[7] The plant began generating electric power in July 2012, and has provided jobs around the area of St. Paul, Virginia.

Due to the mountainous region, the storage of fuel is set around the plant in higher elevation areas to minimize the work necessary to move it and to take advantage of the space available.

The fuel is then processed and moved to the two Foster Wheeler fuel-flexible CFB boilers to power a single 668-MW Toshiba steam turbine.

[9] According to industry publications, VCHEC also improves upon water use and reuse, using about one-tenth of water use compared to coal plants of a similar size and "approaching zero wastewater discharge when the plant is operating.”[10][11] The total amount of pollutants and other products, fossil fuel combustion byproducts (FFB), such as ash and limestone, expected to be emitted was 2.4 million tons because of the way the coal will be burned in a CFB.

[16] Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center has been issued notice of violations for carbon monoxide, particulate matter, and sulfur dioxide.

[18] This has allowed for a process removing over a century's worth of waste piles at risk of polluting the Clinch River and other water sources.

[23] Since Dominion Energy initially proposed plans for VCHEC in 2007 they have been met with opposition from five major environmental advocacy groups: The Sierra Club, Southern Environmental Law Center, Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards, Appalachian Voices, and Chesapeake Climate Action Network.

[25] The petition was literally a mile long of paper delivered during a shareholders meeting, this did not stop the groundbreaking of the facility on 14 August 2008.

[26] Activists from Mountain Justice, Rainforest Action Network, Asheville Rising Tide, Blue Ridge Earth First!, and Students for Democratic Society.

These protests and the opposition against the construction of VCHEC was showcased in the documentary The Electricity Fairy directed by Tom Hansell for Appalshop Films.