From today’s Times Dispatch editorial page:
Editor, Times-Dispatch:
Dominion Virginia Power has a distasteful presence on the north side of the James River, near Oregon Hill. Two of the ugliest buildings in the city and a parking deck completely obliterate one of the most beautiful riverscapes on the James.
Visitors to the river are denied a spectacular view of the rapids and boulders located in the area. Residents of Oregon Hill, bikers, walkers and hikers on the trail as well as tourists and visitors in Hollywood Cemetery would have difficulty respecting Richmond’s new name, River City.
Why is Dominion Power even there? And if it must have this location, perhaps its executives could come up with a plan that would not disfigure our lovely river and riverbank in this way.Mary Virginia Beane. Richmond.
Executives at Dominion Power, being who they are, did not care about the public’s river view, they just wanted it for themselves.
This arrogance continues today with the 2nd Street Connector project-
https://www.oregonhill.net/2012/02/04/sierra-club-speaks-against-proposed-2nd-street-connector/
“Finally, we share concerns expressed by neighborhood groups with regard to traffic and further riverfront development. We recall our opposition, along with that of over a dozen other neighborhood and environmental groups, to Dominion Power’s Special Use Permit for its headquarters building on the riverfront. At the time, traffic was brought up as a chief concern, and Dominion assured City Council that existing roadways could serve the additional traffic created by its development. Now ten years later, Dominion is insisting on this new road while at the same time saying it has no plans for new development “at this time.””
But I have always wondered if part of the reason Dominion bought the property had to do with controlling the riverfront so no one could do any microhydro/renewable energy projects down there. Remember, Richmond’ electric streetcars and many of its original electric lighting was run off hydro on the James RIver. There are some interesting connections in all this, going back to Richmond’s early industrial history.
That was certainly a well-written letter-to-the-editor! As Scott points out, Dominion still has an active Special Use Permit to build yet another 160 foot tower right on the river. Dominion’s position is that the 10 year old Special Use Permit never expires to build the new building because they built another [ugly] building on the site that was included on the same Special Use Permit.
controlling the riverfront so that microhydro projects couldn’t be built? Come on, your delusional. What about the miles of other river frontage available for microhydro projects? Is the James river parks system also part of the conspiracy? the big bad power company…such simple minded thinking.
The advantages of micropower on that site would be the natural fall line, the pre-exisitng Hollywood Dam, and the proximity of power usage. In distributed energy, it is often desirable to maximize energy efficiency by using the power (downtown) close to the power generation site (where the Dominion corporate headquarters now sits).
But hey, don’t listen to me, I am just ‘delusional’. Never mind the nearby historic site for microhydro on the other side of Belle Island.
http://www.pennenergy.com/articles/pennenergy/2012/04/u-s–could-add-12.html
The DOE examined more than 54,000 of the 80,000 non-generating dams around the country and found that the U.S. could add as much as 12 gigawatts of hydroelectric power, an increase of about 15 percent.
….
Expansion of hydroelectricity can be difficult since new dams require the formation of reservoirs and can have a substantial environmental impact. However, adapting existing flood-control dams to generate electricity as well could serve to cut costs while reducing the environmental impact.
Yep, that’s me. ‘Delusional’
Note to readers: The views expressed here on the Oregonhill.net webpage are those of Scott Burger and not necessarily those other residents in this neighborhood.
Scott does great work with educating the public about these issues but I agree – he should start his own blog (I would read it) and use this blog for more varied neighborhood issues. I see this being used increasingly for Scott’s work.
You should reread my comment. I’m not arguing the merits of microhydro. I’m saying it ridiculous to think that Dominion placed there headquarters there to prevent microhydro from being developed.
I don’t know the exact number of prexisting dams in area, but their are plenty of other options if you want to pursue microhydro. Also, efficiency loss of transmission lines is almost non-exisistent over short distances (ie 50 miles), so any of the dams in the richmond area would work. We’re talking about a gigantic energy company with a 30 billion dollar market cap; they are not worrying about 1 microhydro project.
Bn, reread my comment. I was speculating on “part of the reason”. Given the visibility of this site, I stand by that.
But hey, if Dominion does not want to do microhydro, there are plenty of places they could put solar on the site. With 30 billion market cap, they could certainly afford it.
As for the other comments,
1) I did not write the posted letter. I did mark it for editorial content.
2) If folks are not happy with what’s posted, don’t read it or start your own site. I try to keep the comments pretty open for opposing views.
3) As I have stated multiple times, I am not going to apologize for my “Green slant” on this community news site. It may not represent all of the views of the neighborhood, but it does offer news and views that are not available elsewhere. The site is unique, just like this neighborhood.
They are installing some solar, but not in richmond. Down in Georgia. 40 acres producing 7 mw. That’s a lot of acres for only a few mw. I love the concept of solar and I’m hoping they can continue to increase the mw/acres to make it more financial palatable.
Wasn’t trying to be a smart ass above. In fact, a microhydro project right at their headquarters would be a smart pr move….have you thought about pitching it to them? They might be reasonable then you think…
Ben, I appreciate the response.
I heard about the big Georgia solar farm. I am hoping that Dominion, like utilities elsewhere, will take more interest in distributed solar- for example, putting solar on school roofs. That sort of implementation will increase the grid resiliency, energy efficiency, and disaster recovery. New Jersey has done some great things in this vein.
I would be interested in seeing them do some microhydro near their headquarters. I will admit that it may be trickier now. When the James River Park conservation easement was being drawn up, I did put in a plea for allowing renewable energy projects that did not negatively impact the environment or park experience.
I have heard through third parties that Dominion would like to do more substantial community projects. My personal preference is that they do things that are not one-time publicity events, but more permanent, visible, and meaningful. I still like the idea of solar installations on school roofs.
Scott, you are totally delusional. Was James River Paper conspiring to tie up this little section of the river before dominion? Get over it and stop polluting a community blog with your self interests polarizing political slants.
Oregon Hill deserves better than this.
Ah yes, what post would be complete without a personal attack from the mysterious James Tepe?
Let’s look past his ignorance and hatred, shall we?
If you look at the company history of James River Paper, you will see it is connected to the old Hollywood Mill.
http://www.vahistorical.org/arvfind/jamesriver.htm
What powered the Hollywood Mill? Like a lot of the early industry on the James River, hydroelectric power.
http://www.tredegar.org/richmond-sols/james-river-water-power-kanawha.aspx
What happened to the historic Hollywood Mill buildings?
I am sure part of them were destroyed by James RIver Paper and then part of them were destroyed by Dominion while building their new riverfront headquarters- the topic of the letter to the editor posted above.
http://www.styleweekly.com/richmond/dominion-powers-expansion-plan-threatens-a-historic-stretch-of-waterfront-while-offering-little-in-the-way-of-energizing-downtown/Content?oid=1384650
And by the way, I am not delusional. New microhyrdroelectric can be made from old infrastructure.
Scroll to bottom of-
http://www.whittlesmill.org/About-Whittle-s-Mill.html
“Engineer Steve Jones at the newly operational power plant at Whittle’s Mill. The concrete base houses the original turbines installed in the 1920’s when the mill was owned by A.W. Hankley. The generators are housed in the iconic red power house. (Compare this photograph with the one directly above to see the evolution of the mill structure.) 200 years after Fortescue Whittle built his dam, new energy from this old source is powering Southside Virginia homes and businesses.”
Oregon Hill may deserve better, but it has me for now.
What impact would MicroHydro have on fish? Would they get cut up like in a blender?! Ouch!
Unlike big hydropower, most micro hydro power, if done correctly, does not slice’n’dice fish. Certainly, there needs to be more study before any hydro power is re-implemented in the James River.
http://books.google.com/books?id=ujkT03H6jlkC&pg=PT440&lpg=PT440&dq=microhydro+%2B+impact+on+fish&source=bl&ots=_Mc_oeL99d&sig=LDPMoABDlrippkuW6dEUi9s96f0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=33RPUYjhGpDi4AOG0YDQAQ&ved=0CEEQ6AEwAw
Scott really does need his own blog. John Murden who administers the Church Hill site does a much better job of remaining objective and out of the fray.
I know and like John, but I am not John Murden and this is not Church Hill.
I don’t care about popularity contests or being ‘out of the fray’.
People seem to forget that this community news site was started in part to counter disinformation coming from VCU. In other words, it was born ‘in the fray’.
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I agree about solar power, we should get rid of all other forms of energy and just use solar and wind. I’m sure the the left’s delusional view on “climate change” will more than justify why customers will pay 4x more for there power bill. Hey we might lose our homes, but damn that view of the river is worth it :)