Our Communities

DE&I Company-Wide

Social and economic justice matter.

Whether we’re providing financial support, conducting environmental justice assessments, or helping rural communities bridge the digital divide, we strive to increase equity in the communities we serve.

Assistance and Efficiency

For us, DE&I is not a separate program — it’s part of our central nervous system. It pervades everything we do. Our goal is to make sure no one gets left behind, as we move forward.

That’s why we offer energy-assistance programs such as EnergyShare®, which celebrated 40 years in 2022. The program provides heating and cooling assistance to customers facing financial difficulty. Since the program began, it has helped more than 900,000 individuals and families across Virginia and North Carolina and made more than 21,000 homes more energy-efficient. For more about EnergyShare®, see its annual reportopens in a new window.

In Ohio, we offer a Percentage of Income Payment Plan (PIPP) Plus. It allows eligible customers to maintain natural gas service by paying a monthly amount based on 5% of their total monthly household income, or $10 — whichever is greater. Households with a gross yearly income at or below 175% of federal poverty guidelines are eligible to participate. We are working with the Virginia Department of Social Services to implement PIPP in Virginia.

Dominion Energy Utah offers financial assistance through REACH, the Residential Energy Assistance through Community Help. The program, funded by Dominion Energy customers, employees, and shareholders, is administered by the Salvation Army. Customers also can lower their bills and improve energy efficiency through our ThermWise® program, which offers rebates for home improvements and energy-efficient appliances. In 2022, we expanded ThermWise® to North Carolina.

We also offer more than 40 efficiency programs, including many designed for residential and age- or income-qualifying customers, to help customers reduce their energy use through energy audits, home weatherization, discounts and rebates on smart thermostats and energy-efficient lighting and appliances, and appliance recycling rebates.

three people posing with an award

Environmental Justice

Dominion Energy is committed to hearing, learning from, fully considering, and responding to the concerns of all its stakeholders regardless of economic status, race, color, or national origin. The company seeks to build partnerships and engage with local communities, stakeholders, and customers on environmental issues.

To affirm our commitment, in 2018 we adopted a formal environmental justice (EJ) policy, which sets expectations for project teams that historically marginalized communities should not be disproportionately harmed by our infrastructure initiatives and that they should be part of the planning process. With the implementation of this policy, the company developed rigorous internal processes to ensure accountability and follow-through. In cases where a community meets the definition of an EJ community, our process requires that the company consider proactive and intentional communication and engagement to ensure understanding and involvement; that concerns are heard and appropriately responded to and addressed; and that Dominion Energy works to mitigate any undue project impacts.

In addition to financial controls and checkpoints tied directly to EJ evaluations, the company employs dedicated EJ staff and provides comprehensive training for company employees. More than 1,000 employees have been trained on EJ, and all major construction projects are reviewed for EJ considerations. In 2022, we reviewed more than 60 projects — everything from new and rebuilt power lines to modernizing natural gas assets to the build-out of renewables.

We recognize that EJ considerations must be a part of our everyday decisions, community outreach, and evaluations as we move forward with projects to modernize the generation and delivery of energy. We actively engage with low-income communities, communities of color, Tribal communities, and others who have not always had a seat at the table. We believe all communities should have ready access to accurate information and a meaningful voice in the development process. We also work to ensure that all communities have the chance to benefit from infrastructure enhancements, such as undergrounding distribution lines and middle-mile broadband, as well as the economic opportunities presented by our investments, to the greatest extent possible.

a lagoon surrounded by nature and trees as the sunsets

Just Transition

The company has already begun putting the principles of a just transition into practice. We will balance the operational need for safe, reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy with career longevity for our employees.

As our fossil-fuel generation plants near their scheduled retirements, employees are still needed to ensure they operate safely and as good environmental stewards to their neighbors until their retirement dates. In some instances, we may have to increase staffing in the short term to maintain safe and reliable operations. At the same time, we also must plan for the transition of displaced employees to other roles. We will need to attract, retain, and retrain employees for careers that could span different technologies, and we are working toward those goals.

Dominion Energy’s Education Assistance Program provides 100% reimbursement of eligible tuition costs, up to $7,500 per calendar year, for regular active, full-time, and part-time non-union employees who are scheduled to work at least 1,000 hours per year. This program can help employees gain the education they need and want to transition to other energy jobs. Our Talent Management & Development organization and the Dominion Energy EMPOWER Career Center provide employees with career coaching and resources to help identify the skills and interests that will help them develop a career plan and identify steps to prepare for the clean energy transition. The company also provides planning resources such as retirement learning opportunities and partnerships with community colleges.

Employees and customers are not the only stakeholders affected by the retirement of fossil-fuel facilities. As with the loss of any industry, closing a plant can affect the economy, the environment, and the community in the surrounding areas. Dominion Energy engages with state and local leaders about the effects of such closures. We are also committed to ongoing support of the communities where we have worked, and hope to continue to work, for many years. For example, we demonstrate that commitment through increased focus on clean energy construction on brownfield sites, leading to continued tax payments after fossil-fuel facility retirements.

We also are practicing greater outreach to external vendors, suppliers, and job seekers, and greater transparency regarding how they can work as part of the clean energy economy. Including such information at project open houses and community presentations allows us to reach communities directly.

large field containing wildflowers and utility poles

Sustainability-Linked Finance

Dominion Energy has been one of the first to tie DE&I metrics to its financial instruments. For example, in 2021 the company entered into a $6 billion core credit facility, supported by several large banks, which includes multiple sustainability targets and related key performance indicators that directly affect pricing for the facility. One of those targets references a threshold for diverse hiring (50%), above which the company receives a pricing benefit related to fees and borrowings under the facility starting in April of the subsequent calendar year. A separate threshold for diverse hiring (48%) sets the limit below which the company pays a pricing premium related to fees and borrowings under the credit facility starting in April of the subsequent year. In 2021, the company’s diverse hiring performance of 57.5% exceeded the upper threshold which provided for a pricing benefit for the $6-billion Dominion Energy core credit facility starting in April of 2022. In 2022, 48.9% of new hires were diverse, resulting in neither a benefit nor a penalty under the terms of the facility for the period beginning in April of 2023.

The company also has a $900 million supplemental credit facility that incorporates sustainability-linked principles. Each time the company draws on the credit facility, we may declare a specific “use of proceeds.” Dominion Energy may realize a pricing benefit if proceeds are used, in whole or in part, for purposes relating to (i) small- and medium- sized businesses and/or diverse-owned businesses, (ii) COVID-19 and emergency-related response, (iii) measures to increase diversity among new hires and the retention and promotion of women and minority employees, or (iv) solidarity with vulnerable, underrepresented, underserved and/or marginalized populations (including donations or grants made to community organizations or to support educational programs serving underrepresented populations). In 2022, the company exercised its ability to declare a sustainability-linked use of proceeds for borrowings under the credit facility and realized the corresponding pricing benefit.

solar panels