Overview
- Virginia Energy published the 2026 Energy Plan on Oct. 1, 2026, laying out multi-decade models and policy recommendations to meet sharply rising electricity demand.
- The plan’s modeling estimates roughly $422 billion in system costs from 2026–2050 under current policies and about $385 billion under a pathway that expands distributed resources and data-center demand flexibility.
- Virginia Energy found projected data-center load could drive roughly half of new system costs, about $200 billion, and said an average 1-gigawatt data center pays about $700 million a year for electricity under current cost rules.
- Key recommendations include assigning generation, transmission and distribution costs to data centers, requiring large new centers to show they can reduce or shift load during grid emergencies, and giving the State Corporation Commission tools to change utility cost-sharing and financing rules.
- The plan does not set rates or approve projects; implementation will move through the General Assembly, the State Corporation Commission, utilities and local permitting, and it has already prompted political pushback from some lawmakers who want bigger statutory changes.