Who pays for data center power lines? Virginia hearing could change t…

Virginia's State Corporation Commission hearing on Dominion Energy's transmission cost recovery (Rider T-1) could shift billions in grid expansion costs from all ratepayers to data centre operators. The case challenges whether general electricity customers should subsidise infrastructure built primarily to serve Northern Virginia's data centre boom. If Virginia shifts transmission costs to data centre operators, your power bill—the single largest variable cost in your facility—just became contestable in regulatory hearings. You'll need to fight every new transmission rider as it's filed, or lock in long-term PPAs now before the rule changes.