How big is Bear Garden?

Bear Garden has a reported capacity of 559 MW. Source: EIA Form 860.

What kind of plant is Bear Garden?

Bear Garden is a Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle facility in Buckingham County, VA, participating in the PJM market.

Where is Bear Garden located?

Bear Garden is in Buckingham County, VA, inside the PJM balancing area.

Who operates Bear Garden?

Bear Garden is operated by Virginia Electric & Power Co according to the EIA generator inventory. Reporting membership does not by itself establish ultimate ownership.

How much electricity does Bear Garden generate?

Bear Garden reported 3,485.2 GWh over the twelve months to 2026-06. Figures are net generation as filed to EIA-923.

Where does Bear Garden connect to the grid?

Bear Garden on the Virginia Electric & Power Co. system.

How does Bear Garden compare to other plants?

By capacity, Bear Garden ranks #278 of 538 operating plants of the same technology nationally. It ranks #8 of 11 in VA.

Bear Garden — 559 MW gas plant, Buckingham County, VA

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Bear Garden — 559 MW gas plant, Buckingham County, VA · Ask the Grid

Overview

Reported capacity: 559 MW
EIA-reported nameplate capacity; other nameplate and seasonal ratings may differ.
Technology: Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle
Primary generation technology.
Registry anchor: Plant 56807
Virginia Electric & Power Co · Buckingham County · PJM
Operating status: Operating
Bear Garden is operating.
Commercial operation: May 2011
Best-supported operating milestone.

Profile

Grid role: Intermediate-capacity generation in PJM's Dominion Zone and an existing PJM capacity resource.
Context: At 559 MW of total nameplate capacity, Bear Garden is listed as the #11-largest plant in Virginia and #435-largest in the United States by capacity. It is an operating natural-gas facility interconnected with PJM.
Physical build: Combined-cycle natural-gas-fired generating station built in a two-on-one configuration with two combustion turbines and one steam turbine. EIA/FERC generator records identify three installed generators: 1A (145 MW), 1B (152 MW), and 1C, the combined-cycle steam part (262 MW). Fluor provided engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning services.

Structured profile

Reported capacity: 559 MW
Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle
Commercial operation: May 2011
Operating status: operating
Bear Garden is operating.
Location: Buckingham County
PJM
Operator: Virginia Electric & Power Co

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Units and generators

Operating generator records and technology attributes reported through EIA-860.

Generator	Capacity	Technology	Operation	Status
1A	145 MW 183.4 MW summer	Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle Natural Gas · CT	May 2011	Operating
1B	152 MW 183.4 MW summer	Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle Natural Gas · CT	May 2011	Operating
1C	262 MW 261.4 MW summer	Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle Natural Gas · CA	May 2011	Operating

Performance

Monthly EIA generation history and recent market-resource behavior where linked telemetry is available.

Peer context

Technology capacity: 559 MW; Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle
National rank: #278; of 538 operating peers
VA rank: #8; of 11 operating peers

Monthly generation

Download CSV

Latest 12 months

3.49 TWh

Reported net generation

Latest report

Jun 2026

EIA-923 monthly filing

2025 capacity factor

68.8%

Using current reported nameplate capacity

Grid and market context

Deterministic links to ERCOT market resources, price records, outage disclosures, queue records, and nearby infrastructure. Candidate joins remain labeled until corroborated.

Nearby substations

HIFLD infrastructure inventory

BEAR GARDEN

IN SERVICE · 230 kV

0.2 km

UNKNOWN116432

Commercial, land, and environmental record

Source-backed project transactions, agreements, land records, permits, and environmental disclosures. Portfolio and adjacent-project facts remain explicitly scoped.

Financing

Construction Authorization And Project Investment

Mar 27, 2009

The Virginia SCC authorized construction of Bear Garden on March 27, 2009, for an estimated $619 million, excluding financing costs. Construction began April 2009.

$619.0M580 MW contractedVirginia Electric and Power Company · Virginia State Corporation Commission

Dominion Virginia Power Brings Bear Garden Power Station Into Service

Financing-Cost Recovery Filing

Mar 2009

Virginia Power filed a petition in March 2009 seeking recovery of approximately $77 million in Bear Garden construction-related financing costs through Rider R. This was a regulatory cost-recovery filing, not a disclosed project-debt principal amount.

$77.0MVirginia Electric and Power Company · Virginia State Corporation Commission

Source

Transactions and agreements

Development-Project Acquisition

Mar 2008

Virginia Electric and Power Company purchased the Bear Garden power-station development project from Tenaska Virginia Partners II, L. P. Acquisition consideration was not disclosed.

580 MW contractedVirginia Electric and Power Company · Tenaska Virginia Partners II, L.P.

Source

Land and environmental record

Air Permit

Jan 1, 2014

Permit No. Virginia Title V air permit 32004-6

Virginia DEQ lists Dominion Energy - Bear Garden Generating Station under Title V permit/registration number 32004-6 in Buckingham County, with issuance date January 1, 2014.

Issued Title V Permits | Virginia DEQ

Emissions Controls

Sep 9, 2010

BACT air-emissions controls and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) using ammonia

The project was subject to Best Available Control Technology for regulated air pollutants, with an SCR system using ammonia to reduce nitrogen-oxide emissions. Natural gas is a low sulfur-dioxide and particulate emitter.

Bear Garden Blooming | The Farmville Herald

Wastewater Permit

2020

NPDES permit VA0090891

EPA's Appendix B for Dominion fixed facilities lists Bear Garden Generating Station with NPDES permit number VA0090891.

Source

Water Withdrawal Record

2024

Bear Garden Creek–James River watershed; withdrawal quantity not exposed in Virginia DEQ dashboard

Virginia DEQ's withdrawal dashboard identifies Bear Garden Creek–James River as a watershed; facility withdrawal data are reported through the dashboard, but the retrieved segment does not expose a Bear Garden-specific withdrawal volume or permit number.

Water Withdrawal Dashboard

Related parties and identifiers

Parties, market resources, and identifiers tied to this asset, with owner, operator, developer, EPC, compliance provider, and interconnecting entity roles kept separate.

Relationship graph

Drag organizations to explore the network. Select a node to pin its details and available page link.

AssetOwner / operatorContractorMarket / regulatorRelated asset

Timeline and sources

Project milestones and public references behind the asset profile.

Project timeline

2001
2001
Original Development PermissionSource
The Bear Garden development project was previously permitted by Tenaska Virginia Partners of Omaha.
Mar 11, 2008
Mar 11, 2008
Certificate Application

Reporting portfolio

EIA reporting entity

Virginia Electric & Power Co

Entity 19876

Operating portfolio

35 plants

3 states

Reported capacity

19,819.4 MW

Conventional Hydroelectric · Conventional Steam Coal · Hydroelectric Pumped Storage

Largest reported plants in this portfolio
Largest reported plants	Capacity	State
Bath County	2,862 MW	VA
North Anna	1,960.4 MW	VA
Greensville County Power Station	1,773.3 MW	VA
Surry	1,695 MW	VA
Mt Storm	1,680.9 MW	WV
Brunswick County Power Station	1,472.2 MW	VA
Warren County	1,472.2 MW	VA
Ladysmith	892.5 MW	VA

Portfolio membership follows the latest EIA-860 reporting entity. It does not imply ultimate ownership.

View full reporting portfolio

Bear Garden

Bear Garden

Overview

Profile

Structured profile

Related assets

Louisa Generation Facility

Chesterfield

Units and generators

Performance

Peer context

Monthly generation

Grid and market context

Nearby substations

Commercial, land, and environmental record

Financing

Transactions and agreements

Land and environmental record

Related parties and identifiers

Relationship graph

Timeline and sources

Project timeline

Marsh Run Generation Facility

Tenaska Virginia Generating Station

Hopewell Cogeneration

Allegheny Energy Units 3 4 & 5

Parties and identifiers

Reporting portfolio

Sources

Common questions about Bear Garden

How big is Bear Garden?

What kind of plant is Bear Garden?

Where is Bear Garden located?

Who operates Bear Garden?

How much electricity does Bear Garden generate?

Where does Bear Garden connect to the grid?

How does Bear Garden compare to other plants?

Co-located assets