SCC chair: data centers are reshaping demand, commission advances high-load rate class

Sam Towle, chair of the Virginia State Corporation Commission, told the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee that data centers are the primary driver of recent and forecast growth in electricity demand across parts of Virginia, particularly in the Dominion and Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative service areas.

"The great majority of that forecast demand is attributable, to data centers," Towle said, describing two commissioner-led technical conferences and the creation last year of a GS‑5 high‑load rate class for Dominion customers using more than 25 megawatts on a regular basis. The class imposes minimum generation, distribution, and transmission demand charges intended to limit cost shifts to other ratepayers.

Towle said the commission has ordered additional modeling scenarios in Dominion's integrated resource plan and will review cost-allocation methodologies for generation, distribution, and transmission to ensure they are ‘‘appropriately designed for the current era.’’ He described work on large‑load flexibility and said the commission is prepared to consider demand‑flex proceedings when warranted.

On healthcare marketplaces, Towle described the Health Benefit Exchange (HBE) as having increased enrollment after transitioning from federal to state management, but warned that 2026 will present headwinds. He said the expiration of enhanced federal premium tax credits has led to an "average out of pocket increase of approximately a 114% for Virginians," and that new federal rules limit some state flexibility. "We will continue to look for appropriate ways to innovate and engage with customers to carry out our statutory duty to reduce the number of uninsured Virginians," Towle said.

Committee members followed with questions about whether the data‑center class includes manufacturers or other large industrial users, the extent to which artificial‑intelligence workloads are driving demand, and where Virginia stands in importing electricity. Towle said the GS‑5 class is focused on very large loads and that many Northern Virginia data centers serve cloud‑computing needs that require low latency; some AI functions may have different latency profiles and could be located elsewhere in the Commonwealth.

Senator Aaron Rouse described legislation he plans to file requiring PJM participants to produce annual reports showing recorded votes and short rationales. Towle said the commission does not typically take positions on legislation but can provide staff analyses to help the General Assembly assess impacts.

Senators asked for numerical data on generation retired since 2000 and projected retirements through 2040; Towle offered to supply the figures from commission and utility filings.

What's next: Dominon’s RPS case and other filings are scheduled in coming weeks and the commission indicated it will provide requested data and analyses to the committee.