Statement: Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s demise is a huge victory

Media Contacts

Decision by Dominion Energy and Duke Energy to stop far-reaching oil project is good for Virginia

Environment Virginia Research & Policy Center

RICHMOND, Va. — Dominion Energy and Duke Energy announced on Sunday that they are pulling the plug on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. After numerous legal setbacks and delays, the companies will abandon the heavily opposed 600-mile pipeline, which would have been built through some of Virginia’s most iconic landscapes, including our farmland, mountains and forests. 

In addition, Dominion Energy announced a deal to sell off its natural gas assets to Berkshire Hathaway. The move is an indication that the company is making a sharp shift away from fossil fuel development. 

In response to this announcement: Environment Virginia Research & Policy Center State Director Elly Boehmer released the following statement:

“This is a victory  for both Virginia’s beautiful landscape and communities that were earmarked to be in the path of this dangerous and dirty pipeline and for the promise of a clean energy future that Virginians have wanted for years.

“In March, the commonwealth passed the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA), which requires Dominion Energy and other Virginia utilities to invest in renewables and transition to clean energy by 2045. The VCEA has made it bad business to continue fossil fuel development in Virginia, and the Atlantic Coast Pipeline announcement shows that key players in this sector understand this loud and clear.

“This pipeline would have tied the region to an unhealthy and dangerous fossil fuel project for decades. We are thrilled to see this shift away from dirty energy.  It represents one more important step toward a comprehensively clean, renewable energy future in our state.”