By Ted Caddell
Dominion Resources is changing its name to Dominion Energy to unify the look and brand of the holding company that now does business in 18 states.
The company said it wanted to bring all of its businesses under a single flag, especially since its $4.4 billion acquisition of Questar in September, which added 56 Bcf of gas storage and 3,400 miles of gas transmission.
Dominion operates natural gas and electric distribution companies in seven states, with 2.5 million electric customers in Virginia and North Carolina, 2.3 million gas customers in Idaho, Ohio, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming. It also has 1.3 million retail energy and energy services accounts in 13 states.
The company owns 26,400 MW of electric generation, 6,600 miles of electric transmission and 14,600 miles of natural gas pipelines.
Its newly branded Power Delivery Group, Power Generation Group and Gas Infrastructure Group will replace Dominion Virginia Power, Dominion Generation and Dominion Energy.
The new name — subject to stakeholders’ approval at the company’s annual meeting this spring — will be accompanied by a new logo: a blue “D” with energy-suggestive strips through it.
“Our company and our employees are proud of the work we have done in delivering energy for 119 years,” CEO Thomas Farrell said in a statement. “Dominion Energy builds upon this equity, updates our company’s look and unifies the company’s brand across all of our lines of business.”
“This is a good time to unify the brand, clarify the name and simplify the logo,” said Kelly O’Keefe of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Brandcenter, who worked on the branding project.
The branding announcement comes about a week after Dominion announced earnings of $457 million ($0.73/share) for the fourth quarter of 2016 and $2.1 billion ($3.44/share) for the year. The company earned $357 million for the fourth quarter of 2015 ($0.73/share) and $1.9 billion ($3.20/share) for that year.
Farrell used the earnings call to spotlight some of the company’s accomplishments for the year, including adding 727 MW of solar to its portfolio, bringing it up to 1,400 MW; continued progress on its 1,588-MW combined cycle station in Greensville County, Va.; the connection of 11 new data centers; and the completion of $784 million in transmission projects, with another $800 million on the horizon.
