RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Dominion Energy has started the official process to cancel the “”Clean Energy Park” proposal for electric vehicle charging in downtown Richmond.

The project, announced in October 2022, was to occupy the lot at 700 East Canal Street — next to the Dominion Energy Virginia building — and, according to the company, would include a solar canopy, renewable-energy educational materials and space for community uses.

Around the time of the announcement, the project faced some pushback from Partnership for Smarter Growth, a local advocacy group, that claimed the project went against the City’s Richmond 300 development plan.

“While we support EVs, this is still a parking lot –albeit with some green space — in a city seeking to become less car-dependent,” the group said in a release at the time. “The proposal by Dominion does nothing to help achieve a more vibrant downtown area, and encourages more cars choking our urban core.”

According to city officials, Dominion submitted a request to the Richmond Planning Commission on Wednesday, May 31, to withdraw from the proposal.

“While Dominion Energy remains committed to becoming the most sustainable energy company in America, we are no longer developing the Clean Energy Park and instead plan to redeploy the capital earmarked for this project to resiliency and clean energy infrastructure programs that serve our customers and communities,” an internal memo shared with Richmond-area employees reads.

8News reached out to the energy company for comment on the withdrawal request. Dominion Energy responded with the following statement:

Our priority is deploying capital into resiliency and clean energy infrastructure programs that better enable Dominion Energy to safely deliver reliable and affordable energy to millions of homes and businesses in the states we serve.

Dominion Energy

When asked why they had chosen not to move forward with the project, a spokesperson cited “capital stewardship and capital allocation choices.”

“Our preference is to invest in customer-facing programs (clean energy generation like solar, grid modernization and hardening, etc.) at this point,” they said.

The company said it expects to launch the sale process in the coming weeks.

“Proceeds from the sale also are expected to be directed to capital programs that support our core mission to safely deliver reliable, affordable, and increasingly clean energy to millions of homes and businesses in the states we serve,” the internal memo reads.