Dear Shareholders,
2022 was an extraordinary year. Operationally, your company performed exceptionally well — reaching new heights in key areas while safely delivering reliable, affordable, and increasingly clean energy, and continuing to execute for the long-term success of our company.
Our relative share performance has not met our expectations, including over the past several years as we’ve been successfully executing our plan. So I have initiated a “top-to-bottom” business review with the goal of ensuring that Dominion Energy is best positioned to create significant long-term value for you, our shareholders, while realizing our comprehensive energy transition and the sustainability of our industry-leading, decarbonization- and reliability-focused investment plan. We expect to provide updates on how we intend to achieve those aims this year.
Of 2022’s many highlights, these stand out:
- We maintained a superior safety record that is about 70% better than the industry average.
- We met our financial goals, exceeding the midpoint of our guidance range, reporting operating earnings of $4.11 per share.* Reported earnings were $1.09 per share.
- We paid $2.67 per share in dividends, and the Board of Directors has approved a $2.67-per-share dividend rate for 2023, subject to quarterly determination and declaration.
- We kept rates at our electric utilities below national and regional averages, and rates at our gas utilities below state averages.
- We kept service reliable — our electric utilities in Virginia and the Carolinas were 13% better than the industry average in customer minutes out — and, in South Carolina, we turned in the second-best year for reliability in the long history of the Palmetto State utility.
- We continued advancing toward our 2050 Net Zero commitment — which we expanded beyond direct carbon and methane emissions from our operations to include Scope 2 emissions and our material Scope 3 emissions: electricity purchased to power the grid, fuel purchased for our power stations and gas distribution systems, and consumption of gas sold to our natural gas customers.
- We invested more than $1.2 billion in electric transmission projects in Virginia, and saw 3.7% natural gas customer growth in South Carolina.
- We had our best year in environmental performance on record, with notices of violation down 87% from the average of the past three years. And we earned an “A” on both the 2022 Climate CDP and 2022 Water CDP.
- We sold Hope Gas, Inc., for $690 million, which will help fund additional clean-energy investments and which maintains our focus on serving customers in larger markets.
- We met key regulatory milestones for our 2.6-GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind commercial project and for our four Virginia nuclear reactors, which would allow us to operate them safely and efficiently past 2050.
- We invested more than $300 million in gas distribution modernization, and continued to develop carbon-beneficial renewable natural gas (RNG) projects. As of early 2023, we had 21 projects underway, including six that were producing RNG and 15 under construction.
- We remained focused on pursuing a variety of emerging technologies — including hydrogen, small modular nuclear reactors, and more.
- And we continued to be ranked among the best companies for veterans and other diverse groups and to be recognized with honors for transparency; diversity, equity, and inclusion; operational excellence; and corporate responsibility.
Above all, we held fast to our core values.
Dominion Energy South Carolina’s power generation group and two of our nuclear power stations went the entire year without an OSHA recordable injury. We reviewed more than 60 projects for environmental justice considerations and sought to ensure a just transition for workers and communities affected by the clean-energy transition. We pursued and achieved excellence, reliably meeting a new all-time peak for customer demand in Virginia. We grew stronger together as One Dominion Energy, increasing workforce diversity* to 37%.
We know the pace of change in technology and in society is accelerating. We’re determined to respond nimbly and seize opportunities to lead. In 2022, we lived our value of Embrace Change at every level, from front-line operations to enterprise-wide strategy. Our top-to-bottom business review exemplifies this responsive spirit. I look forward to updating you and other stakeholders about the results of that review later in the year.
Sincerely,
Bob Blue
Chair, President & Chief Executive Officer
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