid, along with continuing to transition to both more renewable energy and traditional sources, particularly in carbon-free nuclear energy, as customers and share-holders increasingly demand sustainability. The company is also exploring new and emerging technologies, such as large-scale battery storage, hydrogen, advanced nuclear and carbon capture.
“Over time, we’ve intentionally developed a core set of assets both in natural gas and electricity that’s put us in a very enviable position in the industry and is enabling us to meet the critical mission of serving our customers and shareholders,” Blue said. “Right now, we’re focused on building a clean and sustainable energy future through actions such as transforming the power grid to be smarter, safer and more secure, and reducing the carbon and methane emissions in our power generation and natural gas operations in all of the states where we do business.”
A new era of electrification
Central to Blue’s vision for the Dominion Energy Virginia and Contracted Generation operating segments is the way in which the expectations of customers and shareholders, and the wider possibilities for electricity generation and usage, are changing. Blue believes that for the first time since the Second World War, the United States is entering a new era of electrification in which consumer demand for sustainability will be at the forefront of the company’s strategy and include the growing trend toward electric vehicles.
“If you go back to the period after the Second World War, there was a move toward electrification based on cost and convenience and the demand for electrical appliances, and I think the current developments in the industry are equally, if not more, important,” he explained. “As we continue to invest in a more modern grid, it will allow those kinds of changes to take place.”
Dominion Energy has announced a new commitment to achieve net zero carbon and methane emissions by 2050. This commitment builds on the company’s strong history of environmental stewardship and responds to what customers, investors and policymakers are asking for— more clean and renewable energy. It is also consistent with the intent of a 2019 executive order signed by Virginia’s Governor, Ralph Northam, calling for 100% of Virginia’s electricity to be produced from carbon-free sources by 2050. The company has made a commitment in the Commonwealth for 3000 MW of renewables to be in operation or under development by 2022—a target which the company is more than halfway to reaching. Dominion Energy is currently constructing the 12-MW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project (CVOW)—only the second such project in the country and the first owned by an electric utility. This project is scheduled to come online by the end of 2020. The company also plans to build the nation’s largest offshore wind power project, which will generate an additional 2,600 MW of commercial wind by 2026.
As far as the electric vehicle (EV) market, Dominion Energy is investing, with an emphasis on fleets of vehicles, such as buses. In November 2019, the company announced the largest school bus electrification program in the country with a view to converting every school bus in Virginia to electric models within ten years.
“We’ll start with 50 buses and expand that to the point where we would expect every new school bus purchased in Virginia would be an electric vehicle,” Blue highlighted. “That has the advantage not only of being cleaner environmentally, but also healthier for the kids aboard the buses.”
The benefit goes beyond cleaner transportation for children and communities. The electric school buses will also serve as a grid resource by creating additional energy storage technology to support the company’s integration of distributed renewables such as solar and wind. The “vehicle-to-grid” technology leverages the bus batteries to store and inject energy onto the grid during periods of high demand when the buses are not needed for transport. The buses also provide environmental and health benefits through reduced emissions and reduce operation and maintenance costs for schools by up to 60 percent.
Envision tomorrow
According to Blue, Dominion Energy’s push toward a new era of electrification is being aided by Envision Tomorrow, an effort that emphasizes embracing change, and looks to employees to identify opportunities to innovate, reduce cost and eliminate work no longer needed.
“The process has become very much ingrained in the culture of our company,” Blue elaborated. “Our company goal is to continue fostering that momentum and listening to our colleagues who have good ideas, whether it be very simple purchasing decisions to thinking about the ways we schedule and operate in outages. The aim is to get the absolute best performance out of our business and be a leader in the industry.”
Constant innovation
Dominion Energy continues to enhance the customer experience. Blue cited his experience as leader of Dominion Energy’s power delivery unit as an example of how the company strives to put its staff in a position to heighten the company’s reputation for customer focus.
“For example, we have a customer information platform that is 20 years old,” he described. “As things stand, it doesn’t take advantage of the many technological advancements that have been made in recent years. Our aim is to replace that system and give ourselves much more ability to provide personal information to customers and serve them more quickly, give them more options, and to conduct business the way they want it to be conducted, whether it’s online or over the phone.”
Procurement is another area where Dominion Energy is currently innovating its operations. Blue stressed a focus on an increasingly diverse supply chain to reflect the communities where the company does business, along with a keen desire to draw on local suppliers and talent where it is possible.
“Operationally, we learn a lot from our suppliers, especially if they are doing business with multiple companies,” he indicated. “As I said earlier, one of the ways we go about improving efficiency is listening to our colleagues when they have a good idea. The same is very true of our suppliers who often offer us the opportunity to do things differently based on the work they’ve done with others.”
With a new decade underway, Blue views Dominion Energy as having a clear vision of its core mission to deliver safe, reliable and affordable energy while also building a clean energy future. The company knows that immediate and direct action is needed to meet its goals. This future includes $17 billion in investments earmarked just in the Virginia portion of its business over the next five years alone, much of it geared toward renewable energy, as well as capitalizing on the EV market. More broadly, the company is making the necessary investments to reach net zero carbon and methane emissions across its own operations and accelerate greenhouse gas reductions in other industries.
“Ultimately, as sustainability becomes more important to our customers, employees, shareholders and regulators, we have a very clear model that will allow us to earn on those investments going forward in a way that’s good for everybody involved,” he emphasized.
