(The Center Square) – On the fourth day of Dominion Energy’s rate hearing, debate centered on how much of Virginia’s growing electricity demand from data centers should be passed on to other customers.
Dominion has asked the State Corporation Commission for a 6.1% base rate increase, its first since 1992. The request is part of the utility’s regular biennial review, which sets how much it can charge households, businesses and large users.
Dominion president Edward Baine said the utility “significantly under-earned” in 2023 and 2024. The plan would add about $8.50 a month to the typical household bill starting in January 2026, with another $2 increase in 2027. He said the company needs the money to keep up with infrastructure costs as demand rises.
Cameron Brooks, president of the consulting firm E9 Insight, testified on behalf of CloudHQ, a major data center developer. He warned that the utility’s new collateral requirements for high-load users could backfire. Brooks said they may have the “unintended consequence of foreclosing the data center market in Virginia to entire segments of the data center industry” or forcing customers to “face higher costs or both.”
He also criticized the timeline, noting that the rules would take effect in 2027 even for projects that already secured financing and contracts. Brooks said the change could create “material, new capital requirements” and penalize developers for delays that are beyond their control, such as waiting years for a new substation to be built.
Lawmakers and residents have weighed in. Del. Chris Runion, R-Bridgewater, told regulators that rural Virginia’s economy depends on “reliable and affordable electricity.” He said farming and forestry businesses remain viable only if power is delivered all day, every day, without interruption. Runion urged the commission to strike the right balance between affordability and the investments needed to keep the lights on amid record demand for electricity.
Bryan Swan of Woodbridge, who filed a formal public complaint with the SCC, called Dominion’s plan “unprecedented.” He argued the full impact, including base rates, fuel costs and capacity charges, would amount to a 13 to 15% increase, averaging about $21 a month. Swan said that would force families to shoulder more costs even as the company’s profits and revenues grow.
Virginia has about 2.6 million residential electricity customers, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The agency reports the state’s average residential rate at 15.41 cents per kilowatt hour, below the national average of 17.47 cents. Based on EIA data on usage and rates, the average Virginia household bill is about $155 a month.
The SCC’s decision in the case will determine how much customers pay and how costs are divided between households and the data centers that dominate Northern Virginia’s economy.
