Thomas F. Farrell II

From SourceWatch
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Climatechangewords.jpg

Learn more from the Center for Media and Democracy's research on climate change.

Thomas F. Farrell II has been president and chief executive officer of Dominion since January 2006. He was elected chairman in April 2007. He has also served as chief operating officer and executive vice president for the company.[1]

Farrell is also chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Virginia Electric and Power Company, a subsidiary of Dominion. Previously he was chairman, president and chief executive officer of Consolidated Natural Gas Company, a former Dominion subsidiary that merged with Dominion in June 2007. Farrell is also a director of Altria Group, Inc.[1]

He earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Virginia, where he is a member of the Board of Visitors. He joined Dominion in 1995.[1]

Compensation

In May 2007, Forbes listed Farrell as receiving $2.73 million in total compensation for the latest fiscal year. He ranked 34th on the list of CEOs in the Utilities industry, and 395th among all CEOs in the United States.[3]

2009 Dominion rate increase

On January 1, 2009, Dominion implemented a rate increase for its Virginia customers to help pay for its Wise County Plant. The rate adjustment will raise bills by $1.53 for every 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity customers use, which translates to an increase of $1.84 per month for the average customer. The increase will subsidize $83 million in financing costs for the plant during 2009.[4] Dominion made no announcement about the rate change.[5]

Citizen action and protest against Dominion

June 26, 2007: March & Street Theater at Dominion Headquarters

On June 26, 2007, more than 35 people with the Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards and Mountain Justice Summer marched in Richmond, VA, calling for Dominion to abandon its plans for a Wise County Plant in southwest Virginia. The march began at Massey Energy’s headquarters, where participants acted out a “baby shower” for newly-mined coal. With “baby coal” placed in a coffin, the march moved to Dominion Resources’ headquarters and a mock funeral was held for the coal, drawing a line between strip mining and coal-fired power plants. [6]

September 15, 2008 blockade at Wise County construction site.

April 15, 2008: Blue Ridge Earth First! Blockades Dominion Headquarters

On April 15, 2008, protesters gathered in Richmond, VA as three people with Blue Ridge Earth First! blockaded the road in front of Dominion’s headquarters. The three blockading the road received summons for blocking traffic, but no arrests were made. [7]

June 30, 2008: Activists Blockade Dominion Headquarters

On June 30, 2008, 20 activists with Blue Ridge Earth First! and Mountain Justice Summer blockaded the entrance to Dominion Resources' corporate headquarters to protest the company's plan for the Wise County Plant in southwest Virginia. Four protesters formed a human chain with their hands encased in containers of hardened cement and a fifth dangled by a climber's harness from the Lee Bridge footbridge. After several hours police made there way through the miles of backed up traffic to cut the activists out of the lockboxes and barrels. The climber came down on his own. Police also detained eight others standing on the sidewalks supporting the lockdown team. 13 in total were arrested.[8].

September 15, 2008: Blockade at Power Plant Site & Dominion CEO Presentation Replaced

On September 15, 2008, approximately 50 protested at the construction site of the Wise County Plant. A blockade of the construction site was created when participants locked down to steel barrel drums and to the gates of the site. Two of the barrel drums had operational solar panels affixed to the top that illuminated a banner reading "Renewable Jobs to Renew Appalachia." Eleven people were arrested. [9] Later that day in San Francisco, activists with the Rainforest Action Network infiltrated Dominion CEO Thomas F. Farrell’s presentation at Bank of America’s Annual Investment Conference. Farrell’s PowerPoint presentation was replaced with a slideshow of the Wise County Plant protest. [10]

Dominion power portfolio

Out of its total 28,214 MW of electric generating capacity in 2005 (2.64% of the U.S. total), Dominion produces 31.9% from coal, 27.2% from natural gas, 22.6% from nuclear, 11.5% from oil, and 8.5% from hydroelectricity. Dominion owns power plants in Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, Virginia, WIsconsin, and West Virginia; 59.2% of the company's generating capacity is in Virginia.[11]

Proposed coal plants

Active

Cancelled

Existing coal-fired power plants

Dominion had 32 coal-fired generating stations in 2005, with 8,417 MW of capacity. Here is a list of Dominion's coal power plants with capacity over 100 MW:[11][12][13]

Plant Name State County Year(s) Built Capacity 2007 CO2 Emissions 2006 SO2 Emissions
Mt. Storm WV Grant 1965, 1966, 1973 1662 MW 12,700,000 tons 3,139 tons
Chesterfield VA Chesterfield 1952, 1960, 1964, 1969 1353 MW 7,489,000 tons 64,863 tons
Kincaid IL Christian 1967, 1968 1319 MW 8,245,000 tons 13,692 tons
Brayton Point MA Bristol 1958, 1963, 1964 1125 MW 6,548,000 tons 25,776 tons
Clover VA Halifax 1995, 1996 848 MW 7,360,000 tons 1,854 tons
Chesapeake VA Chesapeake 1953, 1954, 1959, 1962 650 MW 4,263,000 tons 30,892 tons
Yorktown VA York 1957, 1959 375 MW 4,972,000 tons 21,685 tons
Salem Harbor MA Essex 1952, 1958 330 MW 2,270,000 tons 8,616 tons
Bremo Bluff VA Fluvanna 1950, 1958 254 MW 1,477,000 tons 8,543 tons
Mecklenburg VA Mecklenburg 1992 140 MW 828,000 tons 325 tons

In 2006, Dominion's 10 major coal-fired power plants emitted 56.2 million tons of CO2 (0.9% of all U.S. CO2 emissions) and 179,000 tons of SO2 (1.2% of all U.S. SO2 emissions).

Resources

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Dominion Board of Directors, Dominion, accessed December 2008.
  2. Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, guidestar, accessed February 16, 2010.
  3. CEO Compensation: #395 Thomas F Farrell II, Forbes.com, May 3, 2007.
  4. John Reid Blackwell, "Rate rise tied to coal plant," Richmond Times-Dispatch, February 6, 2009.
  5. "Va utility imposes rate increase," Associated Press, February 5, 2009.
  6. “Virginians say “No” to a new coal-fired power plant in Wise County; Protests at Massey and Dominion”, Mountain Justice Summer, June 26, 2007.
  7. “Earth First! Blockades Dominion HQ in Richmond in Protest of Coal Plant”, Chesapeake Climate Action Network blog, April 16, 2008.
  8. "Thirteen arrested in protest at Dominion today", Richmond Times-Dispatch, June 30, 2008.
  9. “Peaceful Protesters Lock their Bodies to Dominion Power Plant”, Wise Up Dominon, September 15, 2008.
  10. “Dominion CEO Punk’d!”, Rainforest Action Network’s Understory blog, September 15, 2008.
  11. 11.0 11.1 Existing Electric Generating Units in the United States, 2005, Energy Information Administration, accessed April 2008.
  12. Environmental Integrity Project, Dirty Kilowatts: America’s Most Polluting Power Plants, July 2007.
  13. Dig Deeper, Carbon Monitoring for Action database, accessed June 2008.

Related SourceWatch articles

External links