Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger released the 2026 Virginia Energy Plan on Oct. 1, 2026. Among its recommendations, data centers would pay the incremental generation, transmission and distribution costs they drive, and large data centers would need to show they can cut load during grid emergencies. The plan aims to keep Virginia on track for a net-zero power sector by 2050 and lists seven priorities, one of which is "Ensuring data center growth advances Virginia's energy goals."
The plan is a policy document. According to the governor's office, it does not set utility rates or approve individual projects; it guides the policies, investments and coordination that shape those decisions through legislative, regulatory and local processes. State law requires Virginia to update the plan every four years.
What the plan recommends for data centers
The data center recommendations sit under Strategy 02 of the plan, as summarized on Virginia Energy's plan page.
Cost allocation. The plan says the state should "Ensure data centers pay for the incremental costs they drive" across generation, transmission and distribution, in line with cost causation, citing GS-5-type tariffs as one way to do it. GS-5 is the rate class the State Corporation Commission (SCC) approved in November 2025 for large customers.
Demand flexibility. Large data centers would need to show an onsite or offsite ability to reduce load during grid emergencies, using batteries, flexible computing, backup arrangements or contracted demand response. The plan ties this to Virginia's 2026 large-load legislation and to PJM's proposed curtailment framework.
On-site generation. New onsite gas generation would be limited. Where near-term reliability requires on-site power, the plan would prioritize non-combustion options such as battery storage, or fuel cells and linear generators running on low-carbon fuels. Small combustion units under 25 MW would have to comply with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative when aggregated.
Bring-your-own clean energy. Policies that penalize data centers for procuring verified clean capacity, such as certain minimum demand charges, would be adjusted, and private capital from data centers could fund distributed energy and virtual power plant projects.
Other items. The plan also calls for transparency on cost allocation and infrastructure impacts, cleaner backup power, reuse of waste heat, fiscal resilience for host localities, and development that follows the state's Data Center Accountability Framework.
The governor's release places those recommendations next to measures already taken. It cites the Data Center Accountability Framework and the statewide energy consumption tax on data centers that Spanberger signed into law. It also says she urged the SCC to require data centers to pay for transmission infrastructure built exclusively for their operations, and that she signed more than a dozen bills tightening backup generator requirements and water usage rules and giving local leaders more tools to assess data center impacts.
"Energy should be reliable, with enough power to support Virginia's growth," Spanberger said in the release. Chief Energy Officer Josephus Allmond said in the same release, "Virginia has multiple pathways towards net zero by 2050 by pursuing a Clean-First, Least-Cost approach." Secretary of Commerce and Trade Carrie Chenery and Virginia Energy Director Vince Maiden also issued statements.
Public input centered on data centers
The governor's office said the plan drew on more than 3,000 survey responses, six regional meetings, a public town hall and 20 industry-specific listening sessions. Virginia Energy puts the survey count at 3,003 over seven weeks and says about 64% of respondents who wrote comments mentioned data centers, the most frequently raised issue. Their concerns centered on demand growth, infrastructure costs, customer protections, and effects on land, water and communities.
The modeling behind the plan
Virginia Energy's modeling lays out four primary pathways, each keeping the state on track for net-zero emissions by 2050: one leaning more on local resources such as rooftop solar and batteries, one building more nuclear power in Virginia, one with limited solar deployment and one with no new gas plants. Across the modeled scenarios, offshore wind ranges from 2,600 to 9,700 MW and advanced nuclear from 1,000 to 5,800 MW. The modeling anticipates up to 10 GW of aggregated distributed energy resource participation by 2045.
Where the plan fits in Virginia's data center rules
Data Center Frontier reported that Executive Order 22, issued in September, excludes new data center projects with anticipated peak demand of 25 MW or greater from the Virginia Business Ready Sites Program. The order also bars executive-branch agencies from entering into new nondisclosure agreements that conceal material information about proposed data centers, and gives the Department of Environmental Quality 180 days to produce accelerated rulemaking plans on data center noise and cooling-water scarcity. Most of the Accountability Framework, announced Sept. 18, is still proposed, the outlet reported. The electricity consumption tax of 1.1 cents per kilowatt-hour took effect July 1, 2026, and also applies to power generated onsite.
On rates, the GS-5 class applies to customers with demand of at least 25 MW on a contiguous site and a load factor of at least 75%, according to Data Center Frontier. New qualifying customers face 14-year minimum commitments.
Dominion Energy's July 2026 earnings presentation showed about 53.8 GW of data center capacity in various stages of contracting, with only about 12 GW covered by electric service agreements, Data Center Frontier reported. The outlet also said data centers accounted for 28% of Virginia Power's sales in 2025, up from 26% the year before.
What Happens Next
- Jan. 1, 2027: The SCC's 14-year minimum commitment requirement for new GS-5 customers begins, according to Data Center Frontier.
- DEQ rulemaking plans: Executive Order 22 gives the Department of Environmental Quality 180 days from the September order to produce accelerated rulemaking plans on data center noise and cooling-water scarcity.
- 2027 General Assembly: Most of the Data Center Accountability Framework awaits action by the 2027 General Assembly or future regulation, including a proposal to end by-right approval for data centers over 25 MW.
- Plan recommendations: The plan's cost-allocation, demand-flexibility and on-site generation recommendations would take effect only through separate legislative, regulatory or local action.
