We expect to grow earnings per share 6.5% per year through at least 2025 supported by a $32 billion five-year growth capital plan.
As outlined on our fourth-quarter call in February, over 80% of that capital investment is emissions reduction enabling and over 70% is rider recovery eligible.
We offer a nearly 3.5% yield and expect dividends per share to grow 6% per year based on a target payout ratio of 65%.
Taken together, Dominion Energy offers an approximately 10% total return premised on a pure-play, state-regulated utility profile, operating in premier regions of the country.
Our second-quarter 2021 operating earnings, as shown on Slide 4, were $0.76 per share, which included $0.01 hurt from worse than normal weather in our utility service territories.
Both actual results and weather-normalized results of $0.77 were above the midpoint of our quarterly guidance range.
So this is our 22nd consecutive quarter, so 5.5 years now, of delivering weather-normal quarterly results that meet or exceed the midpoint of our quarterly guidance range.
Second-quarter GAAP earnings were $0.33 per share and reflect the mark-to-market impact of economic hedging activities, unrealized changes in the value of our nuclear decommissioning trust funds, the contribution from Questar pipeline, which will continue to be accounted for as discontinued operations until divested and other adjustments.
A summary of all adjustments between operating and reported results is, as usual, included in Schedule 2 of our earnings-release kit.
For the third quarter of 2021, we expect operating earnings to be between $0.95 and $1.10 per share.
For the first half of the year, weather-normal operating earnings per share of $1.86 represents approximately half of our full-year guidance midpoint.
In Virginia, weather-normalized sales increased 1.2% year over year in the second quarter and 3.2% in South Carolina.
And looking ahead, we expect electric sales growth in our Virginia and South Carolina service territories to continue to a run rate of 1% to 1.5% per year, so similar to what we were observing pre pandemic.
Despite these cost pressures, as it relates to offshore wind, in particular, we remain confident in our ability to deliver that project in line with our previously guided levelized cost of energy range of $80 to $90 per megawatt hour.
Third, its termination has no impact on the sale of the gas transmission storage assets to Berkshire, which we successfully completed back in November of last year and which represented approximately 80% of the originally announced transaction value.
In June, we announced the successful syndication of sustainability-linked credit facilities totaling $6.9 billion, and we very much appreciate the efforts and support of all the banks who work with us on what we view as a very interesting new type of financing.
The $6 billion master credit facility links pricing to achievement of annual renewable electric generation and diversity and inclusion milestones.
And the $900 million supplemental facility presents a first-of-its-kind structure where pricing benefits accrue for draws related to qualified environmental and social spending programs.
As described in the report, which is available on our website, we have modeled several potential pathways to achieve net zero emissions across our electric and gas business that reflect 1.5-degree scenario and are consistent with the Paris Agreement on climate change.
The climate report shows we are a leader in both greenhouse gas emission reductions over the last 15 years and in our commitment to transparent progress toward our goal of net zero emissions.
Our safety performance matters immensely to our more than 17,000 employees, to their families and to the communities we serve, which is why it matters so much to us and why it's our first core value.
We were pleased that CNBC's list of America's Top States for Business ranked Virginia, North Carolina and Utah as 1, 2 and 3, respectively, a podium sweep for three of our five primary jurisdictions with a fourth major service territory, Ohio, also ranking in the top 10.
1 ranking for Virginia.
At Gas Distribution, our colleagues have collaborated across our national footprint to share best practices, resulting in a nearly 20% reduction of third-party excavation damage to our underground infrastructure as compared to 2019.
At Dominion Energy South Carolina, our ability to work in close partnership with state and local officials, combined with our commitment to meet an aggressive time line for electric and gas service delivery, were key to attracting a new $400 million brewery to the state last year.
The facility is expected to create 300 local jobs and is one of the largest breweries built in the United States in the last 25 years.
The 2.6 gigawatt Coastal Virginia offshore wind project received its notice of intent, or NOI, from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in early July, consistent with the time line we had previously communicated.
Second, at the direction of the general assembly, we've provided over $200 million of customer arrears forgiveness to assist families and businesses in overcoming financial difficulties caused by the pandemic.
Third, we've invested over $300 million in CCRO-eligible projects, including our offshore wind test project, which is the first operational wind turbines built in federal waters in the United States.
We've now surpassed 1,000 megawatts of Dominion Energy-owned solar generation in service in Virginia, and there is a lot more to come.
In fact, our pipeline of company-owned solar projects in Virginia under various stages of development currently totals nearly 4,000 megawatts, which gives us great confidence in our ability to achieve the solar capacity targets set forth in Virginia law and which support our long-term growth capital plans.
In the very near term, about 25 days to be specific, we'll make our next and largest to date clean energy submission.
We expect the filing to include as many as 1,100 megawatts of utility-owned and PPA solar, roughly consistent with the 65-35 split identified in the Virginia Clean Economy Act.
It will also include around 100 megawatts of battery storage, including 70 megawatts of utility-owned projects.
Taken together, the filing will represent as much as $1.5 billion of utility-owned and rider-eligible investment, further derisking our growth capital guidance provided on our fourth-quarter 2020 earnings call.
Next, we received authorization from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to extend the life of our two nuclear units at the Surry power station for an additional 20 years.
These units currently provide around 45% of the state's zero carbon generation and under this authorization will be upgraded to continue providing significant environmental and economic benefits for many years to come.
Our first phase covering 2019 through 2021 is well underway, and we recently filed our phase 2 plan with Virginia regulators covering the years 2022 and '23.
The second phase includes approximately $669 million in capital investment, which is needed to facilitate and optimize the integration of distributed energy resources while continuing to address the reality that reliability and security are vital to our company and its customers.
For around $5 per month on a typical residential bill, customers that opt into the program will offset the carbon impact of their gas distribution use.
As a result, we expect to grow our dairy RNG portfolio from six projects in five states to 22 projects in seven states through the second half of the decade and enhance our development pipeline with specific projects toward our aspirational goal of investing up to $2 billion by 2035.
Our current pipeline of projects will result in an estimated annual reduction of 5.5 million metric tons of CO2e, which is the equivalent to removing 1.2 million cars from the road.
First, Senior Vice President, Craig Wagstaff, who's provided over 10 years of exemplary leadership for our gas utility operations in Utah, Idaho and Wyoming, will be retiring early next year.
in 1984, and we have benefited greatly from his contributions since the Dominion Energy-Questar merger in 2016.
We affirmed our existing annual and long-term earnings guidance and our dividend-growth guidance.

Summary:
Our second-quarter 2021 operating earnings, as shown on Slide 4, were $0.76 per share, which included $0.01 hurt from worse than normal weather in our utility service territories.
Second-quarter GAAP earnings were $0.33 per share and reflect the mark-to-market impact of economic hedging activities, unrealized changes in the value of our nuclear decommissioning trust funds, the contribution from Questar pipeline, which will continue to be accounted for as discontinued operations until divested and other adjustments.
For the third quarter of 2021, we expect operating earnings to be between $0.95 and $1.10 per share.
We affirmed our existing annual and long-term earnings guidance and our dividend-growth guidance.