RICHMOND, Va. (April 2, 2020) – As our nation’s hospitals, healthcare providers and first responders work tirelessly to treat those impacted by coronavirus, it is more important than ever that communities observe safe digging practices and avoid any additional strain on our emergency-response systems.

With more Americans working from home, some may consider catching up on projects around the house. Dominion Energy reminds all our customers if any projects require digging, they must call 811 at least three days before shovels hit the soil to avoid encountering underground utilities.

“National Safe Digging Month has taken on a heightened sense of urgency this year,” said Alan Bradshaw, Dominion Energy Virginia’s director of distribution operations centers. “It is more critical than ever before that we all do our part to keep our communities safe and avoid placing any additional burdens on our first responders. We urge everyone in the community to please put the safety of your family, neighbors and community first, and call 811 before you dig.”  

Every day, our employees take ownership of workplace safety and promote this behavior in the communities we serve. In Virginia, our construction crews, cable locators and company leaders perform outreach to the community through such organizations as VA811, in the form of local damage prevention committees, as well as through educational outreach in our community, including the Project Plant It! initiative.

Dominion Energy is also a founding member of the Gold Shovel Standard, a nonprofit organization committed to improving workforce and public safety and the integrity of buried infrastructure through training, awareness and communication.

Dominion Energy reminds residents, if you plan to dig on your property, follow these important steps: 

1. Call before you dig. State law requires that before digging, you call VA811 by dialing 811 or visiting VA811.com to request to have your lines located at least three full working days before beginning any excavation work. 

2. Wait. At no cost to you, technicians will mark the location of the utility lines on your property while practicing safe social distancing and wearing appropriate personal protective equipment. Once all lines are marked, and you’ve checked the positive response, you can safely begin your digging project. 

3. Respect the markings for your safety. Dig at least two feet from all sides of the marks, not on them.  

4. Dig with care. If you accidentally hit a Dominion Energy utility line, no matter how minor it may seem, leave the area. From a safe place, call 911 and Dominion Energy at 1-866-366-4357. 

Some utility lines can be buried at a shallow depth and hitting a buried utility line can cause a loss of, or damage to, life, health or property.  Please be safe and dig with care!

Visit va811.com and dominionenergy.com/company/safety/call-before-you-dig for more information about 811 and the call-before-you-dig process.

About Dominion Energy
More than 7 million customers in 20 states energize their homes and businesses with electricity or natural gas from Dominion Energy (NYSE: D), headquartered in Richmond, Va. The company is committed to sustainable, reliable, affordable and safe energy and is one of the nation's largest producers and transporters of energy with more than $100 billion of assets providing electric generation, transmission and distribution, as well as natural gas storage, transmission, distribution and import/export services. The company is committed to achieving net zero carbon dioxide and methane emissions from its power generation and gas infrastructure operations by 2050. Please visit DominionEnergy.com to learn more.