By Kathryn Hardison


Dominion Energy Inc. has achieved a regulatory milestone for a 2.6-gigawatt project planned off the Virginia Beach coast to power up to 660,000 homes.

The Virginia power and energy company said Monday that the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has announced the availability of the project's draft environmental impact statement.

The Federal Register will publish the draft environmental analysis on Friday and have a 60-day public comment period. Feedback from the public will inform the bureau's preparations for the final impact study, Dominion Energy said.

Dominion Energy wants to construct 176 wind turbines and three offshore substations about 27 miles off the Virginia Beach coast as part of the project. Offshore construction is scheduled to begin in 2024 and conclude in late 2026.

The project is a roughly $9.8 billion clean-energy investment expected to save Virginia customers more than $3 billion during its first 10 years in operation, the company said. However, if ongoing commodity market pressure trends continue, customers could potentially save a total of up to nearly $6 billion in energy costs, Dominion said.


Write to Kathryn Hardison at kathryn.hardison@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

12-12-22 1409ET