A major energy decision in rural Virginia is drawing scrutiny — not because of what was approved, but because of what wasn’t yet settled when the vote was cast. Cumberland County supervisors have green-lit a permit for what could become the second-largest natural gas plant in the United States, even as a critical question about the plant’s water supply remains unresolved.
The Cumberland County Board of Supervisors voted 3-1 Tuesday night to approve a conditional use permit (CUP) for Dominion Energy’s proposed three-gigawatt natural gas plant. The facility, called the Cumberland Energy Center, would sit off Duncan Store Road near the James River and the Buckingham County line. Board Chair John Newman, a former Dominion employee, recused himself from the vote.
If fully permitted, the plant would operate around the clock and generate enough electricity to power up to 750,000 homes. Dominion projects that customer energy demand will more than double by 2045, and the utility sees this plant as central to its strategy for meeting that growth.
“The proposed Cumberland Energy Center is a vital piece of our all-of-the-above strategy to meet our growing customer demand reliably and affordably by decreasing reliance on more costly purchases from the PJM market,”
said Dominion spokesman Jeremy Slayton.
The decision came after months of public meetings and hearings that drew divided opinions from residents across Cumberland and neighboring counties. Supporters cited economic benefits for a county that operates on tight budgets; opponents raised environmental and procedural concerns.
The Water Problem
At the center of the controversy is water. Cumberland County has committed to supplying Dominion with two million gallons of water per day from Cobbs Creek Reservoir — but the county does not yet have a finalized agreement to access that water.
The reservoir, formally known as the Virgil R. Hazelett Reservoir, was completed just last year. Despite sitting within Cumberland County’s geographic boundaries, it is owned by neighboring Henrico County. According to the Henrico County website, the reservoir holds 14.8 billion gallons and is designed to release water into the James River during drier months.
The reservoir’s construction prompted the Department of Environmental Quality to raise the amount of water that can be drawn from the James River for drinking purposes — an increase of 47 million gallons per day on average. Of the total expanded capacity, Henrico can now withdraw up to 75 million gallons per day on average, a jump of 30 million gallons per day over its previous limit. A remaining 17 million gallons per day from that increase is available to be sold to partner counties, including Powhatan and Cumberland. But the formal agreement that would give Cumberland access to its share of that water has not been finalized.
When asked directly where the plant’s water supply would come from, Slayton said simply,
“We are still working through those details.”
Neither Henrico nor Cumberland County officials responded to requests for comment on the status of those negotiations.
Board member Bryan Hamlet, the lone dissenting vote, said he supported the idea of the plant but believed the board acted too soon. He acknowledged the financial stakes for a county that struggles to fully fund basic services.
“I see the benefits. Absolutely. I can’t deny that. When you look at the revenue in a county such as Cumberland, when you look at what this board is tasked with when it comes to pinching pennies and making sure that we’re fully funding the offices of this county, our schools, our sheriff’s department, EMS, and our wonderful volunteer firefighters,”
Hamlet said during Tuesday’s hearing.
Still, he pressed his colleagues on a fundamental risk:
“What happens to this project if we go ahead and prematurely authorize the conditional use permit and that water deal is not in place?”
Community Voices
Several residents who have consistently opposed the plant echoed Hamlet’s concerns about the process moving forward without all the pieces in place. Steve Haring drew a pointed comparison to the permitting requirements ordinary homeowners face.
“I would never be allowed to build a house without having a well site located. And so for Dominion to be able to use the equivalent of thousands of houses… the county said ‘you guys are good to go.’ But they don’t have one of the most important pieces locked down,”
Haring said.
Haring also outlined additional unresolved questions he believes the community deserves answers to before the project moves further.
“I think that the route, size and design of transmission lines, which could involve eminent domain, that’s a big one,”
he said.
“Also gas pipelines and potentially water pipelines from whatever water system they choose.”
What Comes Next
The CUP approval is only one step in a lengthy regulatory process. Dominion must still submit a formal application to the State Corporation Commission, which will evaluate whether the plant serves the public interest. The project also requires an air permit from the Department of Environmental Quality to cover emissions from the gas turbines. Coverage of those developments will continue under Energy + Environment reporting. If all permits are secured, the plant is projected to be operational sometime between 2033 and 2034.