Tuesday, July 17, 2007

ENERGY

Dominion Virginia Power has asked Virginia's State Corporation Commission to approve the building of a coal-fueled, 585-megawatt power plant by April 2008 so it can be operational by 2012, Richmond-based Dominion Resources said. The plant's estimated cost is $1.6 billion. Besides approving the project, the commission must set a rate of return for the company's investment, Dominion said. The plant, which would provide power to 146,000 customers, would include features to reduce emissions, Dominion said.

BP said it would spend an additional $27 million on a previously announced expansion of its solar-cell manufacturing plant in Frederick, raising the project's cost to $97 million. The expansion will nearly double the plant's capacity but won't add more than the 70 new jobs previously announced. BP Solar now employs about 550 people at the plant along Interstate 70.

Compiled from reports by Washington Post staff writers, the Associated Press and Bloomberg News.