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Subcommittee hears competing bills to keep data‑center transmission costs off household bills
Summary
A Virginia House subcommittee considered several bills that would direct the State Corporation Commission to review or limit how transmission and generation costs tied to data centers are assigned; supporters said the measures protect ratepayers, while industry and some utilities said the SCC already has tools to address the issue.
Delegate Maldonado opened the session on HB 658 by asking the State Corporation Commission to examine whether families and small businesses are subsidizing electric infrastructure built primarily to serve data centers. "This bill directs the state corporation commission to examine whether residential and small commercial customers are subsidizing electric infrastructure built primarily to serve data centers," he said during his presentation.
Supporters — residents, environmental groups and electric cooperatives — told the committee that the last Dominion rate case left a gap in cost allocation for projects that primarily serve data centers. Bridal Hayes, a Lynchburg resident, said households already facing high electric bills should not be asked to pay more: "Having these kinds of regulations would make sure that our already exorbitant electric bills are not…
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