Dominion Energy estimates its 2.6-GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project will cost about $11.7 billion when all is said and done, up nearly $300 million from its most recent cost estimate in April, the company said Friday. 

The $288 million cost increase is due to revised network upgrade costs assigned by the PJM Interconnection, tariffs imposed by the Trump administration in April and updated turbine installation projections, Dominion said in its second-quarter filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 

The company now estimates it will complete all work on the project by the end of 2027, a change from previous projections that saw work wrapping up early next year.

The Virginia-based company, which operates regulated utilities in Virginia and South Carolina and owns commercial power plants in other Eastern states, provided the offshore wind update alongside other substantive updates on its data center pipeline, nonregulated generation assets and proposed merger with NextEra Energy. 

Rising offshore wind costs and charges related to those nonregulated assets were among the drags on Dominion’s second-quarter earnings, according to the company’s quarterly 10-Q filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 

Others included higher fuel costs and Dominion Virginia’s June “reentry” into the PJM Interconnection capacity market, the company said. Dominion reported net income of $340 million in the second quarter, down from $760 million in Q2 2025.

Next steps for the NextEra merger

Dominion Energy will begin seeking state and federal approvals next quarter for its proposed merger with NextEra Energy and could reach financial close by the end of 2027, Dominion said Friday in its quarterly shareholder presentation. 

If the Dominion-NextEra transaction succeeds, the combined enterprise would be the country’s largest regulated utility company with 10 million customers and a 130-GW large-load interconnection pipeline. Dominion’s portion of that pipeline has grown 11% since December, the company said Friday.

“Over the longer term, customers and communities would benefit from a stronger company with the scale and capabilities to buy, build, finance, and operate critical energy infrastructure more efficiently,” Robert Blue, Dominion Energy CEO, said on Friday’s earnings call.

The merger faces an early test this fall in what Julien Dumoulin-Smith, a senior stock analyst with the investment bank Jefferies, said was an unusually quick review schedule by the Virginia State Corporation Commission.

“The accelerated six-month Virginia regulatory review will give investors a strong view on whether the transaction can be approved or not in the next few months,” Dumoulin-Smith said in a Friday note to investors. He predicted Dominion and NextEra would try to reach a settlement before hearings begin on Nov. 17. 

Update on offshore wind costs, construction progress

For Dominion investors, it’s “discouraging to see another offshore wind delay and cost increase but unfortunately not a major surprise,” Dumoulin-Smith said last week. 

Blue put an optimistic spin on the project’s progress, noting that work is 81% complete and “every type of component is in service and functioning as expected,” he said. The operational turbines can collectively produce more than 450 MW of power, according to Dominion’s investor presentation.

“In recent weeks, as we've set new demand peaks, we've done everything possible at the request of system operators to deliver the maximum possible amount of power from CVOW,” Blue said. 

As he has on previous investor calls, Blue said Dominion expects CVOW to save customers about $5 billion on fuel during its first 10 years of operation.

Planned and potential sale or retirement of nonregulated assets

In its filing with the SEC, Dominion said it agreed in May to sell a portfolio of nonregulated solar assets in its Contracted Energy segment for $140 million to Enel, the Italian energy conglomerate. It expects that transaction to close by the end of 2026. 

Dominion said it also expects to sell its nonregulated renewable natural gas assets before their anticipated retirement dates. It did not provide a timeline or identify a potential buyer for those assets, however.

Dominion warned earlier this year that one of the two nuclear reactors it operates at the 2,106-MW Millstone generating station in Connecticut could retire by 2035 without a long-term power purchase contract past 2029, when the company’s current contracts with Eversource and United Illuminating expire.

Dominion said in a March filing with Connecticut regulators that one or more utilities or “well-capitalized counterparty” like a data center operator could step up to support a license extension through 2055.

On Friday, Blue said Dominion expects Connecticut to decide soon if it will approve Millstone’s bid to participate in the state’s zero-carbon energy procurement, after which he said the company would begin negotiating contracts to submit to state regulators. Dominion believes its bid will save Connecticut ratepayers $900 million over 10 years, he said.

“We remain focused on achieving a constructive outcome for the facility, which has delivered tremendous value and produced bill reductions for customers in Connecticut through its existing contract,” Blue said.