Virginia State Capitol
RICHMOND, Va. - Virginia has released a new energy plan that lays out how the commonwealth intends to meet rapidly rising electricity demand while keeping power reliable, affordable and on track for its clean-energy goals.
The 2026 Virginia Energy Plan relies on energy efficiency, solar power, battery storage and better use of the existing grid in the near term, while calling for longer-term investment in advanced nuclear energy, offshore wind and long-duration storage.
What the plan says about data centers
What we know:
Virginia Energy’s modeling found that serving projected data-center demand could account for roughly half of the new systemwide costs under its moderate growth outlook, or about $200 billion.
The plan says an average 1-gigawatt data center pays about $700 million a year for electricity under existing cost-allocation rules. At roughly 20 gigawatts of projected demand, new data centers could generate about $265 billion in electricity revenue through 2050, the plan states.
READ MORE: Virginia introduces new AI data center regulations
State officials say that money could help fund new generation and grid investments if costs are assigned appropriately, rather than shifted to households and small businesses.
The plan also recommends requiring new large data centers to show they can reduce or shift electricity use during periods of high demand or grid emergencies.
Virginia’s electricity system is changing as growing demand drives more solar, battery storage and other power resources, according to the state’s 2026 Energy Plan.
What it could mean for electric bills
By the numbers:
About 17% of Virginia households, more than 550,000, spend more than 6% of their income on home energy costs, according to the executive brief.
Under status quo conditions, utility plans project residential electricity prices could rise about 60% for Dominion Energy customers and about 17% for Appalachian Power customers during the next decade as utilities replace aging equipment and build infrastructure to serve rising demand.
The plan says its recommendations are intended to help reduce those projected increases by prioritizing lower-cost power sources, increasing energy efficiency, improving use of the existing grid and requiring fairer cost allocation for major new customers.
What the plan proposes
Dig deeper:
Virginia’s plan recommends more solar power, battery storage, energy-efficiency upgrades and distributed energy resources such as rooftop solar, smart devices and virtual power plants.
For longer-term reliability, it also calls for development of clean firm power sources, including advanced nuclear energy, offshore wind and long-duration energy storage.
The plan projects Virginia will need to more than double its existing power-generation capacity to meet expected growth and clean-energy goals. It estimates the buildout could require 5,000 to 20,000 construction jobs each year over the next two decades and create roughly 20,000 permanent operations jobs.
What's next:
Many of the plan’s recommendations would require action by state agencies, utilities, regulators, local governments or the General Assembly.
Virginia Energy said it developed the plan using public feedback and modeling of several possible paths for the state’s power system through 2050.
Read the 2026 Virginia Energy Plan Executive Brief
The Source: This article was written using information from Virginia Energy’s 2026 Energy Plan and executive brief.