Data center demand across Northern Virginia remains high, according to Dominion Energy, the main utility serving the state.

During the utility's Q1 earnings call, Dominion CFO Steven Ridge told analysts: "We have not observed any evidence of slowing demand from data center customers across our service area.

“We've got a real focus in our service territory on sort of traditional cloud and inference demand from data centers, and there's no let up in their interest.”

In its Q4 2024 earnings report, Dominion reported a huge increase in data center capacity under contract. The utility said it had approximately 40GW in various stages of contracting as of December 2024. This compares to 21GW in July 2024, an 88 percent increase.

As a result, the utility said it expects to spend $50.1 billion from 2025 to 2029, an increase from its previous estimate of $43.2bn. The new capital forecast is 16 percent higher than its prior guidance.

Last year, Dominion connected 15 new data centers, adding nearly 1GW of capacity. The utility anticipates connecting another 15 data centers this year.

To meet the skyrocketing demand for power, the utility has adopted an “all of the above” approach to power generation, set out in its 2024 Integrated Resource Plan. The plan's power generation profile is largely derived from carbon-free sources, representing 80 percent of the overall capacity.

New rate class

During the call, the utility also announced its intention to bring into force a new rate class for high energy users, including data centers to provide protection to other rate payers and ensure those large load users continue to pay the full cost of service.

“Protections include a 14-year contract commitment to pay for their requested power even if they use less than requested. This is consistent with the concerns and recommendations expressed in the JLARC report last year and in line with proposals in other jurisdictions nationwide,” said Ridge.

The new rate will be enforced on facilities “with either measured or contracted demand of 25MW or greater and either measured or expected load factor of at least 75 percent,” Ridge claimed.

According to the earnings call, the new rate would account for around 131 operational data centers in the state, and 139 customers in total.

Several other utilities have brought forward new electricity rates for large load data center customers. For example, late last month, South Carolina’s state-owned utility Santee Cooper enacted a new rate on large load timers who require 50MW of power or more to ensure that they cover the cost of the electricity they use.

In addition, earlier this year, Indiana Michigan Power approved a revised tariff agreement that ensures that large load users like data centers will pay for the grid upgrades necessary to serve them, preventing the costs from being passed on to existing customers.