LUSBY, Md., May 30, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Dominion (NYSE: D) said today it has received from the Maryland Public Service Commission a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) related to the company's plan to add export capability at its Cove Point liquefied natural gas facility in Calvert County.

The certificate was needed for two 65-megawatt steam turbine generators that produce electricity. The waste heat from two combustion turbines, which are used to drive compressors to produce LNG, will be recycled to produce steam to drive the steam turbines.

"We are pleased to receive the CPCN order from the Maryland Public Service Commission," said Diane Leopold, president-Dominion Energy. "We wish to thank the Commission members, PSC staff, Power Plant Research Project staff and others for their diligent work. We are now reviewing the order, and look forward to working with the commission to meet the conditions so the project can continue to move forward in a timely manner."

The PSC approval came 15 days after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued its environmental assessment that found the natural gas export project proposed for Cove Point can be built and operated safely with no significant impact to the environment.

"The Cove Point LNG facility has been in existence for nearly 40 years and this export project makes the most of existing facilities. The air emissions from Cove Point will comply with stringent health-based federal and state limits and requirements while the LNG will reduce greenhouse gas emissions in two countries that are striving to clean their air while continuing to grow their economies," Leopold said.

The construction of the export project, which is estimated to cost between $3.4 billion and $3.8 billion, will create thousands of skilled construction jobs, 75 permanent jobs and an additional $40 million in annual tax revenue to Calvert County. The county today receives $15.7 million a year from the LNG import facility.

IHI/Kiewit Cove Point, a joint venture between IHI E&C International Corporation of Houston and Kiewit Corporation of Omaha, Neb., is the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the new liquefaction facilities. Dominion has fully subscribed the marketed capacity of the project with 20-year service agreements with ST Cove Point, LLC, a joint venture of Sumitomo Corporation, a Japanese corporation that is one of the world's leading trading companies, and Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd., a Japanese corporation that is the largest natural gas utility in Japan; and GAIL Global (USA) LNG LLC, a wholly owned indirect U.S. subsidiary of GAIL (India) Limited, one of the largest natural gas processing and distributing companies in India.

Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers and transporters of energy, with a portfolio of approximately 23,600 megawatts of generation, 10,900 miles of natural gas transmission, gathering and storage pipeline and 6,400 miles of electric transmission lines.  Dominion operates one of the nation's largest natural gas storage systems with 947 billion cubic feet of storage capacity and serves retail energy customers in 10 states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's website at www.dom.com.

SOURCE Dominion