Photo Credit: Corrina Beall, Virginia Sierra Club
Last week over 150 protesters descended on Dominion Resources’ annual shareholder meeting in Glen Allen, VA. They came from all over—as far as Augusta County, Norfolk, and Cove Point, MD—to stand united against Dominion’s dirty energy investments.
For shareholders and executives attending the meeting, there was no hiding from droves of protesters lining both sides of the entranceway with their banners and a ‘mock’ inflatable pipeline.
What motivated so many activists to trek several hours for a protest on a Wednesday morning at 8am? For those who traveled from Augusta, Nelson, and Buckingham counties it’s their vehement opposition to Dominion’s proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP), which would be constructed through their farms, businesses, and homes to serve as a conduit for ’fracked’ gas from West Virginia. Increasingly, Virginia landowners are fighting in solidarity with West Virginians opposing ‘fracking’ in their own backyards. If Dominion gets its way with the ACP, there’s little doubt that even more ‘fracked’ wells will be constructed in West Virginia to meet the growing pipeline capacity, threatening groundwater and releasing potent greenhouse gases into our atmosphere. With Virginia’s coast 2nd only to New Orleans as the most vulnerable area in country to sea level rise, it’s unacceptable for Dominion to be accelerating projects that contribute to climate change.
Pipeline opponents were not the only protestors in the crowd. Vans brought in dozens more from Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads and one group came from Lusby, MD, the site of Dominion’s proposed Cove Point export facility—another one of Dominion’s multi-billion dollar investments in ‘fracking’ infrastructure.
The huge turnout is an indicator of growing citizen backlash against the company’s dirty energy investments and dirty politics. This is becoming evident as articles and editorials in the press are frequently calling attention to  Dominion’s “unrivaled power” in Virginia Politics, especially in the wake of the company’s successful efforts to partially halt the state’s oversight of its electric rates by passing favorable legislation in the 2015 General Assembly.
Opposition to Dominion’s dirty energy projects was not just limited to outside of the shareholder meeting. Even though non-shareholders were unable join the meeting, activist shareholders brought the public’s frustration to the forefront of the discussion. Six of the eight shareholder resolutions presented to the room demanded that the company take action on climate change or improve its environmental policies. Several of the resolutions received support in excess of 20%, and all but one received more support than last year, signaling a growing demand amongst investors that urgent action is needed on climate change. Later in the meeting shareholders had another opportunity to raise their concerns by asking questions directly to CEO Tom Farrell. Over a dozen people got up to ask questions and, except for one person, all of the questions were framed around Dominion’s dirty energy projects, climate change, or in one particular case, Dominion’s membership to the infamous American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
This year’s annual shareholder meeting was not a walk in the park for Dominion Resources. Opposition from inside and out is chipping away at Dominion’s carefully orchestrated public image. With the public and the media increasingly skeptical, the time is right to continue pressuring  Dominion to halt building massive fracked gas infrastructure and to reexamine its energy portfolio, which is currently at odds with our climate.