Dominion Energy Virginia announced a $900-million increase in capital costs for its Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project, bringing the total projected to $10.7 billion. The extra expense will be incurred for transmission interconnections required to allow power to flow within the PJM region electricity market.

The news was announced in a press release on Monday. The company said that the construction of the 176 wind turbines and substations near Virginia Beach continues on schedule. The project will still be operational and completed by late 2026. The release states:

PJM assigns costs to new electric generation resources built within PJM like CVOW. These costs are deemed necessary by PJM in order to integrate these resources effectively and ensure reliability and stability of electric grid. PJM’s higher estimates of network upgrade costs reflect the significant growth in demand that requires additional generation and transmission resources throughout the system.

A agreement was made when the State Corporation Commission approved the application late in 2022. Dominion, and its capital partner Stonepeak, will absorb a portion of the cost. The additional PJM fees will result in a small increase to the monthly bill for ratepayers.

The project is one of the few projects that has survived the turmoil caused in the wind industry by the executive order issued by President Donald Trump. The project had already been well underway when the executive order was issued. Its last federal permits were granted by his predecessor. Dominion permits are still under attack due to various alleged deficiencies. However, there is no indication that the federal government plans to halt the project. We discussed the impact of an annulment on ratepayers.

officials in New Jersey cancelled a solicitation for an ongoing wind project that was there on the same day Dominion announced the cost increase:

Due to significant market challenges, and Shell’s withdrawal of the Atlantic Shores Project, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities has cancelled its fourth offshore wind procurement.