Updated climate report adjusts paths for Dominion Energy to achieve net zero carbon, methane emissions by 2050

Working to keep in line with the analyses of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, Dominion Energy issued an updated climate report last week that highlighted new paths for it to reach net zero carbon and methane emissions by 2050.

Dominion Energy runs gas and electric businesses in 16 states. It first announced net zero emissions plans in February last year and has since then laid out a climate governance framework to guide its corporate strategy and risk management processes. As the report indicates, it has also laid out several potential pathways to achieving net zero emissions, forming them into Scopes 1, 2, and 3.

“Dominion Energy has been a leader in greenhouse emissions reductions over the past 15 years. Our customers expect safe, affordable, reliable, and increasingly sustainable energy — which is why decarbonization is at the center of our business strategy,” Robert Blue, chair, president and CEO of Dominion Energy, said. “Today’s report demonstrates our continued commitment to transparent progress toward our net zero ambitions.”

The report’s findings found that, in 2005, zero-carbon generation accounted for about one-third — 35 percent — of Dominion’s total share. Now, that total has risen to 45 percent, and Dominion anticipates reaching 70 percent by 2035. To help get there, though, the company has stressed the need for ongoing evolutions in technology and public policy.

The new report conforms to the framework established by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures and is in line with the Paris Agreement’s models for keeping climate change to 1.5 degrees Celsius.