On February 19, 2021, Dominion Energy South Carolina filed its modified integrated resource plan (IRP) with the South Carolina Public Service Commission (PSC).[1] The South Carolina PSC rejected Dominion’s 2020 filing in 2020 after finding that the utility’s IRP had distorted its fuel cost and lacked demand side management resource options. In their ruling, the regulators requested that the utility model an early retirement of its coal fleet. The modified IRP included a preferred scenario that would retire the three coal-fired units at Wateree and Williams Stations in 2028 and convert the remaining coal plant, Cope Station, to natural gas in 2030. The preferred scenario adds substantial amounts solar and batteries while also adding natural gas resources to make up for lost generation from the coal plant retirements. Many of the other scenarios in Dominion’s IRP included adding large amounts of solar and solar plus storage between 2030 and 2048, with the possibility to add 2,000 MW of solar from 2026 to 2048. Dominion currently has 973 MW of utility-scale solar contracted and 700 to 900 MW of battery storage.

[1] https://dms.psc.sc.gov/Attachments/Matter/2ff6b38d-c8f9-4f29-8d9f-cc756de01a4e