Dominion Virginia Power to Invest $1.7 Billion in Electric Grid Upgrades

With a combined generating capacity of approximately 27,600 megawatts Dominion (NYSE:D) is one of the largest producers of energy in the United States. The company's Virginia subsidiary, Dominion Virginia Power, alone, has approximately 61,000 miles of transmission and distribution power lines, 900 substations, 566,000 transformers and 1.1 million utility poles.

In an effort to both strengthen and also expand the capacity of its existing power grid, Dominion Virginia Power has announced it will invest US$1.7 billion over the next two years on upgrades and maintenance.

The reliability improvement projects which began in 2010 include rebuilding the Mount Storm-Doubs transmission line, which will increase its capacity by 66 percent and retool the grid to support Virginia's growing energy demand. The company says that the average household has grown its small electronic device ownership from three appliances in 1980 to 25 in 2011.

"This initiative is designed to do an even better job of keeping the lights on and restoring service as quickly and safely as possible when they are not," said Paul D. Koonce, Dominion Virginia Power president and chief executive officer.

He continued, "Reliability on an electric utility system doesn't just happen – it takes a lot of effort, expertise, manpower and money."

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