The increasing strain on the power grid from the rapid buildout of new data centers in Virginia is going to push your utility bills up the next two years, with a small bit of good news.
The State Corporation Commission voted this week to rein in, a little, the request of Dominion Energy for higher base-rate increases, though you’re still going to pay a good bit more.
OK, so, this is barely good news.
With the new base rates to take effect in 2026, the average Dominion Energy customer in Virginia will still pay $11.24 more per month, with an increase in 2027 at an additional $2.36 per month.
Could have been worse, though – if Dominion Energy had gotten its way, your bills would have increased $14.73 a month in 2026, and $4.84 a month in 2027.
In essence, Dominion wants average paycheck-to-paycheck Joes and Janes to shoulder a greater share of the cost of meeting the electricity demands of billion-dollar data-center companies.
ICYMI
And at the end of the day, I guess we still are paying their bills for them.
Mighty nice of us, to dip into our limited reserves to help out the billionaires.
“Residential customers should not be subsidizing these wealthy companies, and Virginians are relying on the Commission to address these fundamental questions of fairness,” said Peter Anderson, the director of state energy policy at Appalachian Voices, a grassroots advocacy group.
Appalachian Voices was one of several advocacy groups that testified on behalf of consumers at the SCC hearing on the Dominion rate request this week.
The gist of their position: the billion-dollar companies need to be willing to pony up.
“Bills are already increasing for residential customers, and there is growing evidence that data centers have been getting a sweet deal under the current system. Hopefully, this order represents the beginning of a suite of changes aimed at protecting customers from the risks and costs that are being driven almost singlehandedly by data centers. Today’s decision is a good start, but there is so much more to be done,” said Nate Benforado, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center.
It’s a baby step in the right direction, is all it is.
“This decision highlights a bigger systemic problem,” said Brennan Gilmore, executive director of Clean Virginia. “Our current rules don’t work in a world where data centers are rapidly changing our entire energy system. Dominion is planning massive new projects, and families are already stretched thin. Virginia needs major reforms to make sure monopoly utilities earn only what is fair and that customers aren’t stuck with unnecessary costs. This problem requires urgent action by Virginia’s elected leaders.”
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Chris Graham
