The Virginia state government and the State Corporation Commission (SCC) have decided to directly charge data center operators for the construction costs of high-voltage transmission lines and substations dedicated to data centers. Accordingly, the structure where the cost of expanding power infrastructure was passed on to everyday households and small business owners will be improved, and the burden of electricity bills on local residents is expected to decrease significantly.
The SCC issued a final order directing utility company Dominion Energy to establish a policy that directly allocates the costs of constructing high-voltage transmission lines and substations to data centers and other large-scale electricity consumers.
This measure was taken after the Virginia Governor's Office filed a notice of opposition to Dominion Energy's rate increase request submitted under the pretext of expanding transmission infrastructure. The state government made it clear that the general public should not bear the costs of transmission infrastructure built exclusively for data centers.
Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger stated, "This decision by the SCC is a crucial measure that saves Virginia households and small businesses hundreds of millions of dollars in costs they would have had to bear." Josephus Allmond, Virginia's Chief Energy Officer (CEO), also commented, "It is a fair decision that makes data centers, which cause the transmission costs, bear them directly instead of distributing them to the entire public."
This decision is also expected to affect local development issues related to data centers. Although the SCC approved transmission lines for a data center at the 'Plaza 500' site on Edsall Road in Fairfax County last year, the substation approval for the project remains incomplete.
In connection with this, the Fairfax County Planning Commission plans to hold a public hearing for residents on September 24 regarding the proposed substation construction plan. The Virginia state government intends to work with the state legislature to strengthen relevant legislation and oversight, ensuring that data center companies pay fair costs and adhere to strict environmental standards.