Virginia's Offshore Wind Farm Powers Up Despite $228M Delay

After a month-long legal battle and $228 million in unexpected costs, Virginia's massive offshore wind farm is firing back up and will soon start delivering clean energy to hundreds of thousands of homes.

The Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project hit a major roadblock in December when federal officials issued a stop-work order claiming unspecified national security concerns. But Dominion Energy fought back in court and won, with a federal judge ruling in January that the government failed to explain any actual threats.

Now the turbines are spinning again. The project sits 27 to 44 miles off Virginia Beach and will include 176 turbines generating enough electricity to power about 660,000 homes. That makes it the largest commercial offshore wind farm in the United States.

The forced pause wasn't cheap. Dominion racked up costs from storing equipment, paying contractual penalties, keeping workers idle, and losing access to specialized vessels needed for construction. Tariffs on steel and other materials added another $137 million to the bill.

Despite these hurdles, the company announced this week that construction is over 70% complete. The turbines already installed will start sending power to the grid by late March, with the entire project on track to finish early next year.

The Bright Side

Here's the good news for Virginia residents: you won't get stuck with ballooning costs. A 2022 settlement caps what the utility can charge customers at $11.3 billion. Dominion has spent about $9 billion so far, and once they hit that ceiling, no additional expenses can be passed on to consumers.

Right now, households pay about $11 monthly for the wind farm. That amount actually fluctuates based on regulatory approvals, and Dominion's latest request would decrease the charge by 90 cents.

Even better, this isn't forever. Over the project's 30-year lifespan, customers will eventually stop paying the surcharge altogether and start receiving a small monthly credit instead.

The project faced real challenges, from political interference to tariff complications. But the legal system worked, construction resumed, and Virginia is moving forward with clean energy infrastructure that will serve families for decades. Sometimes persistence pays off.