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Gas project sent to supervisors. Published 4:50 pm Thursday, September 3, 2026 | Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... | Dominion Energy's request for a conditional use permit for its proposed Cumberland Energy Center moved forward Monday night after the Cumberland County Planning Commission recommended approval on a 5-1 vote. The commission's action sends the permit to the Cumberland County Board of Supervisors for consideration. Dominion wants to build a dual-fuel combined-cycle power station on 150 acres off Duncan Store Road in an A-2 Agricultural zoning district. The plant would generate nearly 3,000 megawatts of electricity - enough to power as many as 750,000 homes. Speakers were nearly evenly divided during the public hearing, with 15 opposing the project and 13 supporting it. Resident William Raymond spoke in support of the project. "This power plant is going to happen somewhere," Raymond said. "It is not going to go away, no matter how much you hear about the environment. I love the environment, too. I'm a farmer. But this plant will happen somewhere. It's extremely important that we use our minds like a parachute. It only works if it's open." Resident Tim Martin challenged Raymond's argument. "Why do you need a power plant for 750,000 (homes)?" he said. "Well, I think if you open your parachute a little big, open up your mind, you would see that this is an effort to support data centers further down the road. And if you talk to the people in Northern Virginia, they will tell you that they're not so sure what they've done, like all the data centers in our area, was the right thing. So it will tell you that it's just not the way to go." Resident John Jeffries asked what the project would do for him. "Nothing," Jeffries said. "For some reason, the commission and the board of supervisors, which is supposed to care for all of Cumberland County, only seem to worry about the growth area." He added that property values will fall, but property taxes will not go down. Resident Fred Shumaker spoke in support of the project. "The project would be a tremendous asset for the entire county," Shumaker said. "It is a well-regulated process (and) would bring jobs to our county." Cumberland County Coordinator of Emergency Services Darren Hurley said working with Dominion could help address longstanding funding needs for the county's fire and rescue departments. "I've learned that the fire-EMS business is very expensive to operate," he said. "It requires a lot of support. There's an incredible amount of funding, time, commitment and training to prepare a force for an emergency call. The responding crew should not have to worry about the truck, tools and equipment malfunctioning while they're responding." Hurley said crews should be able to focus on their mission, respond appropriately and arrive safely at the scene. "A new basic fire pumper costs between $800,000 and $1 million," he told the commission. "Out of the nine total pumper and tanker trucks from three volunteer stations in this county, eight of them are near their replacement age." Hurley said these departments appreciate the funding that the county provides, but it is not sustainable over this length of time. "Therefore, we are in full support of the Dominion Energy Project for the collaborative working relationship," he said. The Rev. Muriel Miller Branch drew applause from the audience when she said, "As a person of deep faith, my concern is always people over profit. When considering projects such as the gas plant, what does it profit a person to gain the whole world and lose a soul?" Branch said she believes the question requires one to examine his or her collective moral integrity in approving another "polluting industry" in the county. "What does it profit commissioners to lose the community's trust in your word, our confidence in the process?" she said. "We went through to adopt a comprehensive plan, and before the ink has dried, you decide to put revenue over residents." Lonnie Kirk said he believes 200 years of a rural atmosphere could be ruined by one vote. However, another resident called the project "a golden opportunity for us. It could raise the tax base for all the services that come in and provide for us." District 2 Commissioner Stephen Donahue cast the only vote against recommending the conditional use permit (CUP), citing stipulations he said were missing from the permit language. "I am unable to recommend the CUP for approval without the... commission requiring compliance with all local, state, and federal laws," Donahue said. "A second requirement, I would need to see... is some kind of guarantee that the decommissioning is required and that the county is not left with the bill, and for better language regarding the time to decommission." His third requirement would include some type of promise to the neighbors who will be most affected by this project. "It is simply wrong to expect that people around this proposed plant to just put up with congested roads and pieces of machinery during construction, a constant red light, (and) lighting." No other commissioners responded to Donahue's concerns before the commission moved to vote. In a May interview, Dominion representatives cited economic development as a major benefit of the proposal. The project is expected to create about 450 construction jobs and around 100 jobs once operational, including both direct and indirect positions. Dominion has projected the project would generate $295.5 million in regional economic activity, including about $71.8 million in Cumberland County. The company projects $696 million in statewide economic output. Company officials said the project's largest long-term benefit to Cumberland County would be tax revenue, which the company projects at more than $500 million over the life of the project. In that May interview, Dominion Energy spokesman Jeremy Slayton noted that Cumberland County's current general fund revenues total about $21 million annually. He said the Cumberland Energy Center is projected to generate roughly $28 million in tax revenue during its first year of operation. A timeline provided by Dominion in May shows that planning and development on the project will continue through 2028, with work on key permitting and approvals during that period. Construction is projected to begin in 2029, with completion expected in 2034. BY ANGELA H. CUTRER

Dominion Energy ranked among top utility dividend stocks with 4.07% yield. By Joel Kornblau, Editor, Energy Stock Channel, Monday, August 31, 2026, 10:46 AM ET Dominion Energy Inc (NYSE: D) has been identified as one of the top utility dividend stocks in Dividend Channel's weekly DividendRank report, a screen that emphasizes dividend yield, valuation, and profitability. The ranking highlights Dominion Energy's combination of above-average utility-sector yield and valuation metrics that compare favorably with many peers. At a recent share price of $65.55, Dominion Energy carried an annual dividend yield of 4.07% and traded at roughly 2.1 times book value. By comparison, the average utility stock in Dividend Channel's coverage universe was cited as yielding 3.5% and trading at 2.4 times book value. On that basis, the report characterized D as offering a relatively higher current income stream at a somewhat lower price-to-book multiple than the average stock in its utility screen. That combination helps explain why Dominion Energy was included in the top 10 list. In utility investing, dividend yield alone is rarely sufficient; payout durability, regulated cash flow visibility, balance-sheet discipline, and valuation all matter when assessing whether a stock merits deeper review. Dominion Energy's ranking reflects that broader framework rather than a single metric. Why Dominion Energy screened well. According to the report, D shares stood out on both valuation and profitability measures. That matters in the utility sector, where many companies offer stable income but can trade at meaningfully different multiples depending on interest-rate expectations, capital spending plans, regulatory outlook, and perceived dividend strength. The report stated, "Dividend investors approaching investing from a value standpoint are generally most interested in researching the strongest most profitable companies, that also happen to be trading at an attractive valuation. That's what we aim to find using our proprietary DividendRank formula, which ranks the coverage universe based upon our various criteria for both profitability and valuation, to generate a list of the top most 'interesting' stocks, meant for investors as a source of ideas that merit further research." For Dominion Energy, the key takeaways from that framework are straightforward: * Yield: A 4.07% dividend yield exceeds the 3.5% average cited for the utility universe in the report. * Valuation: A price-to-book ratio of 2.1 is below the 2.4 average referenced for comparable utility names. * Dividend profile: A long record of quarterly dividend payments remains an important part of the stock's income appeal. Dividend history and what it indicates. Dominion Energy's annualized dividend was listed at $2.67 per share, paid in quarterly installments, with the most recent ex-dividend date noted as 09/04/2026. For income-oriented analysis, dividend history can be useful not simply as a record of past payments, but as a way to evaluate consistency through different rate environments, economic cycles, and utility-sector capital needs. A long-running dividend history does not, by itself, determine future payouts. Even so, the pattern of distributions can help frame several important questions: * Has the company maintained regular quarterly payments over time? * Have dividend growth rates been steady, modest, or interrupted? * Do valuation and yield appear to reflect durability, market skepticism, or both? Those questions are especially relevant in the utility sector, where dividends are often central to the investment case and where large capital programs can influence free cash flow, leverage, and payout policy. Below is the long-term dividend history chart for D, which Dividend Channel identified as an important reference point. Reviewing a company's past dividend history can help assess the stability of its payout profile and place the current dividend in a longer-term context. What the ranking suggests. Dominion Energy's inclusion among top utility dividend stocks signals that the shares currently screen well on a blend of income and valuation criteria. In practical terms, the stock appears to offer a yield premium to the utility average cited in the report, while also trading at a modest discount on book-value terms. That does not settle the full investment case. For utility stocks, the next layer of analysis typically includes capital expenditure requirements, regulatory relationships, financing costs, earnings visibility, and the degree to which dividend coverage remains supported through the cycle. Still, as a screen for further research, Dominion Energy's current combination of yield, valuation, and established dividend history helps explain its placement on Dividend Channel's list. The next step is comparison: open 10 Top DividendRank'ed Utility Stocks to see other energy names showing similar signals.