News Release: August 22, 2023
Chesterfield County
NAACP
For Immediate Release:
CONTACT: Nicole Martin, Branch President
August 22, 2023
Chesterfield NAACP Opposes Dominion Energy 1,000 MW Gas Fired Power Plant
NAACP cites climate change, air pollution and environmental justice concerns
(Chesterfield, VA) In a recent letter to the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors,
Chesterfield NAACP President Nicole Martin conveyed the civil rights organization’s opposition
to Dominion Energy’s plans to construct a 1,000 megawatt methane gas fired power plant near
the Dutch Gap site of Dominion’s recently retired coal fired power plant.
The Chesterfield Board of Supervisors will decide whether to grant permission to Dominion to
build the power plant which requires conditional use zoning approval. Dominion has not yet
applied for county zoning approval, but on August 1st, it filed its application for an air pollution
permit with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.
The letter to the county supervisors shared a motion adopted by the Chesterfield NAACP at its
July meeting stating: “After carefully considering Dominion Energy’s rationale for this project and
the concerns of our members, we have adopted the following motion: Based on worsening
climate change and the disproportionate, harmful impacts of fossil fuel projects on people of
color, the Chesterfield County Branch of the NAACP opposes Dominion Energy’s proposal to
build a new 1000 Megawatt methane gas power plant in Chesterfield County. Further, the
Chesterfield NAACP urges Dominion Energy to meet our electricity needs with clean energy
solutions rather than relying on new fossil fuel infrastructure.”
The US EPA’s Environmental Justice Screening Tool indicates that 44% of the population within
three miles of the proposed gas power plant are people of color. “This community has endured
close to 80 years of air and water pollution associated with Dominion’s recently retired coal
plant,” said Martin. “They don’t deserve to be burdened with another polluting fossil fuel power
plant in their backyard when alternatives exist.”
The NAACP letter called on the county supervisors to deny Dominion’s zoning request stating,
“While we fully appreciate the need for reliable electricity service, we do not believe that
Dominion Energy has fully considered alternatives to new fossil fuel infrastructure including
utility scale batteries and other storage technologies as well as greater investments in efficiency
and demand side management to reduce peak electricity demand. We do not see evidence that
Dominion Energy has undertaken a comprehensive analysis of such alternatives.
-END-
PRESS RELEASE:
Posted July 15, 2022
CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Virginia – In an effort to keep the Chesterfield County community engaged in all and any elections within the county, the Chesterfield County Branch NAACP Unit 7120, would like to inform the community that the branch shall conduct branch elections, in order to elect a new Branch Officers to include President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer in November 2022 (exact date to be determined, please follow our website at www.chesterfieldnaacp.com ). NAACP Branch Elections are conducted with the utmost scrupulousness, transparency and adherence according to the National NAACP Bylaws for Units and the Branch Election Manual.
In order to vote in the November 2022 NAACP Branch Election, you must be a member in good standing by no later than September 1, 2022. This means that your adult membership must be paid, up to date and not expiring before December 1, 2022. We look forward to seeing you at the NAACP Branch Election polls in November 2022!
The following is a simple/general outline of what should occur during the 3-month Branch election process. For more details and specifics, you should review Article IX, Section 2 of the Bylaws for Units and the Branch Election Manual.
Notice of September, October and November Meetings
Written notice shall be sent to all members in good standing, postmarked at least 10 days prior to the September meeting. It shall include a listing of the date, time, location and purpose of the September, October and November meetings. Additionally, a notice shall be placed in the local newspaper for these meetings at least 10 days prior, as well as another 10 days prior to the November election. The Branch Secretary Olive Bonaparte shall complete this task.
September Meeting
The General Membership will decide the date, time and location of the election, which is normally the date, time (with 2 hours added 5pm – 9pm) and location of the regularly scheduled General Membership meeting. Election of the Nominating Committee shall take place, to be composed of not less than 5 members or more than 15 members, no more than 2 of these individuals shall be Officers and/or member of the Executive Committee. Within 10 days of the election of the Nominating Committee, the Branch Secretary shall call the first meeting of the Committee, provide the Committee with an up-to-date list of current officers, members of the Executive Committee, the number of terms served, membership eligibility, and attendance records. The Nominating Committee’s first order of business will be to elect its Chairman and Secretary.
October Meeting
Nominating Committee presents its report, after which nominations are received from the floor, the Chair or a member of the Nominating Committee; no officer of the Branch or any candidate for office shall chair the nominating process. For the purpose of being certified as an eligible candidate one must have been a bona fide member of the Branch by April 1st, as well as live and/or work in the jurisdiction of the Branch. After which the Election Supervisory Committee shall be elected. Please note: all questions regarding the eligibility of candidates must be resolved prior to the conclusion of the October meeting.
November Election
The number of eligible voters shall be determined and established before voting begins. Polls shall be open for at least 4-hours, anyone in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote. Once all voting has been completed, the Election Supervisory Committee shall begin tallying the ballots.
Election Controversy
In the event there is an election controversy, a complaint signed by 25 members in good-standing of the Branch (50) members if the Branch membership exceeds 1,000 members) must be postmarked no later than 5 days after the date of the election and mailed to the NAACP National Headquarters. The standard used for reviewing complaints; “if the allegations alleged are assumed to be true would they have affected the outcome of the election?” If, the complaint is found to be valid, it will then be forwarded to the Chairman of the Committee Membership and Units.
Note: If there is a violation of the election process, a complaint must be made to the National Office prior to the next meeting. After which the National Office may institute corrective action to ensure the rights of members are protected.