Deregulation creates incentives to build more plants and to sell more electricity.
It eliminates incentives for power companies to promote conservation. One is already completed in Fauquier County and another is being promoted by Old Dominion Electric Cooperative. The 249-ton level allows a plant to evade serious regulatory review. Virginia's Department of Environment Quality considers each plant independently and will not require analysis of cumulative impacts. ODEC's peaking plant would operate at the same time as the existing plant, doubling the pollution.