Cumberland Residents Challenge Dominion Over Massive Gas Plant Proposal

Cumberland County residents packed a school cafeteria to confront Dominion Energy over a proposed three-gigawatt gas plant that would rank second nationally if built, Virginia Mercury reported.

Former teacher Muriel Miller Branch asked whether profit is worth displacing families through pollution and health risks. Dominion presented the Cumberland Energy Center as part of a generation fleet needed as statewide demand more than doubles by mid-century, with construction eyed for 2029 and a roughly 10-year path to operation.

The fight lands amid broader anxiety that data center load growth is driving fossil buildouts and transmission fights across rural Virginia. Local approval and State Corporation Commission review still stand between the pitch and groundbreaking.

Email the Cumberland County Board/Council:
Bryan Hamlet, bhamlet@cumberlandcounty.virginia.gov,
John Newman, jnewman@cumberlandcounty.virginia.gov,
Eurika Tyree, etyree@cumberlandcounty.virginia.gov,
Paul Stimpson III, pstimpson@cumberlandcounty.virginia.gov,
Robert Saunders Jr., rsaunders@cumberlandcounty.virginia.gov,

Email the Cumberland County School Board:
Ginger Sanderson,
Yvonne Earvin,
Latesha Anderson,
Leigh McCrea,
Everleane Randolph,