Dominion buying Avangrid offshore wind lease area, meets with Sandbridge community that opposed cable landing

Ed. — This is a developing story. Additional coverage is scheduled to appear in the Sunday, July 21 print edition. This was updated on Tuesday, July 9, to include remarks from Mayor Bobby Dyer. Dominion officials are expected to discuss the project on Thursday, July 25, during the monthly District 2 forum normally held at Building 19 at the municipal center. The forums usually begin at 5:15 p.m. I’ll update this when plans are formally confirmed or if they change.

BY JOHN-HENRY DOUCETTE

SANDBRIDGE — Dominion Energy on Monday, July 8, announced an agreement to buy the Kitty Hawk North offshore wind lease area from Avangrid, which had seen its plans to bring power generated off the North Carolina coast ashore at Sandbridge stymied by fierce community opposition and a reluctant Virginia Beach City Council.

Dominion and Avangrid announced the deal in separate statements. It is valued at $160 million for a 40,000-acre lease area adjacent to another area controlled by Avangrid. Virginia Electric and Power Company, owned by Dominion Energy, will make the acquisition.

Dominion officials met with locals at a church in the residential resort community on the day of the announcement to address some concerns and start a conversation they said will be ongoing. Engagement with residents had been a sore point for some in dealing with Avangrid. During the meeting, Dominion officials acknowledged that landing at Sandbridge remains in the plans if it makes sense for the project and can be approved.

A stumbling block for Avangrid had been its need to secure approval from the city for an easement to make landfall of cables beneath Sandbridge Beach. They would connect at a structure built under a municipal parking lot nearby, which company officials maintained was the best option to bring power ashore.

The Sandbridge Beach Civic League opposed the landing, and a grassroots group formed against what it characterized as disruptive construction in an area dependent upon tourism. Community members aired a number of concerns about safety, local business and quality of life related to the planned landing.

Following the outcry, Virginia Beach leaders signaled to Avangrid late last year that it lacked support on the council for the needed permissions. Mayor Bobby Dyer told The Independent News at the time that city officials had relayed that there weren’t enough votes to make it happen. Yet Avangrid did not give up, releasing a report and running newspaper ads touting benefits of the project.

Dominion’s statement announcing the acquisition acknowledged the controversy.

“The company is aware of the community concerns regarding the proposed landing site in Sandbridge … and is committed to working closely with the community, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the City of Virginia Beach as it considers this project,” the statement said.

Dominion said the deal would close in the fourth quarter of this year “after receipt of necessary approvals from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the city of Virginia Beach.”

“Right now, it would still be Sandbridge,” said Ed Baine, president of Dominion Energy Virginia, speaking of the landing site during the meeting with residents at Sandbridge Community Chapel United Methodist Church.

Dominion officials told residents they are looking through Avangrid’s construction and operations plan.

“We’re very well familiar with it,” noted Gabriele Mack, a Sandbridge resident who is a leader in the Protect Sandbridge Beach Coalition, of Avangrid’s plan.

In response to a number of questions and concerns raised by residents, Dominion officials said the company would consider options and keep speaking with residents.

“This is the first of many meetings,” Baine said.

Following the meeting, Baine told The Independent News that Avangrid will not be part of Dominion’s work in the area of the lease that is subject to purchase.

“Avangrid will have no involvement in the development of this project,” he said, adding that community engagement will be an important part of Dominion’s efforts.

“They do have a plan, but it’s in its infancy, and it’s the beginning of a long process,” Dyer said during an interview on Tuesday, July 9.

Dyer said Dominion officials have assured him they will consider “multiple scenarios” for bringing power ashore, not just Sandbridge. Any plan that comes to the city for consideration would need intensive study and heavy public input, he said, and it is likely years away.

“They’re calling it a ‘reset button’ from Avangrid,” Dyer said.

In a statement, Avangrid announced that the sale price included acquiring the lease area and reimbursing related development costs. Avangrid would continue to develop its Kitty Hawk South lease area, the company said.

Under Dominion, the Kitty Hawk North lease area will be renamed CVOW-South, matching the naming scheme of the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project off the coast of Virginia Beach.

Dominion said its CVOW-South area eventually would generate enough power to serve 200,000 homes and businesses if it is approved and built.

Dominion provided a fact sheet about the project that said a franchise agreement with the city for a proposed onshore transmission route would transfer from Avangrid to Dominion, and an agreement for a planned substation location at Corporate Landing would be assigned to Dominion.

“The proposed cable landing site is at Sandbridge Beach, and we are committed to working with community and City of Virginia Beach at the appropriate time to move through the easement permitting process,” the fact sheet states.

City Councilmember Chris Taylor, who represents District 8, attended the meeting. He credited Dominion for gathering with the community nearly simultaneously with the announcement – and the community for showing up in strong numbers on short notice.

“That is what we ask for when we ask for community engagement and civic engagement,” Taylor said during an interview.

“I think it’s a good first step,” he added. “They’ve got a ways to go. What I saw was a community that is still very much opposed to anything landing at the parking lot in the Sandbridge community.”

City Councilmember Barbara Henley represents District 2, which includes Sandbridge. In an interview, she said it isn’t clear when Dominion would ask anything from the council.

“Before they could come ashore at Sandbridge,” she said, “they would need city approval.”

Henley said she invited Dominion to discuss the project during the next District 2 forum on Thursday, July 25.

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