(The Center Square) – Virginia officials are seeking public input on the next energy plan through a survey and outreach effort announced Thursday.
Gov. Abigail Spanberger announced the launch of public outreach for Virginia’s 2026 Energy Plan, which is updated every four years and helps guide energy policy. The public survey will remain open through July 31, and the plan is scheduled for publication in October.
“Energy costs are too high for too many Virginia families, and with demand on our grid rising faster than it has in generations, we must make energy more affordable and more secure,” Spanberger said in a statement.
Spanberger added that Virginia’s energy future should not be decided only in Richmond, but by Virginians across the state.
Virginia Chief Energy Officer Josephus Allmond said energy demand continues to grow.
“Demand is rising rapidly, costs are climbing, and the choices we make over the next several months will shape the energy system Virginians depend on for the next decades,” Allmond said.
Virginia updates its energy plan every four years. Under state law, the plan must address issues including energy costs, the reliability of electric and natural gas resources, fuel diversity, infrastructure needs and regional energy considerations. It also must identify actions over a 10-year period to help achieve Virginia’s goal of a net-zero carbon energy economy by 2045.
State officials said the plan is being developed with input from multiple agencies and will include regional meetings, stakeholder sessions and public feedback gathered through the survey process.
The discussion comes as data centers remain a major focus of state energy and budget debates.
Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Louise Lucas highlighted polling on data center tax incentives and data center development in Virginia.
According to a Washington Post-Schar School poll conducted March 26-31, 56% of respondents opposed the state’s sales and use tax exemption for qualifying data center equipment purchases, while 37% supported it.
The poll also found that 59% of respondents would be uncomfortable with a new data center being built in their community, compared with 24% in a similar poll conducted in 2023.
Data center policy remains one of the issues being debated as lawmakers continue negotiating Virginia’s next two-year budget ahead of the June 30 deadline.
Lucas said more than half of Virginia voters oppose the exemption and argued data center operators should pay their fair share.
“Virginia families and small businesses are paying their taxes, and multinational data center operators should do the same,” Lucas said.
